Former Big Law Chief Resigns to Dedicate Time to Helping Children in Need

Former Reed Smith global managing partner has stepped down from his Big Law role to take on a new position helping unaccompanied children seeking to migrate to safety.

Alexander Y ‘Sandy’ Thomas has headed Reed Smith for 10 years and is to take the top role at KIND, Kids in Need of Defense, an international nonprofit devoted to the protection of unaccompanied and separated children who migrate alone in search of safety.

He has been with the firm for 24 years.

Thomas will be KIND’s inaugural chief legal officer, based in Washington, D.C. The nonprofit was founded by Microsoft Corporation and Co-founder and Patron Angelina Jolie in 2008. KIND partners with major law firms, universities and others to provide pro bono assistance to children who are migrating without assistance and has assisted over 30,000 children in need of legal counsel and support. Reed Smith has provided pro bono support to KIND for the past decade.

Casey Ryan, currently the firm’s global head of legal personnel, to succeed Thomas as the firm’s global managing partner. She will serve the rest of Thomas’s term, until the next scheduled election in 2025.

Pittsburgh-based Reed Smith has over 1500 attorneys and has 30 offices globally.

The firm has grown its revenue from $1.152 billion in 2014 to $1.436 billion in 2021 profits per equity partner in the same period grew from $1.203 million to $1.735 million and revenue per lawyer increased from $703,000 to $913,000, being no. 33 on the big law salary scale.

He was recognized earlier this month in the 2022 Financial Times North America Innovative Lawyers report as among seven finalists for “Legal leaders for an era of change.”