“With its strong talent pool, high quality real estate, growing technology offering and 2-hour connection with London; Leeds is the perfect location from which to launch our billion dollar start-up. Reed Smith Global Solutions represents our commitment to the evolution of our working practices and to delivering high quality services, which are essential for the firm to remain competitive in today’s crowded marketplace”, said Tamara Box, managing partner Europe & Middle East.
Reed Smith Global Solutions will consist of a legal offering as well as a business services function. The legal offering will see the creation of a Records & E-Discovery practice drawing on the firm’s highly successful offering in the US, as well as the hiring of associates and paralegals in key practice and industry groups to expand the firm’s offering throughout the UK. The business services function will draw on the firm’s success in launching its Global Customer Centre (GCC) in Pittsburgh in 2009 which provides accounting, human resources, information technology, business intake and conflict analysis, and central docketing services. With the addition of a second location providing dedicated support across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the firm will be able to continue to enhance global service standards. Over time, the firm intends to integrate both the US and EMEA offerings into the Global Solutions network.
“Our people are our biggest asset and we are committed to growing our base in Leeds through strategic local hires with disruption to our existing teams kept to a minimum. We have several existing vacancies throughout the business in our legal and business services functions which will form the start of our hiring and over time we will continue to assess new vacancies and whether they can be fulfilled in Leeds, London, or another Reed Smith location”, said Kevan Skelton, director of global recruiting.
One of the key aims of Reed Smith Global Solutions is to drive modern and collaborative working practices. In Leeds, we plan to use the open plan layout and an intra-department structure to allow individuals with different skillsets and experiences to work alongside each other to find new approaches to problem solving. The goal is to create not only a place where people want to work, but also an environment that facilitates continual improvement of our practices.
“We recently conducted a detailed audit among our business services leaders and chiefs across marketing and BD, knowledge management, IT, human resources, operations, finance, and client value, to find out what they believed to be the key areas for improvement focus. The overwhelming concern was how to find a solution for improving the quality of our services whilst also increasing the efficiencies of each function. Reed Smith Global Solutions is our answer. It will be the centre of process design innovation enabling our people to focus on ideation, delivery and ultimately improving client service”, said Andrew Jenkinson, London office managing partner.
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a dynamic international law firm, dedicated to helping clients move their businesses forward.
Its long-standing relationships, international outlook and collaborative structure make it a go-to partner for speedy resolution of complex disputes, transactions, and regulatory matters.
For further information, please visit reedsmith.com or contact April French (PR Manager), +44 203 116 2557.
