Since joining Reed Smith in 2011, Finch garnered a reputation for creating effective and innovative risk management solutions, while helping her commercial policyholder clients recover hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance proceeds through litigation. Finch is further recognized for her leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the firm and in the wider legal community, as well as for her innovations in developing new legal technology.
“Amber’s leadership and litigation acumen have contributed greatly to the national reputation of our Insurance Recovery Group, which The American Lawyer named the 2021 Insurance Litigation Department of the Year,” said Doug Cameron, the firm’s managing partner for the Americas. “Over the last 10 years, she has also played a key role in the success of our Los Angeles office, helping attract top talent while championing inclusion and advancement for women and minority attorneys. We are thrilled that she has agreed to take the reins as our new L.A. office managing partner.”
In addition to addressing client needs arising from the ongoing pandemic, Finch’s priorities in her new role include building out the firm’s footprint in Southern California along with her colleague Cisca Mok, who serves as managing partner of the firm’s Century City office. The two are focused on recruiting talented laterals and rising stars, as well as attracting, retaining, and advancing attorneys in the offices. Through this role, they will also work together to advance the firm’s Racial Equity Action Plan, ensuring racially diverse lawyers and professional staff are also part of the firm’s growth blueprint.
“I am honored and excited to step into this role, and I am especially grateful for Lorenzo’s thoughtful and longstanding leadership, under which our office has flourished,” Finch said. “Chief among my priorities will be to build upon our firm’s foundation of innovation and inclusion and take it to the next level.”
Finch is also well-known for her pro bono efforts on behalf of underrepresented communities. She is spearheading Reed Smith’s partnership with The Bail Project, including in a national pro bono effort focused on bail reform and combatting racial injustice and police brutality. Among her pro bono immigration work, Finch successfully petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to vacate the unlawful removal and detention orders of a legal permanent resident. She has also been a regular volunteer at the Central District of California's Federal Pro Se Clinic and serves on the Boards of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and Crystal Stairs, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to the betterment of underserved children and families.
Finch is further known for her tireless work breaking down barriers and smashing glass ceilings. In 2021, she was named a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion” at the Women, Influence & Power in Law awards, and an “Ethnic Minority Role Model” by EMpower. She has also been called one of the “Most Influential Minority Attorneys” and “Top Litigators & Trial Lawyers” by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Before her move to office managing partner, Finch previously served as partner chair of the firm’s African American business inclusion group STAARS (Sustaining and Training African Americans at Reed Smith), which supports the growth of Black lawyers and staff across all ranks. She is also a former president of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and served as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s subcommittee on Women in Insurance.
Finch holds a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University, where she made the Dean's List. In 2002, she achieved her J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School with honors. Finch began her legal career in 2000 as a judicial extern for the Hon. Barry T. Moskowitz in the Southern District of California. Over her career, she has served as an adjunct professor of Legal Writing, Research, and Advocacy for the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, and in 2021, was inducted as a fellow into the prestigious American College of Coverage Counsel.