Arriving together from Hirschler Fleischer, this duo brings to the firm decades of combined experience acting on behalf of both institutional investors and investment managers and advisors. Joining along with Klees and Farmer are of counsel Guy Morley and associates Sheherezade (“Zee”) Malik and Aleks Johnson.

“Adding strong corporate and securities talent continues to be a top strategic priority for the Global Corporate group and the firm. These highly regarded lawyers are a great strategic fit as they bring with them a sophisticated private funds practice, representing state pension plans and other institutional investors in private funds, forming private funds, as well as providing regulatory advice,” said James Tandler, co-chair of the Reed Smith Global Corporate Group. “This group will immediately contribute to our growing funds practice, and we are excited to have them join our firm.”

A recognized authority on legal, compliance and policy issues, Klees advises endowments, foundations, pension plans, family offices, outsourced chief investment offices (OCIOs) and other institutional investors, regulatory oversight, risk management, operations, and compliance and ethics issues. Klees formerly served with Farmer as co-chairs of Hirschler’s investment management practice group, and past roles include serving as general counsel of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) and associate general counsel for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Klees frequently writes and speaks on institutional investment matters. He is the former chair of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Institutional Investors Committee and is an advisor to the Institutional Limited Partner Association. He is also co-author, with Nobel Prize winner H. Robert Horvitz, Ph.D., of Connecting with Companies: A Guide to Biomedical Consulting Agreements, and is a former lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Law where he co-taught a course on private equity and hedge funds.