The firm’s Learning & Development (L&D) program was shortlisted for Best Professional Development Initiative, and Life Sciences and Healthcare Industry partner Sarah Cummings Stewart, who leads the firm’s pro bono efforts in Dallas and Austin, was named a finalist for Young Lawyer of the Year—Beyond Practice.
Best professional development initiative
This award “honors an organization that has defined and executed on an initiative or overall mission that supports, enhances and systematizes the professional development of its members.”
Reed Smith’s global, competency-based L&D program provides the firm’s lawyers, paraprofessionals and professional staff in more than 30 offices on three continents with the transparency, professional growth opportunities and support they need to actualize and advance their careers.
Led by Senior Director of Global Learning & Development Lauren Hakala, the firm’s global L&D programming is now all centrally managed and documented in a state-of-the-art global learning management system called Reed Smith Campus.
Hakala and the L&D team also helped launch, and continue to enhance, Reed Smith Associate Advantage, an intensive, progressive professional development program for associates in their first three years of practice.
Young Lawyer of the Year—Beyond Practice
The Young Lawyer of the Year awards “honor young lawyers who have made meaningful advancements in service delivery, public or societal interest, or otherwise worked to improve the profession or community around them, or have shown exceptional work in any transactional or litigation practice.”
A leading partner in Reed Smith’s Reproductive Health Working Group, Sarah Cummings Stewart was honored for creating and leading the firm’s Post-Dobbs Pro Bono Committee, which partners with leading businesses and nonprofits, such as the Center for Reproductive Rights, on cutting-edge pro bono initiatives in support of maternal health.
Additionally, Stewart serves as fundraising manager for the Tahirih Justice Center, and on the board of directors for the Housing Crisis Center in Dallas. She frequently works pro bono with such organizations as Working with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), the Domestic Violence Awareness Project and Veterans’ Legal Clinic. She also has represented numerous death row inmates before state and federal courts.
For this work and more, Reed Smith awarded Stewart its annual 2024 Sean Halpin Award for excellence in pro bono services.