(Pittsburgh, PA, January 6, 2003) The American Lawyer has announced the selection of Reed Smith LLP Managing Partner Gregory B. Jordan as one of the nation's 45 most outstanding attorneys under the age of 45 in private practice. He is the only Pennsylvania lawyer named to the highly select group.
The publication hailed Jordan and the 44 other winners of the coveted honor as the private bar's next generation of leaders.
"This is really an honor for our firm," Jordan said. "It says a lot about the achievements of the entire Reed Smith team and what we have accomplished.”
In 2000, when Jordan was tapped by his peers at Reed Smith to take over the reins, it was a 700-lawyer firm representing many of the nation’s largest and most successful companies, and he became the youngest elected managing partner in its 125-year history. At 43, he is one of the youngest managing partners providing day-to-day direction to a top-20 firm.
Under Jordan's leadership in 2001, Reed Smith completed a sweeping internal reorganization as well as a significant transatlantic merger. Despite a generally weakening economy, the firm’s 2001 financial results - a 27 percent jump in both revenues and profitability - were the best in its long history and among the most improved of AmLaw 100 firms.
"We had another strong year in 2002," Jordan said.
Jordan has also continued the reengineering and expansion of the firm in the past 12 months, including a 2002 combination with the 25-lawyer New York City firm of Parker Duryee; the fall acquisition of a top-10 mutual fund practice through a unique transfer to Reed Smith of the law department of Pittsburgh-based Federated Investors, Inc.; the completed combination with California-based Crosby Heafey that became effective Wednesday; and the opening of a healthcare consulting office in Dublin, Ireland.
A member of the firm’s Litigation Group, Jordan's private clients include leading financial services companies and entertainment companies. His successes in and out of the courtroom are well-documented, including a highly visible and landmark victory in the iCrave TV case on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America in April 2000, which was a formative case in the application of copyright and trademark laws to the Internet.
Additional high-profile cases have included the defeat of Milberg Weiss, and other leading national plaintiff firms in class actions facing leading financial services companies, including: Kerr v. AmSouth Bank, with an 8-0 reversal by the Alabama Supreme Court in a major mutual fund sales class action case; Fischler v. AmSouth Bancorporation, a leading decision involving bank sales of mutual funds; Shelley v. AmSouth Bank, denying class certification and granting summary judgment in a closely watched case challenging NSF fees and posting order; and Warden v. Crown American Realty Trust, affirming summary judgment in $100 million securities class action.
In addition, Jordan was trial counsel in Packard v. Provident National Bank, a precedent-setting decision in the banking and trust field; Mellon Bank v. Smith, a case involving mutual fund administration agreements; and BIEC International, Inc. v. Global Steel Servs., Ltd., a leading case in the trade secret field. He served as Appellate Counsel in Papa v. New Castle News, which overturned a substantial libel verdict.
Jordan not only serves as Managing Partner of the 1000-lawyer firm, but also chairs its Senior Management Team and Executive Committee. He previously served as the firm’s Director of Legal Personnel and Director of Practice Development. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers In America since 1995. In 1984, he graduated cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and Order of the Coif. He joined Reed Smith later that year. Jordan earned his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Bethany College in 1981. A native of Wheeling, West Virginia, he currently resides in Rosslyn Farms, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Ellen, and their two daughters. He is a member of the Duquesne Club, serving on its Health and Fitness Center Governing Committee, as well as the Board of Trustees of Bethany College in West Virginia.
Reed Smith, a leading global law firm with nearly 1,000 lawyers located in 16 U.S. and two U.K. cities, represents Fortune 100 as well as mid-market and emerging companies. Clients include technology companies and entrepreneurs, financial services firms, life sciences companies and health care providers and insurers, communications companies, manufacturers, universities, non-profit organizations, real estate developers, and municipalities throughout the United States and in 40 countries. For more information, please visit reedsmith.com.