“It is an honor and a privilege to serve as the firm’s Global Managing Partner, and I appreciate the continued confidence of my partners,” said Thomas. “I am proud of what we have accomplished and look forward to further strategic growth focused on our five leading industry groups: financial industry, life sciences/healthcare, media & entertainment, energy & natural resources and shipping.”
Thomas has led several strategic expansions during his first term. In May 2015, Reed Smith opened an office in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital and a global hub for commerce. In 2016, Reed Smith made a substantial, further investment in Singapore with the launch of a Formal Law Alliance (FLA) with Singapore law practice, Resource Law LLC, which handles multi¬jurisdictional transactions, disputes and cross-border work involving Singapore law. In 2017, the firm opened an office in Miami, adding a high-profile, seven-lawyer International Arbitration and Litigation Practice from Astigarraga Davis. Last year, in Europe, the firm also added more than 50 lawyers from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) to its London, Frankfurt, Munich and Paris offices.
Excellence in client service is a key benchmark for the firm. Acritas ranks Reed Smith as one of the Top 20 Global Elite Law Firm Brands in the world. According to the BTI Client Service A-Team report, Reed Smith is among the six “best of the best” law firms that clients say provide the greatest value. Most recently, Corporate Counsel magazine honored Reed Smith as this year’s “Best Outside Counsel for Big Litigation” and “Best Firm Working With Alternative Fee Arrangements.”
A member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), Thomas has also furthered Reed Smith’s longstanding commitments to diversity and inclusion with several recent milestones. For example, Reed Smith is proud to be one of the 30 leading law firms to pilot the Mansfield Rule, which requires that at least 30% of the candidates for leadership and governance positions, equity partner promotions, and lateral positions, to be women and attorneys of color. The firm was also honored this year by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) as one of only two law firms in the United States to have met or exceeded all of the criteria to achieve WILEF’s “Gold Standard” for a record seven years in a row, and has also been named to Working Mother’s annual list of the “Best Law Firms for Women” for six consecutive years. The firm is also named in Stonewall’s Top 100 LGBTQ Employers 2017 list for the second year in a row, and was named “Equality & Diversity Firm of the Year” by In-House Community, among numerous other accolades.
Providing leading pro bono services to underrepresented communities, has continued as a core value for the firm during Thomas’ tenure. The American Lawyer honored the firm’s Global Refugee Protection Project with its 2016 “Grand Prize for Global Citizenship;” and the Financial Times named the director of the project one of the “Top 10 Most Innovative Lawyers in North America.”
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers in 27 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses, from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its lawyers provide litigation and other dispute-resolution services in multi-jurisdictional and other high-stakes matters; deliver regulatory counsel; and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising, entertainment and media, shipping and transport, energy and natural resources, real estate, manufacturing, technology, and education.
U.S.: Century City, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Richmond, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Tysons, Washington, D.C., Wilmington
Europe: Athens, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Paris
Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Dubai
Asia: Beijing, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Shanghai, Singapore
