Clifford Ashcroft-Smith

Partner

Clifford is a trial lawyer with more than sixteen years of experience representing individuals and businesses in major litigation across the United States. 

He was raised just north of Houston in the small town of Conroe, Texas, the son of a British nurse and a father from a ranching family in Magnolia, Texas.  That upbringing taught him the value of hard work and perseverance early — and a common touch he has never lost, whether standing up to the largest and best-funded adversaries in the country or sitting across the table from a family trying to rebuild their lives after someone else’s negligence.

Clifford has secured victories in both civil and criminal cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals, won high-stakes litigation cases across the United States, set precedent in jurisdictions spanning multiple states, and consistently prevailed against the largest and most well-funded legal adversary in the country, the Department of Justice.

He has been tested at nearly every level in both the state and federal courts — from appearing in courthouses across Texas to petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court on multiple occasions. 

Clifford’s experience includes defending executives in white-collar global prosecutions, representing companies in a wide variety of disputes, and protecting the rights of individuals and families in civil and criminal matters.  He loves fighting for his clients and takes pride in winning cases through hard work and attention to detail.

He has represented hundreds of personal injury clients and been part of trial teams that have collectively secured verdicts and settlements in excess of eight figures.

In law school, Clifford served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Jennifer Walker Elrod of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  He also worked as a law clerk in the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, where he tried countless cases on behalf of the Executive Branch.  Before attending law school, Clifford worked for two years in business banking at Wells Fargo & Company in Austin, Texas.

Outside of his legal practice, he is an Eagle Scout and a former Olympic Torch Bearer for the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games.

Washington and Lee University School of Law, J.D., 2009

  • Editor-in-Chief, Lexington Principles Project
  • Lead Articles Editor, Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice
  • Lexington Principles Steering Committee Editorial Award

The University of Texas at Austin, B.A. Government, minor Spanish, 2004

  • Legislative Intern, Texas House of Representatives, 78th Session
  • La Universidad de Alicante, Spain, 2002
  • Supreme Court of the United States
  • State Bar of Texas
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
  • Dean’s Honor List; University Honors, The University of Texas at Austin
  • What is the Customary Law of War or Does that Even Matter?, 32 National Security Law Report 3, Standing Committee on Law & National Security, American Bar Association (2011)
  • Rhetoric to Reality: Citizenship Delays and U.S. International Obligations in the Post-9/11 Landscape, Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights & Social Justice 16.2 (2011)
  • Texas Trial Lawyers Association
  • Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
  • Houston Trial Lawyers Association
  • American Association for Justice
  • The College of the State Bar of Texas, Fellow