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I’m considering lateraling to Reed Smith from an arguably more prestigious firm, but would be interested because of substantive opportunities in an area and possibly lifestyle rewards that come with that substantive focus.

Does anyone have any insight into what it’s like for a mid-level at Reed Smith? Any office, but particularly interested in info about financial services associates. Curious about culture, comp, bonuses, remote flexibility, partnership/exit opportunities, etc.

I worked at Reed Smith in Philly and in Pittsburgh. I loved the people in Pittsburgh but didn’t love my experience in part due to the free market system and getting sustainable work.

Once I got into a group in Philly, my experience changed for the better. People were still good, but I think the people in Pittsburgh are special.

Perry Napolitano is a big force (Pittsburgh) for financial services.
He’s a great guy and drives a lot of work for the firm. I didn’t work with him all that much but I really liked him. Kind of an old school nice Pittsburgh guy that you can have a drink with and values treating people with respect. On my way out, he said he liked me simply because I always treated our shared secretary well.

The people at the top are pretty good. Hours are pretty good. I never felt pressure to bill over 2k. I know people do, but that’s probably a big function of not being able to navigate free market.

Overall, despite some ups and downs, I’d recommend the firm.

OP here. Thanks so much for the insight. That’s wonderful to hear. Can I ask why you left, and what you’re doing now? And any sense of how the firm is handling comp nowadays? I understand from news articles that they did away with regional pay differences and matched the starting salary bump this summer, but it sounds like it’s sort of black-box after year 1—is that right? If so, how did that typically shake out for you? Know of how that worked for anyone else? Thanks again.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:28 am

OP here. Thanks so much for the insight. That’s wonderful to hear. Can I ask why you left, and what you’re doing now? And any sense of how the firm is handling comp nowadays? I understand from news articles that they did away with regional pay differences and matched the starting salary bump this summer, but it sounds like it’s sort of black-box after year 1—is that right? If so, how did that typically shake out for you? Know of how that worked for anyone else? Thanks again.

I left to start my own law firm (Plaintiff's employment). They started at 205k for all associates as you note. They do have bands, depending on where you relocated. Or at least they did when I was there. I doubt that they did away with those.

Bonuses weren't Cravath, but also were getting close to that. The bands were decent as well, but still not Cravath. It was okay for me. But I was a little salty that they cut my comp to 190k as a fifth year at the start of Covid. Then, right after I left raised it to 205k for first years and gave everyone bumps. Bad timing.

This leads to another point. They will not hesitate to cut comp in bad times. They moved quickly during Covid and even quicker during the great recession. That's probably my biggest gripe with them. If bad times hit, yeah, your comp is getting slashed.

Generally, though, I think people are now fine with comp after a few years of complaining about it. If you want to PM what office you're considering, I could probably provide greater insight.

A firm ranked as respectably as Reed Smith paying a 5th year 190k is some serious yikes.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:54 pm

A firm ranked as respectably as Reed Smith paying a 5th year 190k is some serious yikes.

Yeah, I wasn't happy about that. Before the move to 205, I was still only at like 225k before the cut. I think I was towards the lower part of the band because I was part-time the year before due to health issues. I wasn't all that mad about it at the time, but the cut during Covid wasn't cool.

My offer letter a few years ago said they expected 2200 hours. I've never ran away so fast in my life.

Monochromatic Oeuvre wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 1:44 pm

My offer letter a few years ago said they expected 2200 hours. I've never ran away so fast in my life.

I'm definitely not one to stan a biglaw firm. And my experience wasn't universally great. But I definitely never felt like 2,200 was an expectation. It was 2k. We had to do 2,300 quality hours, which was a combination of billable plus nonbillable shit. I never did it. No one ever cared.

And to get those extra 300 hours, all you had to do was bill for time spent hanging out with coworkers or make something up.

2300 with random nonbillable, firm-oriented work doesn’t sound terrible. What’s the bonus situation?

I read that Reed Smith is going full Cravath scale salary starting 1/1.

2013 wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 06, 2021 12:15 am

I read that Reed Smith is going full Cravath scale salary starting 1/1.

Where did you read this? I saw they were doing away with office-by-office differences, but I hadn’t heard full market scale. Did that include bonuses in what you read?

Lacepiece23 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 11:23 pm

Monochromatic Oeuvre wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 1:44 pm

My offer letter a few years ago said they expected 2200 hours. I've never ran away so fast in my life.

I'm definitely not one to stan a biglaw firm. And my experience wasn't universally great. But I definitely never felt like 2,200 was an expectation. It was 2k. We had to do 2,300 quality hours, which was a combination of billable plus nonbillable shit. I never did it. No one ever cared.

And to get those extra 300 hours, all you had to do was bill for time spent hanging out with coworkers or make something up.

I have no reason to doubt you. But they should still probably take that out of the offer letters.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 06, 2021 11:16 pm

2013 wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 06, 2021 12:15 am

I read that Reed Smith is going full Cravath scale salary starting 1/1.

Where did you read this? I saw they were doing away with office-by-office differences, but I hadn’t heard full market scale. Did that include bonuses in what you read?

I think someone mentioned it on the forum.

Monochromatic Oeuvre wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 08, 2021 1:52 pm

Lacepiece23 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 11:23 pm

Monochromatic Oeuvre wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 05, 2021 1:44 pm

My offer letter a few years ago said they expected 2200 hours. I've never ran away so fast in my life.

I'm definitely not one to stan a biglaw firm. And my experience wasn't universally great. But I definitely never felt like 2,200 was an expectation. It was 2k. We had to do 2,300 quality hours, which was a combination of billable plus nonbillable shit. I never did it. No one ever cared.

And to get those extra 300 hours, all you had to do was bill for time spent hanging out with coworkers or make something up.

I have no reason to doubt you. But they should still probably take that out of the offer letters.

Agree with you there. That’s dumb. I’m not even in biglaw nor there anymore so I could care less to be honest. They do a lot of dumb things like that and waiting this long to keep up with the joneses on comp.

Op here. Re-upping this topic. Anyone have any further info / can confirm that RS is moving to full Cravath across offices as of Jan. 1? And is that the normal salary cycle for the firm, ie calendar year?

Also, interested in benefits like amount of parental leave, any other interesting benefits the firm provides, etc. There isn’t much specific on the website, and I’d rather know these things before potentially rocking the boat at my current firm in the event that the fact I apply at RS somehow slips out. (Otherwise, I’ll obviously ask these questions at the appropriate stage of the interview / offer process.)

Anyone know what RS did / is doing in response to the new year-end bonuses, particularly the one-time bonuses tacked onto the year-end bonuses?