When firm founder Joseph Smith started the Smith Law Center in 1949, it was with the simple philosophy of helping the injured. A native of Newport News, Smith began with the express purpose of providing quality legal representation to victims of negligence. Seventy-one years later, his sons Stephen and Howard Smith along with Stewart Gill and David Holt own and operate the firm under the same guiding principles. The Smith Law Center is currently the largest personal injury law firm on the peninsula and one of the largest in Virginia.