Dr Milton ‘Skip’ Smith (United States)
Director
current term: 2018-2021
Milton (“Skip”) Smith is in private practice and is co-chair of the Sherman & Howard law firm Space Law Practice Group. Skip has been an IISL member since 1986, was President of the Association of U.S. Members of the IISL for many years, helped start the Manfred Lachs Moot Court competition in 1992, and has been the Regional Organizer of the North American Region
for over 20 years.
Skip currently represents launch service companies, manufacturers of space-related equipment, and other aerospace companies. He has held several significant space law leadership positions, including having served as both Director of Space Law at U.S. Space Command and Chief of Space Law at the Pentagon’s Air Force Headquarters. Skip also served in Geneva as the Legal Advisor of the 50-person U.S. Delegation at the 1988 ITU Conference on the Geostationary Satellite Orbit.
Skip is an adjunct professor of space law at the University of Colorado Law School, has an LLM and Doctorate in space law from McGill, and has authored a number of leading publications, including the book International Regulation of Satellite Communication. He is a frequent speaker on space law topics. Skip has negotiated deals and litigated disputes with dollar values into the hundreds of millions. He has considerable alternative dispute resolution experience and is a mediator and American Arbitration Association arbitrator.
Skip also worked for two years in the Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. State Department. Skip is a former Chair of the Colorado Space Business Roundtable and the Aerospace Law Committee of the American Bar Association.