Reed Smith

Reed Smith is a global full-service law firm founded in 1877 with 1,600+ lawyers across 34 offices worldwide, serving multinational corporations, private equity sponsors, and financial institutions across five industry verticals with $1.58B in revenue.

Company typePrivate
Founded1877
HeadquartersPittsburgh, United States
Headcount1,001–5,000
GTM typeB2B
OfferingServices

What Reed Smith does

Reed Smith LLP is a global full-service law firm founded in 1877 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The firm employs over 3,000 people, including more than 1,600 lawyers, across 34 offices spanning the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Asia Pacific. Reed Smith delivers legal services across four practice groups (Advisory & Counseling, Litigation & Disputes, Regulatory, and Transactional) and five industry verticals (Energy & Natural Resources, Entertainment & Media, Financial Services, Health Care & Life Sciences, and Transportation), serving multinational corporations, private equity sponsors, financial institutions, and government entities. The firm reported fiscal year revenue of $1.58 billion with profits per partner exceeding $2 million.

The firm's technology footprint centers on Gravity Stack LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary that provides AI-enabled e-discovery solutions and legal technology platform development. Reed Smith operates Reed Smith Resource Law Alliance in Singapore (a combination of Reed Smith Pte Ltd and Resource Law LLC) and maintains wholly-owned subsidiaries including Reed Smith Richards Butler LLP (Hong Kong), Beaufort Trust Corporation Limited (UK pension and trustee services), and Reed Smith Corporate Services Limited. The firm holds Tier 1 rankings in The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific for Data Protection among foreign firms in China, and ranks in PitchBook's Q2 2025 Global League Tables for private equity, M&A, and ECVC.

Reed Smith's go-to-market is relationship-based and partner-led, targeting enterprise clients with complex cross-border legal matters. Revenue is generated through professional fees billed primarily on hourly rates or fixed fees per matter, with alternative billing arrangements available depending on client preference. The firm markets through extensive thought leadership (industry blogs, podcasts, client alerts, and CLE events) and pursues aggressive geographic and practice expansion via lateral partner hiring and new office launches (four new offices opened in approximately 14 months including Atlanta, Denver, Riyadh, and Boston).

Reed Smith firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Reed Smith
Legal name: Reed Smith LLP
Website: https://reedsmith.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1877
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 1,001–5,000 employees
Short description: Reed Smith is a global full-service law firm founded in 1877 with 1,600+ lawyers across 34 offices worldwide, serving multinational corporations, private equity sponsors, and financial institutions across five industry verticals with $1.58B in revenue.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Reed Smith industry classification

Industry

Product category: Legal Services
NAICS: Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)
SIC: Services-Legal Services (8111)
akta.pro primary industry: Litigation & Dispute Resolution (BPAHAAAB)
akta.pro secondary industry: Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Insolvency Law (BPAHAAAH)

Keywords

Legal services
Corporate law
Litigation services
Regulatory compliance
Transactional law

Where Reed Smith is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Pittsburgh
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices30 records

Markets served

Reed Smith business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

Legal Services - Professional Fees: Revenue generated from providing legal advisory services to corporate clients across multiple practice areas including M&A, private equity, litigation, regulatory compliance, and transactional work. Services billed primarily on hourly rates or fixed fees per matter.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Other	Multi-year contract	Enterprise legal services for corporations and institutions

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Reed Smith product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Reed Smith is an international law firm providing comprehensive legal services across four practice groups—Advisory & Counseling, Litigation & Disputes, Regulatory, and Transactional—for clients in Energy & Natural Resources, Entertainment & Media, Financial Services, Health Care & Life Sciences, and Transportation. Services are delivered by more than 1,600 lawyers across 34 global offices and billed primarily on hourly rates or fixed fees per matter.

Product overview

Reed Smith is a global law firm providing comprehensive legal services across multiple practice areas and industries. The firm does not offer a software product or technology platform; rather, it delivers legal services through attorneys across offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Services are organized into four main practice groups: Advisory & Counseling, Litigation & Disputes, Regulatory, and Transactional. The firm serves clients across five industry sectors: Energy & Natural Resources, Entertainment & Media, Financial Services, Health Care & Life Sciences, and Transportation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

Gravity Stack: Technology and legal solutions subsidiary providing AI-powered e-discovery and legal technology services
Reed Smith Alumni Network

Products and services

Advisory & Counseling Legal Services Legal advisory and counseling services for corporate clients, providing strategic legal guidance on business operations, regulatory matters, and risk management across multiple industries.
Litigation & Disputes Legal Services Representation of clients in complex litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution matters, including high-stakes commercial disputes, international arbitration, and cross-border litigation.
Regulatory Legal Services Regulatory compliance counseling, enforcement defense, and regulatory investigations across multiple industries and jurisdictions, including healthcare regulation, financial services compliance, and trade compliance.
Transactional Legal Services

Quantifiable outcome

$1.58 billion in revenue with profits per partner exceeding $2 million

Companies that use Reed Smith

Customer profile

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Reed Smith technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Reed Smith partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

WTW (formerly Willis)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026Reed Smith collaborated with WTW on the annual Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Survey, providing insights on top risks for directors and officers globally. The survey showed geopolitical risk rising to top 7 concerns with 59% rating it very important or extremely important.
Zepos & YannopoulosminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReed Smith advised Eurobank on EUR 144 million financing while Zepos & Yannopoulos advised Mirova via its subsidiary Trifylli Iliaki for photovoltaic portfolio in Greece. Both firms served as co-advisors on the transaction.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Reed Smith competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

DLA Piper: Global full-service law firm with comparable international footprint (40+ countries) and similar mid-tier-to-large Am Law 50 revenue scale. Overlaps directly with Reed Smith across M&A, PE, litigation, and regulatory practices for multinational and middle-market clients.
Hogan Lovells: Major international law firm formed through the merger of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells. Comparable size, global office network, and full-service practice mix — particularly strong overlap with Reed Smith in energy, financial services, and life sciences regulatory work.
Norton Rose Fulbright: Global law firm with closely comparable revenue scale and industry-aligned practice mix across financial services, energy, and transportation. Reed Smith has actively poached partners from Norton Rose Fulbright (e.g., Etelka Bogardi in Singapore fintech), reflecting direct talent market overlap.
White & Case: Global elite law firm that has been actively recruiting Reed Smith M&A partners (Jenny Cheng, Sue Nieto). Direct head-to-head competitor for cross-border M&A, PE, and large-cap transactional mandates across Reed Smith's key client segments.
Goodwin Procter: U.S. law firm with strong PE, life sciences, and financial services practices. Actively recruiting Reed Smith partners and associates (six Philadelphia hires, healthcare attorney from Reed Smith), representing the most direct market overlap in PE and life sciences.

Broad incumbents

Baker McKenzie: Largest global law firm by geographic reach (70+ offices). Direct competitor for cross-border transactional and regulatory work, particularly in emerging markets where Reed Smith is also expanding (Middle East, Southeast Asia).
Freshfields: Premier international law firm competing with Reed Smith on high-end M&A and PE transactions. Source of lateral talent (Andrea Merediz Basham, recently recruited by White & Case from Freshfields), demonstrating the shared senior-partner labor pool.
Kirkland & Ellis: Largest law firm globally by revenue, dominant in private equity and large-cap M&A. Represents the ceiling Reed Smith competes against for premium PE deals and is the structural competitor that pressures the long-term trajectory of mid-tier firms like Reed Smith.
A&O Shearman: Global elite law firm formed by the Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling combination. Directly competing for high-end cross-border M&A, finance, and disputes work that Reed Smith targets through its global offices.

Emerging players

Bird & Bird: International law firm with strong technology, media, and life sciences practices. Reed Smith hired Anders Nilsson, the former head of Bird & Bird's Middle East offices, evidencing direct regional overlap and talent competition in the Middle East.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Reed Smith financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Reed Smith leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Reed Smith subsidiaries and ownership

Company hierarchy

Subsidiaries8 records

Reed Smith funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Reed Smith M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Reed Smith

What does Reed Smith do?

Is Reed Smith a public or private company?

Reed Smith is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.

When was Reed Smith founded?

Reed Smith was founded in 1877. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.

Where is Reed Smith based?

Reed Smith is headquartered in Pittsburgh, United States, in the North America region.

How does Reed Smith make money?

One revenue line is on record: legal Services - Professional Fees.

Who are Reed Smith's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright, White & Case and Goodwin Procter. Broad incumbents are Baker McKenzie, Freshfields, Kirkland & Ellis and A&O Shearman. Bird & Bird is listed as an emerging player.

Does Reed Smith have an API?

No public API is recorded for Reed Smith.

What industry is Reed Smith in?

Reed Smith's product category is Legal Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAAAB, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, with a secondary code of BPAHAAAH, Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Insolvency Law. Its NAICS code is 541110 and its SIC code is 8111.