Peter M. Ellis, Co-Chair of Reed Smith’s Global Commercial Disputes Group (GCD) and a member of Reed Smith’s Executive Committee, was announced as the firm’s new Global Chair of the Litigation Department, replacing Cameron. Ellis will oversee 700 lawyers in the Department. Janet Kwuon, a member of its Executive Committee, was announced as the new Co-Chair of the Global Commercial Disputes Group, which includes 245 lawyers worldwide, replacing Ellis. The three formally assumed their new roles on July 1st.
Pollack announced his retirement in March after more than 35 years of service to Reed Smith. Before serving four years as Managing Partner – Americas, Pollack formerly served as the firm’s Global Head of Strategy for a decade and as the firm’s Chief Legal Officer.
“Reed Smith is fortunate to have a deep bench of experienced partners who are extremely capable of assuming these top leadership positions,” said Sandy Thomas, the firm’s Global Managing Partner. “These three partners – Doug Cameron, Peter Ellis and Janet Kwuon – have already served in important leadership roles at the firm for years, and I am looking forward to their contributions to our clients, our partnership and our business. It’s bittersweet in that Michael Pollack is transitioning off the leadership team, and there are no words to adequately thank him for his years of service to the firm and our clients. He has been responsible for spearheading the firm’s most significant growth initiatives for more than two decades.”
Before becoming Reed Smith’s Global Chair of Litigation, Cameron served more than 13 years as Practice Group Leader of the Insurance Recovery Group, where he led its growth into a market-leading U.S. and international powerhouse. A career Reed Smith lawyer of 35 years, he has a deep knowledge of the firm’s people and practices worldwide and thoroughly understands the firm’s business strategies. As Litigation Chair (2016-2019), Cameron oversaw the growth of Reed Smith’s International Arbitration practice; the launch of its Women in the Courtroom Initiative; and the development of the Global Commercial Disputes Group. Cameron also helped pave the way for the firm’s growth in key practices, leading Litigation Department to back-to-back years of robust financial results.
As the current Co-Chair of the GCD, Ellis collaborated with Cameron and others to enhance the firm’s Trial Initiative, expand the visibility of its Class Action practice, and complete a combination of the US Complex Litigation and EME Commercial Disputes practice groups to create the GCD, which includes litigators in the U.S., Europe, Middle East and Asia. His responsibilities on the firm’s Executive Committee include chairing its Clients & Markets Committee and serving on the Talent Committee. Ellis’ practice is focused on commercial disputes and counseling businesses in a wide variety of legal issues, including corporate governance, litigation avoidance and crisis management.
Kwuon has a firmwide reputation for strategic thinking, inclusiveness and candor. In addition to serving as a member of the firmwide Executive Committee, she was the Global Director of Complex Litigation and E-Discovery and a member of the firmwide Diversity Committee. Kwuon is co-chairing the GCD with Peter Hardy. She has practiced at Reed Smith or its predecessor firm Crosby Heafey for 25 of her 30 years as a lawyer. Before that, she tried dozens of cases as a Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County.