Reed 'em and weep: With hand that includes top nationwide rankings on both the transactional and litigious side of the coin, Reed Smith has long been “one of the biggest players.”
Reed Smith Lateral Profile 2024
“Reed Smith has a stellar reputation” one associate enthused, “its reputation in the Pittsburgh market was the most important thing for me, and I knew that Reed Smith was one of the biggest players here.” The firm’s reach extends way beyond Pittsburgh however, with a whopping 18 offices US-wide (and a further 13 overseas). Unsurprisingly, the thread that united our interviewees was a desire “to be able to hop on multi-national and transatlantic deals, and expand my knowledge of the UK, Europe and Asia markets whilst being based in the US.”
View the firm’s Chambers USA rankings
Read the firm’s Inside View feature on junior associate life
Why did join your firm? Associates say...
“Excellent practice group with robust and interesting book of business, happy associates, a global law firm with a stellar local reputation, and well-developed firm programs for associates.”
“When I joined the firm, the partners' camaraderie stood out the most to me. They seemed like people I would enjoy working with on a day-to-day basis.”
“Associates and partners are always willing to help and provide guidance.”
International and secondment opportunities
Common secondment destinations: London and New York
The view from the firm: With pre-approval, inter-office and external client secondment program is available to Associates. The firm provides temporary on-site or virtual assistance for clients to bolster short-handed, in-house legal staff or to make specialist experience available. The firm also offers an inter-office secondment program designed primarily as a career and business development opportunity for Associates.
Career Development & the Path to Partnership
|
32 |
0.9 : 1 |
77% |
||
|
partners made in 2023 |
associate : partner gearing |
of associates intend to make partner |
||
|
72% |
77% |
90% |
||
| felt partnership was achievable for attorneys with children | felt partnership was achievable at the firm | agreed partners are nurturing future leaders |
||
The view from the firm: Reed Smith’s Careers competency model outlines the skills, knowledge and behaviors we believe our people need to provide exceptional client service at each career stage. Our associates use our real-time feedback tool to request and receive competency-based feedback throughout the year from senior lawyers. Each associate also receives a holistic annual evaluation. All associates are paired with a senior lawyer “Careers Advisor” (mentor) throughout their time at the firm through our Careers Advisor program.
Our associates also build skills, knowledge and relationships through our formal learning and development programs. Highlights of these programs include Associate Advantage (our global, three-year training program for first- through third-year lawyers), our transactional, litigation and practice/industry group essentials series, our multi-day Trial Training and Deal Clinic, and our Senior Associate Leadership and Client Development programs.
Hours & Compensation
|
2,000 |
8 |
49 |
|
billable hours |
average number of vacation days associates took in one year |
average number of hours associates worked in one week |
|
57% |
67% |
63% |
|
agreed they had a good work-life balance |
said the benefits package makes the workload worthwhile |
found the bonus allocation fair and transparent |
Salaries
1st year: $225,000
The view from the firm: 2,000-hour billable requirement, including up to 140 hours of non-billable work credited as billable for work on pro bono, DEI, Racial Equity Action Plan and Women's Initiative activities and sustainability hours, competitive compensation which includes hours based and discretionary bonus opportunities
Is Reed Smith the right firm for you?
|
91% |
94% |
86% |
|
were happy in their current |
agreed the work is interesting |
felt comfortable being themselves |
The view from the firm: Reed Smith’s goal is to attract, retain, develop, motivate, and reward high quality attorneys in each of its offices.
Here's what survey respondents had to say about the firm's culture...
“Collaborative, inclusive, hard-working, progressive, and filled with intellectual people.”
“It is a group of incredibly intelligent and driven people, who are also genuine, supportive, and down-to-earth.”
“The associates and partners genuinely like one another and feel connected as a group.”
Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing
|
83% |
27% |
35% |
|
|
reported diverse staffing on teams/cases/matters |
of partners are women |
of associates identify as ethnically diverse |
|
The view from the firm: 2023 was a landmark year at Reed Smith, as Casey Ryan became our first woman Global Managing Partner. We appointed partner Alan York as our new Global Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Dana Alvaré as our new Global Assistant Director of Equity and Inclusion. We also we hired Reginald “Reggie” McGahee as our new Global Head of Diversity Recruiting.
We held our seventh annual global DEI summit, which focused on dispelling misconceptions, fostering worldwide support, and driving innovation to usher in a new era of understanding and collaboration. We held our fourth Disability Inclusion Summit which focused on the importance of and interconnection between representation and allyship and our second Mental Health Summit which focused on mental health issues in the workplace and what law firms, organizations and attendees can do to improve their mental health.
We also held our first Law Student Mental Health Summit, launched a DEI webinar series focusing on the advancement of DEI in the legal industry and established our disability business inclusion groups subcommittees encompassing recruiting, retention and promotion; clients, events and speaker series; accessibility; young professionals and social responsibility; neurodiversity; and confidential peer support liaison.
We formed our professional staff women’s network Thrive and launched our Muslim Inclusion Committee (MIC) in 2023, which in its inaugural year, has laid a strong foundation for cultivating a more inclusive workplace and providing meaningful support to Muslim employees.
We made significant improvements to our comprehensive suite of inclusive family forming benefits by providing up to 18 weeks of paid gender-neutral parental leave for all attorneys and staff. Our truly inclusive family forming benefits support all paths to parenthood including fertility treatments, gestational carrier arrangements, adoption, egg/sperm freezing, and more. We are proud to report that these benefits are being widely utilized by all genders.
Pro Bono
|
47 |
93% |
|
average pro bono hours per US attorney |
agreed the firm is committed to pro bono |
Pro bono highlights: State of Oklahoma v. Richard Glossip (independent investigation of death penalty case); Refugee resettlement in Canada (immigration); Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Pro Bono Pilot Program (immigration); Texas/NAACP Legal Defense Fund/The Arc (challenge to Texas S.B.1/voter rights); Brennan Center for Justice/Supreme Court of Ohio (challenge 2022 Ohio redistricting plans/voter redistricting).
Sustainability and CSR
The view from the firm: We are committed to evolving our practices and behaviors in order to drive lasting environmental sustainability within Reed Smith, our communities and the legal industry. To achieve this objective, we have set the targets and will leverage support from the entire firm in our mission to achieve these targets. Reed Smith is committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 20% by 2024. We will publish our progress against this target.
Contact
Learn more about opportunities at the firm
Recruitment contact: Find them here