Kiel D. Smith

Chief Legal & Administrative Officer

Kiel Smith serves as Chief Legal & Administrative Officer for Auria. In this role, he is responsible for leading Auria’s legal and internal audit functions as well as corporate human resources and communications.   

Prior to Auria, Smith spent five years at International Automotive Components (IAC), first as Associate Counsel and then as Senior Counsel. Among other responsibilities, he played key roles in the closing of numerous critical M&A and financing transactions at IAC. The most significant transaction was the successful launch of Auria, which was a joint venture formed to operate IAC’s soft trim business. The project spanned nearly two years and Smith was instrumental in completing the execution of more than 30 separate purchase agreements simultaneously across 11 different countries, together with multiple loan facilities, at closing. 

Smith has also worked for a closely held investment company with a focus on transactions, corporate governance, and litigation. During law school he interned with Judge Richard Speer in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio and with Judge Brian Zahra in his role as Chief Justice of the Michigan Court of Appeals (now sitting on the Michigan Supreme Court).

Smith, a 2023 winner of the Crain’s Detroit 40 Under 40 Award, earned his Juris Doctorate, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Toledo College of Law, and his Bachelor’s degree in history from Central Michigan University.