Casey Ryan, left, and Michael Pollack, right, of Reed Smith.

As the 1840s began, Philadelphia was simmering with economic, racial and religious tensions fueled by political fragmentation within the city and its surrounding districts, escalating gang warfare, and increasing job competition between ethnic and racial groups, particularly African-American and Irish workers. In the midst of this turmoil, “… in no place more so than Philadelphia, was the law generally the best path to wealth, distinction and political influence. Among the older Philadelphians, many felt a deep responsibility toward the society in which they earned their fame and wealth, and many of them strongly believed in a tradition of public service … Lawyers became the cement of the young society,” Robert R. Bell, “The Philadelphia Lawyer: A History,” 1735-1945, Susquehnna University Press, 1992.

Within the first three years of the 1840s, two distinct entities emerged in Philadelphia. In 1842, Townsend & Townsend was founded, becoming just the second law firm in the city. A year later, The Legal Intelligencer was launched by local lawyer Henry E. Wallace to serve the booming Philadelphia bar, which had grown from 220 to 850 lawyers between 1842 and 1855, Nathaniel Burt. “The Perennial Philadelphians: The Anatomy of an American Aristocracy,”University of Pennsylvania Press,  1975.

Some 30 years later and 300 miles to the west, Pennsylvania lawyers Philander Knox and James Reed founded Knox & Reed in Pittsburgh and built a prosperous firm representing many of the nation's emerging industrialists, including Carnegie, Frick, Mellon, Heinz, and Westinghouse.

Townsend & Townsend became Townsend, Townsend & Townsend, then Townsend, Elliot & Munson. Knox & Reed became Reed Smith Shaw & McClay, then Reed Smith. And The Legal Intelligencer, originally established to provide Philadelphia lawyers a “medium for all legal notices,” grew and changed as well, expanding its daily coverage to include legal industry news of all types as well as full-text judicial opinions and condensed digests of important court decisions in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania. Like their colleagues in other leading Pennsylvania firms, Reed Smith's attorneys in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh quickly came to depend on The Legal, as it became informally known, to stay abreast of the most important legal news throughout the commonwealth—from coverage of new lawyers who had passed the state bar exam to key verdicts and the business of law in Pennsylvania.

As members of Reed Smith's leadership team, both of us have been among The Legal's readership for decades. When Michael Pollack, Reed Smith's current Managing Partner for the Americas was a Philadelphia high school student contemplating his future in the mid-1970s, the law seemed a promising field, and he worked part-time for a lawyer to learn more about the profession.

“I vividly recall the role The Legal Intelligencer played in my mentor's legal practice and his daily work: He and I sat down every morning with The Legal and figured out what was going on in his professional world. We looked at the docketing calendar, the notices, the verdicts and the editorials. When he had all the information needed to make his schedule for the day, he would look at events and opportunities to help me expand my horizons and refine my career goals. He'd dispatch me to courtrooms or other venues where the law was being practiced. The Legal was our roadmap when there was no other central source for this essential information.”

“These early experiences guided by The Legal made a lasting impression. I earned a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and joined Reed Smith's Philadelphia office in June 1983.”

In 1977, The Legal Intelligencer launched the Pennsylvania Law Journal-Reporter (later re-named the Pennsylvania Law Weekly), and in 1978, Reed Smith became the first Pittsburgh law firm to open an office in Philadelphia, combining with the venerable Townsend, Elliot & Munson to cap Reed Smith's first decade of expansion outside of Pittsburgh.

After acquiring a Philadelphia office, our firm continued to expand in the United States and around the world to meet the needs of a growing base of clients. Today, Reed Smith has 28 offices and more than 1,700 attorneys on three continents. In the latter half of the 20th century and the beginning decades of the 21st, The Legal Intelligencer experienced significant growth as well, including launching the website palawnet.com in 1995 to make the contents of its publications available online. In 2001, American Lawyer Media acquired The Legal, and palawnet.com became an integral part of the law.com network, accessible to lawyers across the nation and around the world.

Today our attorneys in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh continue to depend on and collaborate with The Legal Intelligencer to their mutual benefit.

In July 2018, Casey Ryan, Reed Smith's Global Head of Legal Personnel, a member of the firm's senior management team and a partner in its labor and employment practice, moderated The Legal's Women's Roundtable Discussion on Women in the Law, focused on women's leadership roles in the profession and their key promotion, retention and work-life balance issues.

“The Legal Intelligencer remains a very important daily resource for me and other lawyers in every practice at Reed Smith throughout Pennsylvania, whether its notices, news and editorial content are accessed online or in print. The publication's sponsorship of events like the Women's Roundtable keeps it at the leading edge of legal journalism, and The Legal is still one of the best media outlets covering and analyzing the changes that are shaping how law is practiced in Pennsylvania, the United States and globally. It has been a trusted source of news and information for me and other Reed Smith lawyers in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and an essential part of the Pennsylvania legal landscape.”

As Reed Smith celebrates 141 years providing legal services to a range of businesses worldwide, we salute The Legal Intelligencer's 175 memorable years of incomparable and unwavering service to us individually, our Reed Smith colleagues, and the commonwealth's legal community.

Casey Ryan is Reed Smith's global head of legal personnel and a member of the firm's senior management team. She is also a member of the firm's labor and employment group where she represents employers in a wide variety of employment-related disputes, including harassment, retaliation, discrimination, wrongful discharge, equal pay and breach of contract litigation. 

Michael Pollack serves as the firm's Managing Partner-Americas. Previously, he was the chief legal officer and global head of strategy for the firm. As global head of strategy, he led the firm's global expansion and particularly its merger activity. He has been involved in seven significant merger transactions including mergers in London, Hong Kong, Chicago and California.