Casey Ryan, Partner with Reed Smith. Casey Ryan, Partner with Reed Smith.

Most Innovative Law Firm: Reed Smith

Casey Ryan, global head of legal personnel

In 2019, Reed Smith launched a series of innovative enhancements to expand its Associate Life program, which premiered in 2018. The initiative is gender-neutral, designed to benefit the firm's early-career lawyers in its Pennsylvania offices and firmwide by providing them with a strong foundation of training, mentoring and work/life integration support.

Key elements of the 2019 Associate Life innovation ensure lawyers in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and around the globe remain in Reed Smith's partner pipeline when they take maternity, paternity or other qualified leave or need to scale down their work responsibilities to fulfill family caregiving roles, secure medical care, or take on other urgent, often unpredictable, nonwork-related responsibilities. Proportionally more female than male attorneys have historically had their legal careers thrown off-track, interrupted or permanently derailed.