Mike Smith – Mears

As executive vice president and general counsel of Mears, Mike Smith brings a rare blend of sharp legal acumen, business savvy, and a deeply human approach to leadership. His journey—from the son of a young, working-class couple to a trusted legal and strategic voice at one of the country’s leading energy infrastructure firms—is one of resilience, reflection, and relentless growth.

Mike Smith | Mears | Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Founded in 1970, Mears is a national leader in energy infrastructure solutions. Originally a small, family-run business, the company has grown into a powerhouse offering a broad range of services across gas, electric, and telecom sectors. Even as it scales, Mears maintains a steadfast commitment to customer satisfaction and operational safety—values that align closely with Smith’s personal and professional ethos.

“My job isn’t to say no—it’s to find the safest, smartest yes. Take care of your people, and they’ll take care of the business.”

A childhood that shaped a leader 

Smith doesn’t forget where he came from. Raised by teenage parents who worked hard to support a young and growing family, he learned early on the value of hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance.

“Character-building doesn’t even begin to describe what it was like watching them struggle and still support us,” Smith says. “They were 17 and 19 when they had me. By the time my mom was 22 and my dad was 24, they already had three children. Then I was almost 15 when my youngest sister was born.”

Those early life lessons laid a foundation of humility and toughness. His father worked for decades as a gas service technician, which planted the seeds for Smith’s eventual move from private practice into the energy sector. That same respect for hands-on, frontline workers still shapes his legal and strategic outlook.

“I’ve always had this sense that I need to validate the decisions my parents made to raise a family so young,” he says. “That’s stayed with me throughout my life.”

Smith initially considered becoming a doctor — he even took the MCAT while majoring in business and studying chemical engineering—but a last-minute decision to take the LSAT led him down a different path. Law, it turned out, offered the perfect combination of challenge, problem-solving, and impact.

While his parents were his initial motivators, Smith credits his wife, Kim, as being the rock in his life and as someone who has played a huge part in his personal and professional evolution. She was–and still is–his support system, and like most husbands and fathers, Smith’s wife and three kids have been the ultimate escape of joy from the stresses and pressures of his career.

“They give me purpose behind all the work I do,” Smith reflects.

From high-stakes litigation to growth strategy 

After several years in private practice, Smith’s in-house legal career launched with a bang—literally. During his first in-house job, a massive gas explosion plunged him into high-stakes litigation, intense media scrutiny, and dealings with federal and state government agencies.

“I got about 10 years of legal experience in two,” he recalls. “It was a crash course in risk, crisis management, and communication.”

That early experience also introduced him to the human side of legal work. Protecting lives, securing communities, and solving real-world problems became more than just job descriptions—they became a calling. He eventually transitioned from an in-house role at the gas company to InfraSource, and later to Mears, both subsidiaries of Quanta Services, a Fortune 500 leader in energy infrastructure.

Now, as EVP and GC of Mears, Smith leads a legal and risk team that manages a host of responsibilities, from construction and EPC contracts to employment law, government compliance, commercial disputes, and litigation. Smith’s legal and risk team provides support to several operating companies, making Smith’s role both complex and vital.

“I enjoy the variety,” Smith says. “But at the core, what I really love is solving problems. That’s what drives me.”

Always people first 

For someone who once struggled with communication and admits to being a shy kid, Smith is now widely known for how well he connects with people—and how seriously he takes his responsibility to empower them.

“I wasn’t always a great communicator,” he admits. “My parents were tough, and we didn’t talk about feelings. But I learned. Joining a fraternity in college helped pull me out of my shell. Professionally, I realized that if I couldn’t communicate clearly—up, down, or across—I wasn’t going to succeed.”

Now, as a leader, communication is his superpower. He’s intentional about how he interacts with each person on his team, and he calibrates his approach based on personality insights from tools like Predictive Index.

“My team deals with a lot of stress and thankless work,” he says. “So, how I treat them is incredibly important. That’s the environment they live in every day. If someone needs a day off, a doctor’s appointment, or anything else, they know they can come to me. Trust is everything.”

Smith fosters an open-door culture where team members feel safe sharing their frustrations or seeking advice on navigating challenging internal dynamics. He spends much of his time coaching and strategizing with his staff to maintain balance between legal risk and business needs.

“It’s about enabling them,” he says. “If I treat them well, they take care of the rest—and that frees me up to focus on leadership and high-level counsel.”

Smart risk, real relationships 

One of the biggest initiatives Smith’s team is tackling is subcontractor vetting. Working closely with ISNetworld, they’re streamlining the process of evaluating and approving subcontractors, especially those hired on short notice in remote areas.

“Even though we are a large company, we must be nimble and quick like a small company,” Smith says. “Often, we get a call on Friday needing someone on-site Monday. We must move fast, but we can’t cut corners on safety, insurance, or financial stability.”

He’s not interested in bureaucratic red tape for its own sake. The goal is speed, transparency, and a system that doesn’t block operations but enhances them.

We’re going to do baseline vetting, make it simple and efficient, and allow the business team to make a fully informed decision about subcontractors working for them on our jobsites. We must be realistic — this is a relationship-based business, and our subcontractors reflect us.”

Smith’s leadership style hinges less on issuing directives and more on fostering trust and exercising street smarts, a quality he says he picked up from his parents.

“While important, it’s not always about the words in the contract,” he explains. “You can throw around legal buzzwords all day, but can you see the real problem and deal with it in a way that works in the real world?”

His approach as a general counsel—problem-solving-oriented, relationship-driven, and human-first—makes him not just a legal advisor, but a key architect of the company’s strategic resilience.

Smith’s story is one of evolution, not just in title but in spirit. From a young man unsure of his path to a trusted leader at a major infrastructure company, he’s grown by confronting hard truths, adapting to challenges, and always putting people first.

“It’s a privilege to lead,” he says. “And I don’t take that for granted—not for one second.”