"Our clients are enthusiastic about our presence in Denver. Like Atlanta, Denver is a vibrant, fast-growing market. This expansion is aligned with our growth strategy and builds on the strength and experience of our private equity, finance and technology teams," said Casey Ryan, Reed Smith's Global Managing Partner.
"2024 was a banner year for Reed Smith, and that momentum is continuing into 2025. In the past month alone, we've added 57 new lawyers. These talented professionals recognize the value of our global brand and the exceptional service we provide our clients. With the addition of our Denver and Atlanta offices, Reed Smith continues to solidify its position as a leader in attracting top-tier talent and delivering best-in-class service to clients in the U.S. and around the globe," Ryan added.
Jay Spader, a seasoned finance lawyer who joins Reed Smith from Brownstein and formerly chaired that firm’s Corporate & Business Department, will serve as managing partner of Reed Smith’s new Denver office.
"We're excited to join the firm and leverage its strong reputation in private equity and finance. We see a unique opportunity with a firm like Reed Smith, which represents 23 of the top 25 banks and has more than 100 clients doing business in the Denver area. The firm's commitment to service excellence and community engagement, along with its wealth of experience across its leading industry groups, all deeply resonated with us. This move is a perfect fit for us and our clients," Spader said.
Spader will be joined by fellow Brownstein corporate partners Brendan Leanos, Jason Larkin and Chris Hand; emerging technologies partner Tyler Thompson from Greenberg Traurig; litigation partners Adam Massaro and Joyce Williams from Akerman; insurance recovery partners Chris Mosley and Brooke Yates from Foley Hoag; and real estate partner Camille Bacon-Schulte from Dentons. Four current Reed Smith lawyers are also joining the Denver office, including partner James Martin and counsels Garrett Parks, Lizbeth Rodriguez-Johnson and Michael Sandusky, adding strength in appellate, investigations, and labor and employment and making Reed Smith’s Denver office a well-rounded offering from the start.
"We like to win, and the opening of our Denver office with these talented lawyers is a major win for both our clients and the firm. This opening reflects Reed Smith's continued focus on smart growth around our strategic priorities. We see where the market is going and we intend to get there first," said Julie Hardin, Reed Smith's Managing Partner—Americas.
"Like Atlanta, Denver is a talent-rich market. In addition to expanding our corporate team, we are adding skilled trial lawyers, insurance recovery lawyers, and real estate practitioners. We will continue to build in Denver by recruiting top-of-the-market lawyers who are eager to grow their practices and leverage our industry focus and global capabilities. This is just the beginning," Hardin added.
"We've assembled a phenomenal team in Denver, and their decades of experience in middle-market sponsor finance and sophisticated lending transactions will significantly strengthen our corporate practice, which now includes over 350 lawyers," said Matt Mohn, Co-chair of Reed Smith's Global Corporate Group and Chair of its U.S. Corporate Group.
"In 2024, our group closed nearly 200 deals, many of which focused on middle-market transactions—particularly in the technology, health care and life sciences, retail and consumer goods, and industrials sectors. We expect this trend to accelerate, and it has been a key driver in our decision to expand our transactional, finance and technology capabilities with the addition of our colleagues in Atlanta and numerous well-known laterals in major legal markets throughout our global platform," Mohn added.
The opening of Reed Smith's Denver office further strengthens the firm's capabilities in key areas, including emerging technologies, global commercial disputes, real estate and insurance recovery.
"The opportunity to join the country’s leading insurance recovery practice and build a formidable presence in the Denver market was too compelling to pass up. Our clients will benefit from day one from the breadth, depth and national reach of the firm’s insurance recovery group," said Chris Mosley, a nationally known insurance recovery lawyer and one of the new partners joining Reed Smith.
With transactional and litigation services widely recognized as top-notch, the firm is well-positioned to support clients across a range of complex legal matters. The Denver office also will expand the firm's ability to advise on critical compliance, artificial intelligence, data governance and data privacy issues, reinforcing Reed Smith's commitment to delivering comprehensive, forward-thinking legal solutions.
Reed Smith’s Denver partners
Camille Bacon-Schulte advises clients on a wide range of sophisticated transactions, including leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, mortgage and mezzanine financings, joint venture formations, and development projects involving commercial real estate of all asset classes, including data center, multi-family, mixed-use, office, hospitality, and casino properties.
Chris Hand assists clients with complex financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate matters. In his finance practice, Hand represents lenders and borrowers in secured and unsecured financing arrangements, including acquisition financings, asset-based revolving credit facilities, project financings and other middle-market credit facilities. He also advises issuers on high-yield debt offerings.
Jason Larkin focuses on secured and unsecured corporate finance transactions, including complex private equity-backed and strategic acquisition financings, project financings, asset-based financings and other borrower- and lender-side commercial financings. He has significant experience with cross-border transactions, specifically in Latin America, handling capital market and project finance transactions. Larkin is expected to join Reed Smith once he is released from his current firm.
Brendan Leanos represents financial institutions, direct lenders, private equity funds and their portfolio companies in lending transactions. He has experience representing lenders and borrowers in senior secured loans, second-lien and mezzanine loans, and unsecured loans. His experience also includes advising middle-market companies and private equity funds on mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters. Leanos is expected to join Reed Smith once he is released from his current firm.
James Martin is a veteran Reed Smith partner who has concentrated on appellate law for more than 35 years. Martin's experience spans a wide range of substantive areas, including bet-the-company cases involving unfair competition, insurance recovery and bad faith, financial services, intellectual property, product liability, pharmaceutical and medical devices, false claims and class actions.
Adam Massaro is an intellectual property and corporate trial lawyer with experience handling multimillion-dollar matters throughout the United States. He provides strategic counseling to companies in the cannabis, equine, financial services, manufacturing, retail and consumer goods, and health care industries. Joining Reed Smith’s corporate litigation team with Massaro and Williams is senior associate Nick Erickson, formerly of Akerman.
Chris Mosley is a nationally recognized insurance recovery attorney and former head of Sherman & Howard’s and Foley Hoag’s insurance recovery groups. Mosley represents businesses in a wide variety of insurance disputes involving all types of commercial insurance policies. He also advises companies on various risk management issues including the development of complex insurance programs. Mosley serves businesses from all industries with a focus in real estate development and construction. Joining Reed Smith’s Insurance Recovery Group with Mosley and Yates is senior associate Stephen Robin, formerly of Foley Hoag.
Jay Spader is the former head of Brownstein's Corporate & Business Department. He represents first-lien and second-lien senior lenders, mezzanine investors and private equity sponsors in senior debt, mezzanine and private equity financing arrangements. His practice includes a wide range of cash-flow and asset-based credit facilities and mezzanine financings. Spader and the finance team are joined by former Cooley senior associate Josh Rosenholtz.
Tyler Thompson advises clients on data privacy and protection, technology contracts and contract processes, websites and mobile apps, digital accessibility, artificial intelligence, and data issues in the franchise space. Thompson joined Reed Smith in September.
Joyce Williams is a commercial litigator with substantial first- and second-chair trial experience. She advises and litigates on behalf of clients in various industries, from real estate and construction to cannabis and services.
Brooke Yates is the former managing partner of Foley Hoag’s Denver office. She represents corporate policyholders in litigation and provides comprehensive and practical guidance on a variety of insurance coverage issues. She represents policyholders from all industries, with an emphasis in the construction and development space.