In June 2020, the Dallas office moved to permanent space and now occupies floors 14 and 15 in the premiere Harwood No. 10 tower, as well as half of floor 12. The office totals 50,000 square feet, including space for future expansion.
The Dallas office is home to 35 lawyers, including 15 partners, 4 counsel, and 16 associates; as well as 21 staff members, totaling 56 overall. Since opening in 2019, the office has grown 64% in overall personnel and 41% in attorneys, including an 11% increase in the women lawyers among its ranks.
In 2024, the office remains in growth mode with six new lateral associates and three more joining in the next two weeks. Women comprise 78% of these new joiners.
“Our Dallas lawyers are among the highest utilized at the firm; we import and export a ton of business across the firm’s global platform,” said Omar Alaniz, who has served as Dallas office managing partner since 2023. “Since opening in 2019, we’ve seen steady demand for our services, including an exponential increase in the volume of work since 2022.”
The firm’s Dallas-based partners have advised on hundreds of high-stakes disputes and billion-dollar transactions in the finance, health care, transportation, financial services, real estate, retail, energy and natural resources, and technology sectors.
“Of our many accomplishments, I am personally proud of our cutting-edge restructuring work,” said Alaniz, who is a leading member of the firm’s global Restructuring & Insolvency practice. Alaniz was featured in D CEO magazine’s 2024 Dallas 500 list of the most significant and influential business leaders in North Texas.
Alaniz and his Dallas-based colleagues work in tandem with the firm’s global platform on innovative deals, such as the Rockdale Marcellus Chapter 11 sale, named Cross-Border Special Situation M&A Deal of the Year by Global M&A Network in 2022.
As Dallas office managing partner, Alaniz takes a personal interest in all of his colleagues, whom he describes as “a diverse community of highly effective team players.” He is committed to maintaining a culture of inclusion and innovation to enable each member to thrive without sacrificing authenticity. Accordingly, Alaniz interviews every lawyer and staff member before they are hired to “protect the Dallas office’s culture.”
“Providing our staff with the educational tools and other resources they need to actualize their full potential has been a real game-changer,” Alaniz said. “We have comprehensive educational, practice and career-development programs firmwide. And every one of us in Dallas, attorneys and staff alike, serves on a Dallas-based committee that best aligns with their interests and aspirations, be it in business, wellness, innovation, diversity or pro bono.”
Reed Smith’s Dallas attorneys are committed to serving their community with meaningful pro bono work, often on the cutting edge of law. In Dallas, the firm supports the Domestic Violence Awareness Project, Housing Crisis Center in Dallas, Kids In Need of Defense (KIND), Tahirih Justice Center, and Veterans’ Legal Clinic, among other non-profits, and represents numerous death row inmates before state and federal courts.
“I am continually amazed by the pro bono achievements of our lawyers and staff,” Alaniz said.
For example, partner Sarah Cummings Stewart, who leads the Dallas Pro Bono Committee, was named a finalist for 2024 Young Lawyer of the Year Beyond Practice by The American Lawyer for her leadership on the firm’s Post-Dobbs Pro Bono Committee and Reproductive Health Working Group.