A pair of partners from Arent Fox have made a move to Reed Smith, bolstering its labor and employment practice in Los Angeles.

Partners Jennifer Terry and Mark Phillips were at Arent Fox for over a decade before the move. They started working at Reed Smith's Los Angeles office in early September.

Terry, who joined Arent Fox when her former firm, O'Brien Abeles, merged into it in 2007, said her decision to move was driven by the desire to make use of Reed Smith's "national and international platform."

"I was one of the attorneys that opened up the Los Angeles office of Arent Fox. So I had been there for a long time and consider them family and friends and mentors," said Terry. "But the opportunity presented at Reed Smith was unique, I felt, in terms of the breadth of experience of the labor and employment group."

She added, "I felt that it was a unique opportunity within the Los Angeles office as well to partner with the existing attorneys there, and continue to build the practice."

Before joining Arent Fox 2008, Phillips was a partner at his own firm, Orange County-based Hansen & Phillips. Echoing Terry's sentiment, he said, "both of us are just so enthusiastic about the strength of Reed Smith as a firm in terms of the industry focuses and practice areas and the opportunity to be part of the great team that Reed Smith has here."

Terry has focused much of her career on advising management-side clients on a range of matters, including wage-and-hour disputes, harassment and bias allegations, and wrongful termination claims. According to her bio on Reed Smith's website, her clients are in the areas of retail, food and beverage, transportation and logistics, life sciences, consumer products, and web-based companies.

"Some of the industries that Mark and I both work in [are areas in which] Reed Smith is strong," Terry said. "For example, transportation, retail, life sciences, these are areas that we work in and we're excited by the work that they've done in these areas and look at it as a good opportunity to collaborate."

Phillips specializes in defending employers against class actions, including those related to discrimination and harassment, in addition to other matters. He represents clients in industries such as transportation and trucking, automotive, higher education, digital media, advertising, and retail, according to Reed Smith.

Mark Temple, global practice leader for Reed Smith's labor and employment practice, said in a statement that Terry and Phillips "have represented employers of all sizes, across numerous industry sectors and will add great depth to our expanding labor and employment practice in California and nationwide."

As of Aug. 31, Reed Smith had a total of 69 attorneys in its Los Angeles office, the firm said, including 29 partners and 28 associates. Its Century City office has 29 attorneys, including 15 partners and 11 associates.

Arent Fox did not respond to a request for comment on Terry and Phillips' departures.