Reed Smith celebrates 20 years in Paris

Since opening in 2005, the Paris office has grown to 110 lawyers and business professionals serving clients across France, Europe, and around the globe. The team advises leading corporations, investment funds, and institutions in sectors such as finance, technology, health care, transportation, and industry on both advisory and contentious matters.

“Over the past 20 years, we have built an office that is deeply integrated within Reed Smith’s global network. This connectivity enables us to offer our clients seamless, cross-border legal support, combining deep local insight with international reach,” said Natasha Tardif, managing partner of Reed Smith’s Paris office. “Our collaborative approach ensures that clients receive consistent, high-quality advice wherever they operate. This is what truly defines Reed Smith Paris: we are local in presence, global in mindset, and entirely focused on our clients’ success.”

“Reed Smith’s expansion over the past two decades has been guided by one principle: clients first. The firm continues to grow in response to client demand, just as it did when it opened in Paris 20 years ago,” said Casey Ryan, Reed Smith’s global managing partner.

“In 2025 alone, we have expanded our global footprint by opening offices in Atlanta, Denver, and Riyadh, each established to support clients in fast-growing and strategically important markets. Paris was opened on that same principle two decades ago, and today it stands as a model for how we build enduring partnerships by putting clients at the center of everything we do,” said Ryan.

“When we started, we were just a handful of lawyers united by a shared ambition. Twenty years later, that same entrepreneurial spirit continues to drive us,” said Benoît Charot, founding partner of the Paris office. “Our success lies in our ability to anticipate client needs and to evolve with them.”

“The 2007 merger with Richards Butler was an accelerant, strengthening the firm’s international trade and arbitration capabilities and paving the way for sustained growth. Over time, the Paris office has become a key hub in Reed Smith’s Europe strategy. This collaborative structure enables Paris to work seamlessly with colleagues in London, Europe, and beyond, offering clients truly integrated, borderless service,” added Ryan.

“As Reed Smith looks toward its next 20 years, the firm remains focused on combining innovation, particularly in the use of artificial intelligence, with service excellence and collaboration to deliver agile, creative, and efficient solutions to clients’ most complex challenges,” said Tardif.

Beyond its client work, Reed Smith Paris remains deeply committed to the public good. In 2024, the Paris office devoted 3,600 hours to pro bono initiatives promoting access to justice and inclusion, and it continues to support around 10 associations focused on equal opportunity and social mobility.