Jim Smith & Rebecca Hurst

About Jim Smith & Rebecca Hurst

Jim Smith and Rebecca Hurst co-founded Smith Hurst, PLC, based in Rogers, Arkansas.

On episode 49 of NWA Founders, the Northwest Arkansas business podcast, published September 29, 2026, they shared the story of the business. The conversation runs 1 hr 29 min. In this episode of the Northwest Arkansas Founders podcast, hosts Cameron Clark and Nick Beyer sit down with Jim Smith and Rebecca Hurst, the co-founders of Smith Hurst law firm and Emeraude (a multifamily office and business services platform). Jim and Rebecca share their parallel journeys, both with accounting degrees, both with tax LLMs from NYU, and trace the arc of their careers from the Friday firm (Arkansas's largest law firm) to launching Smith Hurst in 2011. They discuss the evolution of family offices in Northwest Arkansas, the explosive growth of the region's M&A and private equity landscape, and the strategic decision to expand beyond legal services into Emeraude, which provides family office and back-office business services to entrepreneurs and wealthy families.

Jump into the conversation

1. 13:45Their competitive edge: relationships, not the firm name, 738 files moved in two weeks
2. 14:30Landing the Rockfish/WPP acquisition deal out of the gate, giving the new firm instant credibility
3. 17:30Acumen Brands' $83M capital raise from General Atlantic, a top-five Q1 2013 PE deal
4. 45:35Why Smith Hurst bills hourly instead of success fees: maintaining objectivity
5. 51:18The Wizard of Oz / Emerald City story behind the Emeraude name
6. 1:15:55What's next: staying relevant as big players arrive in NWA

About Smith Hurst, PLC

• Business and private wealth law, Rogers
• smithhurst.com

Show notes, chapters and transcript →