Sandy is the Global Managing Partner and Executive Committee Chair of Reed Smith, a progressive, inclusive, and entrepreneurial global relationship law firm. He was elected to the Firm's senior leadership team in 2012 and has served in his present role since 2013. He orients his service to the firm around Reed Smith’s Core Values: Integrity, Excellence, Teamwork & Respect, Innovation, and Impact. Under Sandy’s leadership, Reed Smith has become trusted counsel to global clients in the financial services, life sciences and health, energy and natural resources, transportation, and entertainment and media industries. Sandy has led Reed Smith’s growth into key markets, including Houston, Dallas, Austin, Miami, Frankfurt, and Brussels, expanding the firm’s footprint to 30 global offices across 10 countries.
Sandy’s service to clients focuses on complex disputes often involving antitrust and competition matters. He has particular experience advising clients and corporate law departments on confidentiality protections afforded by the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, especially in cross-border settings. He has written and spoken extensively on these subjects.
Sandy has elevated Reed Smith as a top service provider. The firm has been repeatedly recognized for innovation in its service to clients and the communities in which the partnership works. He championed the development and spin-off of Gravity Stack, Reed Smith’s data-driven legal technology and solutions subsidiary, named by the National Law Journal as a “2021 Legal Technology Trailblazer”. As a thought leader on the importance of innovation, Sandy sits on the advisory board of Intapp, a leading provider of industry-specific, cloud-based software and services for the global professional and financial services industry. Sandy also leads the charge for the firm’s client value initiatives. In 2020, The American Lawyer Industry Awards named Reed Smith’s renowned Client Value Team as “Best Business Team” for its use of alternative fee arrangements and for providing clients with innovative project management tools. And in 2019, The American Lawyer Industry Awards recognized Reed Smith with its “Best Legal Services Innovation” award for “commitment to innovation through nearly every aspect of its operations, investing heavily in processes, technology and talent development, all with an eye toward finding smarter ways to deliver the best legal services to its clients.”
With Sandy’s leadership, the firm launched “Reed Smith Associate Advantage,” a unique and robust three-year professional development program focused on building legal, business, and leadership skills among new associates.
Sandy, an outspoken advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, has made the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women and diverse professionals strategic priorities for Reed Smith. The firm’s perennial attainment of Mansfield Certification Plus status, WILEF Gold Standard certification, and Seramount “Best Law Firms for Women” acknowledgement, demonstrates its commitment to these priorities.
Consistent with the firm’s Core Values, Sandy has furthered the firm’s commitment to pro bono legal service and has implemented a Global Environmental Sustainability Plan. Under the Plan, the firm intends to achieve a 20% reduction in its carbon footprint by 2024. Year over year, pro bono work continues to be Reed Smith’s “largest client”. Among a wide range of activities for the disadvantaged, the firm’s Refugee Protection Project received The American Lawyer’s 2018 Global Legal Award for Pro Bono. Additionally, the firm received the ‘Pro Bono and CSR Initiative of the Year’ award at the Transatlantic Legal Awards 2018.
