Reed Smith was founded in Pittsburgh in 1877 by
Philander C. Knox and
James H. Reed. The two partners created a relationship with American industrial tycoon,
Andrew Carnegie, and the firm grew with Carnegie's business. Large businesses, such as
Heinz (company), and personalities – many of whom, like Carnegie, Knox and Reed, were fellow members of the
South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club – joined the firm's client roster, including
Andrew Mellon (now
The Bank of New York Mellon) and
Henry Clay Frick. During the 1880s, Edwin W. Smith and other partners joined the firm and, in 1922, the firm adopted the name Reed Smith Shaw & McClay. During the
New Deal era, Reed Smith established a securities practice, and partner
Ralph H. Demmler became chair of the
Securities and Exchange Commission. club members Knox and Reed were able to fend off four lawsuits seeking responsibility for the
Johnstown Flood of 1889 against the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, stewards of the dam, Colonel Unger, its president, and against 50 named members. Each case was "either settled or discontinued and, as far as is known, no one bringing action profited thereby." The club was never held legally responsible for the disaster. Knox and Reed successfully argued that the dam's failure was a natural disaster which was an
Act of God, and no legal compensation was paid to the survivors of the flood. |220px From 1970 to the present, the firm engaged in a series of mergers and acquisitions to create one of the largest law firms in the world. In the 1970s, Reed Smith set up office in Washington, DC. In 1978, Reed Smith merged with Philadelphia law firm, Townsend Elliott & Munson (which was founded in 1842 by prominent Philadelphia citizen, Joseph B. Townsend whose
pro bono accomplishments included being Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, chairman of the board of
Jefferson Medical College, and a Board Manager of
Pennsylvania Hospital - see his papers in archives of
University of Delaware). In 1989, the firm merged with Washington firm Pierson, Ball & Dowd, thereby obtaining a health care practice. Reed Smith opened new offices in New York and New Jersey in the 1990s and acquired a
Northern Virginia firm, Hazel & Thomas. During the 2000s Reed Smith experienced rapid international growth. Acquiring the UK law firm Warner Cranston turned Reed Smith transatlantic in 2001 and it opened offices in Paris and Munich four years later. It opened an office in Delaware and combined with a California law firm, Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May, which moved the firm to among the 20 largest law firms in the US. According to market analyst Adviser Rankings the total
market capitalization of Reed Smith's stock market clients in the
United Kingdom is the third highest of all US-law firms. The firm counsels 13 of the world's 15 largest commercial and savings banks; 25 of the world's 35 largest oil and gas companies; and the world's three largest pharmaceutical distribution and wholesale companies. in
Philadelphia|200px In 2016, Reed Smith entered into a formal alliance with Singapore firm Resource Law. A year later the firm opened a new office in Miami. On April 30, 2018, Reed Smith hired Lewis Zirogiannis (
General Electric's former
chief compliance officer) as a partner for its global regulatory enforcement practice in
San Francisco. In 2018, Reed Smith hired 14 lawyers from competitor
Norton Rose Fulbright and added a new office in
Austin, Texas. In January 2020, the firm hired technology, M&A and private equity lawyer Craig Lilly. Lilly previously led
Greenberg Traurig's Silicon Valley corporate practice group. building|185px |210px ==Recognition==