Wilton Resident Derek Smyth Appointed New CFO at Cummings & Lockwood LLC

The following article was compiled from a press release.

Derek A. Smyth, a resident of Wilton, recently joined the law firm of Cummings & Lockwood LLC in its Stamford office as the new Chief Financial Officer.

Smyth brings with him over 30 years of finance, strategy and leadership experience in diverse, international corporate and legal environments, with a specialization in P&L management, planning and analysis, pricing and capital management.

“We are very excited to have such a highly qualified individual join our firm to head up the Finance Department,” Jonathan B. Mills, Chairman and Managing Director of Cummings & Lockwood, said. “Mr. Smyth has impressive professional credentials and law firm CFO experience that will be a great benefit to Cummings & Lockwood.”

Prior to joining Cummings & Lockwood, Smyth was the CFO for Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, a global AmLaw 100 firm based in New York, with over 1,100 attorneys and $1.5 billion in annual revenues. In this capacity, he was responsible for the global direction and coordination of all financial activities for the firm (including five direct reports in the United States and a total staff of over 150 including personnel in Europe and Asia) covering financial accounting, management reporting and analysis, budgeting, billing and collections, payables, banking and treasury, tax and procurement.

Prior to working at Weil, Smyth was the CFO for Willis North America (a global insurance broker) where he was responsible for directing and coordinating the financial activities for the company’s U.S., Canadian and Mexican retail brokerage operations, including overseeing 15 direct reports and a total staff of over 500 in the United States and India.

Earlier in his career, he held various financial management positions with several General Electric Company organizations, including GE Consumer Finance and GE Capital, in the United States, Germany and Belgium. He began his career as an auditor for KPMG in Manchester, England.

Smyth graduated from the University of Leeds in England with a B.A. Honors in Economics and Accounting, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ACA).

Born in Wales, United Kingdom, he has lived in the United States for the past 20 years and became a U.S. citizen in 2014. He currently lives with his wife, Alexandra, in Wilton.