Pittsburgh-headquartered Reed Smith has made its London office the centre of its promotions round by making up seven London lawyers to partner, four more than any other office.
As part of a 24-strong promotions round, Reed Smith elected three London-based lawyers in its financial industry group, Iain Balkwill, James Fisher and Nicholas Williams. The firm also boosted its private equity and energy and natural resources groups with the promotions of James Cross and Shareena Edmonds, respectively, and made up disputes lawyer Chloe Carswell, who is well known for representing Kazakhstan against a multi-million pound arbitration claim brought by two Turkish telecommunications companies. Brigid North in real estate was also made up.
The strong London promotions round is a reversal on last year, when five associates were elected to the partnership in New York and three in London, this year’s promotions resulted in just three New York lawyers making partner.
Sandy Thomas, Reed Smith’s global managing partner, said: ‘They have demonstrated a commitment to the profession, this firm and their clients that is commendable. This is an important career step for each of them and an important milestone for Reed Smith as well. We expect great things from this group in the years ahead.’
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
