Reed Smith has opened a new office in Atlanta with a 15-partner team from Morris, Manning & Martin (MMM) and Greenberg Traurig. The new office will open with 37 lawyers in total, with the partners comprising 13 from Atlanta firm MMM and two Greenberg shareholders.
Notable partners making the move from MMM include Nick Foreste, who co-chaired the firm’s emerging companies and venture capital practice, and joins Reed Smith as emerging company/venture capital practice co-chair, as well as private equity practice co-chair Scott Allen, and private equity and emerging growth partner Amie Singer (pictured), who joins Reed Smith as managing partner of the new Atlanta office.
The Greenberg hires are Cindy Davis, former chair of the firm’s banking and financial services practice, and finance partner Daniel Richards.
The remaining MMM partners are international transactions chair Nick Rueter, growth equity chair Chris Maxwell, PE partner Larkin Ellzey, technology transactions and AI chair Matt San Roman, and tax chair Anthony Boggs, as well as PE and emerging growth partners Elliot Franklin, Patrick McKenzie, and Justin Ward, and executive compensation and employee benefits partners Scott Wagner and Ryan Gorman.
Reed Smith is also moving Washington DC finance partner Will Atherton to Georgia to support the new hires. The departures leave MMM with 52 partners in Atlanta, according to the firm’s website.
‘Our firm is in growth mode. We have a proven track record of building strong teams in new markets by attracting top talent with deep roots in the community. Atlanta is a key strategic addition for our firm and our clients, and we are excited to welcome these extremely talented lawyers to Reed Smith’, said Reed Smith global managing partner Casey Ryan in a statement.
Americas managing partner Julie Hardin added: ‘We see Atlanta as a major player in the private equity, finance, emerging growth, and technology spaces, and we expect our new office to expand quickly around our strategic priorities. This is just the beginning.’
Also this week, Broadfield announced its entrance into the Hong Kong market, where the firm will open in association with Hong Kong firm Liu, Patrick Ling & Co (PLL).
The opening is Broadfield’s first major move since its launch in December, and sees the firm bring over Sidley Austin APAC investment funds group head and executive committee member Effie Vasilopoulos to head its Asia Pacific operations as managing partner of Broadfield Asia LLP.
Vasilopoulos was at Sidley for over two decades, and joins alongside Sidley alums Patrick Liu, who left to co-found PLL in October 2024, and Huberta Chow, both of whom were counsel at Sidley.
‘Our mission is to create unparalleled value for our clients by aligning exceptional legal talent with the infrastructure, expertise, and resources of a multidisciplinary professional services partner’, said Vasilopoulos in a statement.
‘This launch represents a transformative milestone for the Asia legal market and reinforces Broadfield’s vision to redefine legal services through innovative, value-driven solutions. I am honored to lead this initiative and am excited about our future expansion in the region.’
Meanwhile in Tokyo, Morgan Lewis hired Withers real estate partners Jerry Fujii and Naoki Ueyama.
On the continent, Herbert Smith Freehills hired a ten-strong team from Orrick in Düsseldorf, bringing over two foreign counsel, three associates, two counsel, and partners Oliver Duys, Wilhelm Nolting-Hauff, and Nikita Tkatchenko.
Proskauer hired Addleshaw Goddard partner Gwenaël Kropfinger in Paris. Kropfinger brings experience advising PE funds and multinationals on the tax structuring of M&A deals, and his hire continues the firm’s buildout in the French capital after it hired a 19-lawyer team from legacy Shearman & Sterling in late 2023.
McDermott hired M&A partner Alfonso Annibale de Marco from Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle in Milan, while Eversheds Sutherland hired Amsterdam tax partners Chantal Presilli and Zoya Zalmai from Houthoff and Stibbe respectively, as well as bringing in KPMG Law senior counsel Kristof Slootmans as a partner in its Brussels company commercial team.
Finally, South African firm Bowmans continued to expand after bringing over seven of the eight partners in A&O Shearman’s shuttered Johannesburg office last year, hiring Watson Farley Williams counsel Nerina Erasmus as a partner.
