Reed Smith makes 55-lawyer raid in NYC

Reed Smith has today (Tuesday 22 January) secured its long-awaited deal to ramp up in New York with the hire of 55 lawyers from 120-lawyer Anderson Kill & Olick.

The new lawyers will take up positions primarily in Reed Smith's insurance recovery, commercial restructuring and bankruptcy, financial services and commercial litigation practices.

Greg Jordan, Reed Smith's global managing partner, said the new lawyers were, "high-performing individuals whose practice interests and clients are compatible with our firm's existing platform, as well as with our long-term strategic plans for future growth".

The team consists of 25 partners, three counsel and 27 associates and includes firmwide president and CEO Jeffrey Glatzer and Lawrence Kill, the co-chair of Anderson Kill's antitrust group.

Just one week ago, Jordan told The Lawyer (14 January) that London and New York were Reed Smith's priorities for growth in 2008. He wants to make the two offices Reed Smith's largest.

Jordan said that with the firm's two new offices in China and this increased capability in New York, Reed Smith now had a major presence in the world's three key economic centres.