Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Reed Smith LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Reed Smith
- Designation: National
- Head Count: 1,468
- Gross Revenues: $1,013,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $690,000
- Profits Per Partner: $1,080,000
- Year Over Year Change: no change
A long list of mergers starting in the late 1970s but picking up steam in the past decade, has propelled Reed Smith into the upper echelon of law firms. A full–service firm, it is best known, perhaps, for product liability work: Reed Smith represents nearly all of the top players in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. The firm won The American Lawyer’s Product Liability Litigation Department of the Year contest in 2010 and was a finalist in the two previous competitions in 2006 and 2008. It has also been an enthusiastic proponent of alternative fee arrangements. Founded in 1877, Reed Smith has grown in recent years due to three large mergers since 2003, each with a firm of between 130 and 250 attorneys. But the big roster has had consequences: Reed Smith regularly ranks outside top 100 firms on revenue per lawyer. However, profits per partner have typically fared better.
Reed Smith’s roots in Pittsburgh, its ancestral home, go deep. It has represented a string of hometown clients, including United States Steel Corporation and H.J. Heinz Company. In 2011, Penn State University retained the firm to advise its board of trustees in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the school. But Reed Smith has long looked beyond the city’s—and the country’s—borders. It was an early entrant in the Middle East, establishing a foothold in the United Arab Emirates in 1978, and claims to be the only U.S. firm with an office in Greece (thanks to its 2007 merger with Richards Butler, which also expanded its reach in Europe and the Middle East). Like many of its peers, Reed Smith has made a push into China, opening a Beijing office in 2008, and a Shanghai outpost in 2011. The firm also has a sizable Hong Kong office.
In noneconomic metrics, the firm scores middle–of–the–pack numbers. It finished 106th of 200 firms on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Pro Bono Report, with attorneys averaging about 36 hours of nonpaying work. On the magazine’s 2011 Diversity Scorecard, the firm ranked sixty–second of 194 firms (nearly 15 percent of its U.S. lawyers are minorities). The news was a bit grimmer, however, on associate satisfaction: Reed Smith finished ninety–sixth of 126 firms on our 2011 survey.
—Updated 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 19 | no change | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 19 | no change | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 12 | no change | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | NR | N/A | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 106 | 14 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 62 | no change | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 96 | 13 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | 53 | no change | Summer programs |
In the News
People in the News
: The Legal Intelligencer : May 22, 2013
Jaimee Farrer joined Reed Smith as an associate in the life sciences health industry group and Dana Janquitto joined the firm as an associate in the real estate group, both in the Philadelphia office.
Reed Smith Wins Essential Patent Ruling in Chip Feud
Jan Wolfe : The Litigation Daily : May 21, 2013
Judge Bars Chipmaker From Seeking Injunction at ITC
Jan Wolfe : The Litigation Daily : May 21, 2013
MOVERS
: The National Law Journal : May 20, 2013
Amy Beth Dambeck joins Constangy, Brooks & Smith as senior counsel to the Princeton, N.J., office. Plus more law firm movers in this week's column.
Kasowitz Launches in L.A. with Insurance Vet Oshinsky
Sara Randazzo : The Am Law Daily : May 20, 2013
In a year that has seen Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman falter in Northern California, the litigation shop is building out its insurance coverage practice with a pair of hires in Los Angeles from Jenner & Block, including Jerold Oshinsky, who has helped shape legal theories benefiting insurance policyholders.
Kasowitz Launches Los Angeles Office
Sara Randazzo : The Am Law Daily : May 20, 2013
Personal Notes on Lawyers
: New York Law Journal : May 17, 2013
Barbara Hoey has rejoined Kelley Drye & Warren, where she had been for 20 years before moving to Littler Mendelson in 2010. Sullivan & Worcester, Fulbright & Jaworski, Morrison & Foerster and Phillips Nizer also announce new hires.
CEIC: the Destination for Digital Investigation
Sean Doherty : Law Technology News : May 17, 2013
A conference on cybersecurity, e-discovery, and digital investigations (CEIC) offers hands-on labs, lectures, and an exhibit hall to develop practical skills in digital investigations and will debut Guidance Software's next EnCase Enterprise product.
California State University: Going 4.0
Catherine Dunn : Corporate Counsel : May 16, 2013
Working for the largest four-year university system in the world, Cal State's lawyers get straight A's for reducing caseload and expenses.
Pa. Natural Gas Industry Fuels a Surge in Legal Work
Zack Needles : The Legal Intelligencer : May 16, 2013
While it hasn't always been the case, attorneys and legal recruiters generally agree that, at the moment, the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania is creating a steady demand for oil and gas lawyers. The demand has shifted from attorneys being hired to do pure title work to include those with experience in oil and gas transactional work, says one recruiter.
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