Law firm Reed Smith adds fifth Calif. office with Orange County launch
(Reuters) - Reed Smith is the latest U.S. law firm to expand its existing California footprint with a new office in the state.
The Pittsburgh-founded global firm said Monday it has opened an Orange County outpost with a group of at least seven lawyers that already work for the firm, including several who were hired in the past year.
The 1,500-lawyer firm said it already has about 200 lawyers in California and four other offices there, including in Los Angeles, Century City, San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
Lawyers based in Reed Smith's new location include real estate partners John Simonis and Daniel Hagedorn. They joined the firm in July from Paul Hastings, where Simonis chaired the Orange County office.
Simonis said Reed Smith has no target number of lawyers for the Orange County location, but he said he expects "significant growth." The firm's current office space can fit more than 20 lawyers, he said.
Other recent recruits who will be resident in the new office include former California assistant U.S. attorney Daniel Ahn, who moved to the firm in August, and Marjorie Witter Norman, an intellectual property partner previously with Willkie Farr & Gallagher who joined in October. Transactional partner Julia Zhu-Morelli and two associates also make up the office, the firm said.
Several firms, including Quarles & Brady, Womble Bond Dickinson, Fennemore Craig, Offit Kurman and Frost Brown Todd grew in California in 2022 through combinations with smaller firms.
Law firm Davis Wright Tremaine opened another Southern California outpost in Culver City last week, claiming to be the first top 100 U.S. law firm to set up shop in the entertainment hub.
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