(May 7, 2007, Washington, D.C.) – Reed Smith LLP, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, today named Tyree P. Jones, Jr., its firmwide Director of Diversity, effective immediately. Mr. Jones works from the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, where he is of counsel in Reed Smith’s Labor & Employment Practice Group.

“Tyree is well qualified to continue the successes we have achieved in our firmwide diversity efforts, which are exceptionally important to reaching Reed Smith’s strategic goals,” said Gregory B. Jordan, Reed Smith’s firmwide Managing Partner.  “He brings many years of personal involvement in professional diversity initiatives to the role of ensuring that our firm’s workforce is appropriately diverse and that diverse perspectives inform our actions and decisions.”

Mr. Jones is no stranger to the diversity arena; he has been working with diversity issues within the legal profession for more than 20 years in his employment practice, through his involvement with Bar Association of San Francisco’s (BASF) two-decades long Goals and Timetables for Minority Hiring and Advancement project, and through active participation in the Georgetown University Board of Governors’ diversity efforts.

Mr. Jones contributed to BASF’s 1999 and 2004 Interim Report on the Goals and Timetables for Minority Hiring and Advancement through participation in assessment and measurement activities. He personally interviewed majority and minority attorneys in San Francisco’s largest law firms collecting anecdotal information to enhance the statistical data analysis.  Much of his appreciation for the issues faced by diverse attorneys comes from this experience.  

“I have made a life-long investment in improving the opportunities for diverse individuals to succeed through innovative activities, initiatives and programming,” said Mr. Jones.  “Reed Smith provides a tremendous platform to address the unique challenges faced by lawyers of color, those with disabilities and members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.  Personal experiences and those shared with me by clients and colleagues in these communities fuel my passion to fulfill the firm’s mandate that diversity remain a visible and valued component of the Reed Smith culture.”

Reed Smith’s diversity programming incorporates robust, multi-faceted approaches and activities, including participation on an ongoing basis in numerous minority recruitment activities and programs.  The firm has established a Fellowship program in several of its offices that provides summer work and scholarship funding for minority law students who have faced economic, social or personal adversity.  It has also trained its recruitment staff on the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Myth of Meritocracy’s method of creating pathways to law firm diversity.

In addition, the firm’s Diversity Committee members have been fully integrated into the recruitment process; and mandatory diversity and inclusion training has been instituted firmwide.  Other efforts have focused on developing a range of diversity skill-building and networking opportunities, including an annual Diversity Retreat, where the firm’s attorneys and clients converge to network, discuss and resolve issues facing diverse lawyers.
 
Reed Smith’s diversity efforts have made a significant difference. In 2001, the firm had 6 minority partners, today it has 30.  The number of minority lawyers overall has grown from 38 in 2001 to 158 in 2007.  Moreover, the firm has increased the number of minority attorneys in leadership positions, including on its Executive Committee, as office managing partners and in firmwide practice leadership positions.
 
 Mr. Jones’ initial strategy will continue to expand on Reed Smith’s focus on recruiting and retaining diverse attorneys.  “Retention is of particular interest to me,” he said.  “We have a wealth of intellectual talent among our diverse attorneys.  It’s critical to our retention efforts to ensure that these, as well as all attorneys, have equal access to opportunities that permit them to excel professionally at the firm.”

His plans include raising the profile of Reed Smith’s Diversity Committee internally in the firm’s offices and developing additional networking tools and strategies that will benefit the firm’s diverse workforce, including additional training, mentoring and other programming to keep the focus on diversity issues.

Mr. Jones is a 1986 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, and received his B.A. in 1982 from Bowdoin College.  Active in his community, Mr. Jones is a two-term past president of the board of directors of the San Francisco Suicide Prevention Agency, a four-term past president of the board of directors of the Wiley Manuel Law Foundation,  and a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Oakland East Bay Symphony.  A longtime volunteer for Georgetown University, he has served on its Law Center’s National Law Alumni Board and the University’s Board of Governors. He assisted in endowing one of Georgetown’s first scholarships for minority law students.  In 2006, he received Georgetown University Law Center's most celebrated award recognizing outstanding alumni service to the community and the profession - the Paul R. Dean Award.

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith is one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, with more than 1,500 lawyers in 21 offices throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East.  Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises.  Its attorneys provide litigation services in multi-jurisdictional matters and other high stake disputes, deliver regulatory counsel, and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions.  Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising and media, shipping, international trade and commodities, real estate, manufacturing, and education.  For more information, visit reedsmith.com

U.S.: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Princeton, Northern Virginia, Wilmington, Century City, Richmond

Europe: London, Paris, Munich, Birmingham, Greece

Middle East:  Abu Dhabi, Dubai