Reed Smith is to launch a legal services hub in Leeds in early July to support its Europe, Middle East and Asia network.

The centre, to be known as Reed Smith Global Solutions, is the firm's second low-cost offering since its Pittsburgh opening in 2003.

The legal offering, which will see the firm hire associates and paralegals in key practice and industry groups, will include a records and eDiscovery practice.

The centre will also have a business services team, which will provide additional accounting, IT, business intake and conflict analysis support.

Over time, the firm intends to rebrand its Pittsburgh Global Customer Centre (GCC) and integrate it with Leeds to form a Global Solutions network.

Reed Smith London office managing partner Andrew Jenkinson said the launch followed a consultation with several business service leaders. They raised the need to improve the quality of the firm's services while also increasing the efficiency of each area.

Commenting on the launch, managing partner for Europe and the Middle East, Tamara Box, said: "With its strong talent pool, high-quality real estate, growing technology offering and two-hour connection with London, Leeds is the perfect location from which to launch our billion-dollar startup.

"Reed Smith Global Solutions represents our commitment to the evolution of our working practices and to delivering high-quality services, which are essential for the firm to remain competitive in today's crowded marketplace."

Director of global recruitment, Kevan Skelton, said the office will be staffed through targeted local recruitment. He added: "We have several existing vacancies throughout the business in our legal and business services functions, which will form the start of our hiring and over time we will continue to assess new vacancies and whether they can be fulfilled in Leeds, London or another Reed Smith location."