Ivan J. Ladd-Smith

Overview

Ivan Ladd-Smith joined Spears Manning & Martini in 2020 after serving for eight years as law clerk to the Honorable Warren W. Eginton, the longest serving judge in the history of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. As Judge Eginton’s law clerk, Ivan facilitated the litigation of complex cases, including asset forfeiture, money laundering, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges and a wide range of civil litigation cases. Ivan traveled with Judge Eginton to the Southern District of New York, the Middle District of Florida, and the District of Arizona to assist with trials and to resolve docket backlogs.

Ivan’s practice now focuses on white collar criminal defense and civil litigation. His docket has included multiple civil RICO cases, Connecticut False Claims Act litigation, probate and landlord-tenant litigation, closely held business disputes, and defense of criminal fraud and tax charges.

Most recently, in April 2023, Ivan was part of a trial team with Brian Spears and Leslie Cahill that secured a Rule 29 judgment of acquittal for the firm’s client, the lead defendant in a nationally prominent criminal antitrust case involving alleged hiring and recruiting restrictions in the labor market for aerospace engineers.

Ivan has achieved other notable successes since entering private practice. For example:

• Ivan secured one of the first early releases of an incarcerated client impacted by the COVID pandemic.
   
• Ivan secured a downward sentencing departure of 80 months for a client who had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances prior to Ivan’s appearance as counsel in the case.
   
• Ivan successfully represented a major Connecticut hospital in a federal investigation into the diversion of controlled substances by a medical resident. At the conclusion of the investigation, the Department of Justice declined to prosecute the firm’s client.
   
• Ivan successfully defended victims of domestic violence against vexatious federal Section 1983 claims brought by an abuser who had been arrested for violating his restraining order. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of the perpetrator’s claims with prejudice.

Ivan also recently served on the Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel for the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, where he helped screen and interview applicants for the federal judgeship.

Ivan is a member of The Raymond E. Baldwin American Inn of Court and the Connecticut Bar Association. Ivan received his J.D. from Boston College Law School and has a B.S. from the University of Vermont.