Comprehensive Diverse Recruitment Policy at Reed Smith US

Reed Smith pursues an active lateral recruitment strategy for diverse talent.

The firm requests that its legal recruiter vendors provide a diverse slate of candidates for all vacancies.

Additionally, the firm participates in numerous diverse bar association events, recruitment programs, and other sponsorship and membership efforts around the country, including the Bay Area African American Partners Group, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Annual Convention, the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association Annual Membership Meeting, the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Diversity Job Fair, Lambda Legal, and a multitude of other diversity-related events throughout the country.

We have seen success through the direct recruitment of diverse lateral candidates through the extensive networks of our diverse attorneys who are actively involved in these organizations, often holding leadership positions.

An example of this is the firm’s involvement in Black Women Lawyers Associations of Northern California (“BWLNC”) and Los Angeles (“BWLLA”): The U.S. Vice Chair for Reed Smith’s D&I Committee has served as the BWLNC president for the past two years. During that time, three more Reed Smith attorneys have also served on the board.

A Los Angeles partner currently serves as the Vice President of BWLLA and another Los Angeles attorney has held several leadership positions within the organization. Both groups work closely with the other affinity bar associations in California, and as a result, Reed Smith has enjoyed significant exposure throughout the state’s diversity bar and a noticeable increase over the past three years in the number of diverse applicants from all backgrounds for summer and lateral positions in California.