(March 1, 2006, Los Angeles) – Reed Smith, a top-25 international law firm, today announced the addition of David Powell to its expanding Financial Services Litigation group on the West Coast.  He will be resident in the firm’s San Francisco office.

Mr. Powell was formerly a shareholder and Chair of the San Francisco Litigation Group at Buchalter Nemer Fields & Younger. He joins former colleagues Abe Coleman, Scott Jacobs, Felicia Yu and three associates who recently joined Reed Smith’s Los Angeles Financial Services practice group.

“The depth and breadth of our talent in California continues to grow, as David not only re-connects with Abe, Scott and Felicia, but also will join forces in San Francisco with 11 attorneys from Fleming & Phillips, an East Bay class-action litigation defense boutique which Reed Smith acquired last year,” said David Thompson, Reed Smith’s San Francisco Office Managing Partner.

Mr. Powell's practice focuses on complex litigation matters for financial institutions and other businesses, including matters involving securities, class actions, wealth management, trusts, mortgages, real estate, creditors' rights, lender defense and banking operations, as well as alternative dispute resolution.

He received a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Davis in 1984, and earned his J.D., cum laude, in 1987 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was editor of the Hastings Law Journal.

“David is one of the West Coast’s top financial service litigators and we are pleased he has joined our team," said Mary Hackett, head of Reed Smith’s Financial Services Litigation Group. "We know he will contribute significantly to our growing visibility and influence, not only in this region, but nationally and internationally as well.”

Prior to joining Buchalter in 1995, Mr. Powell was with Brown and Wood. Earlier, he spent three years as in-house counsel for Network Systems.

“I look forward to being part of a very strong financial services litigation practice at Reed Smith,” Mr. Powell said. “I am particularly pleased to have the opportunity to re-join my former colleagues and to work with them and the other lawyers in Reed Smith’s financial services group, providing service to clients we already both represent as well as to financial services institutions across the country.”

In 2005, American Lawyer Media named Reed Smith among the firms nationwide that commercial banks turn to most often for litigation support. The firm’s successful trial record places it among the pre-eminent class action practices nationally, with seasoned attorneys in each of its markets and a range of litigators who serve as national lead counsel on major matters. The U.S. Financial Services Litigation group now numbers more than 50 attorneys in the United States, with more than 20 of those resident in the West Coast offices. The firm’s European Litigation Department advises financial services institutions around the world on a wide variety of wholesale and retail matters.

The group has successfully defended clients in a wide range of business challenges, including mortgages, credit cards, mutual funds, insurance products, insurance marketing and financing, automobile financing, subprime lending, and other forms of financing. It has experience in defense of both state and federal claims spanning arbitration, truth-in-lending, consumer fraud, unfair trade, predatory lending, RICO, and RESPA/yield spread premium matters. It also represents financial institutions in business disputes with vendors, government entities and competitors in matters that include antitrust actions; government contract disputes; and business torts, such as fraud, libel, trade secrets and restrictive covenants.

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith LLP is a top-25 international law firm with 1,000 lawyers located in 18 cities worldwide (14 in the United States and four in Europe). The firm represents clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to mid-market and emerging companies. Clients include financial services firms, life sciences companies, health care providers, technology companies and entrepreneurs, power generators and suppliers, manufacturers, real estate companies, universities, and non-profit organizations throughout the world. For more information, visit www.reedsmith.com.

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