The Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas-Austin School of Law named Reed Smith’s Global Managing Partner Casey Ryan as winner of the Hortense Ward Courageous Leader Award. Ryan was recognized by the Center as a trailblazer in workplace gender parity policies and practices and for spearheading numerous state-of-the-art, best-in-class resources for recruiting, retaining, and developing legal talent.
The award honors the legacy and achievements of Hortense Sparks Ward (1872-1944), an accomplished lawyer, suffragist, first female chief justice of Texas’ Supreme Court, and champion of women’s rights in the state in the early 1900s. The Center for Women in Law is a national resource and champion for women lawyers, generating lasting change within the legal profession. The organization supports multiple paths to success for women pursuing legal careers, builds networks to support women lawyers, and cultivates a pipeline of advocates.
“I am deeply honored to be selected as a leader exemplifying the courage and selfless commitment to gender parity that made Hortense Ward a beacon for women’s advancement,” said Ryan. “We thank the Center for Women for their dedication and continuing efforts to advance women in the legal profession and remain dedicated to furthering the important work begun by Ward and other fearless women of her generation in Texas, across this nation, and around the world.”
Ryan was nominated for the award by Reed Smith Houston partner and member of the senior management team Julie Hardin, who cited Ryan’s achievements as a “fierce trial lawyer, courageous leader, and true pioneer” in her submission, also noting Ryan’s long record of service and accomplishments on the firm’s seven-member Senior Management Team that leads its 1,600+ lawyers and 30 offices worldwide.
Receiving the Hortense Ward Award is particularly meaningful for Ryan; Ward’s granddaughter Katie Bellville is a partner in the firm’s corporate practice in Houston.
In 28 years at Reed Smith, Ryan has served in numerous firmwide leadership roles, including global head of legal personnel, global chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment Group, and vice chair of its Litigation Department. A nationally recognized Chambers-ranked trial lawyer, she has represented employers in a wide variety of employment-related disputes and has successfully litigated cases in federal and state courts throughout the United States.
Among her innovations are Reed Smith Associate Life, a collection of innovative programs, incentives and benefits providing associates with a strong foundation of training, mentoring and work/life supports to sustain their progress through the partnership pipeline. This includes implementation of the firm’s “Ramp Up/Ramp Down” policy to aid in the transition of winding down before a leave and stepping back into work following a leave, and the addition of an industry-leading “True Up” component to the firm’s compensation policy to address hours worked by part-time lawyers in excess of their part-time schedule. Ryan also launched Reed Smith Associate Advantage, an intensive three-year professional development program tailored to fast-track associates for early career success.
Other Reed Smith innovations Ryan championed include Wellness Works, an initiative to support employees’ physical and mental health; and the firm’s Family Network, with comprehensive benefits for family formation, childcare and elder care, tutoring, peer-to-peer networking, and support for work-life balance.
“Casey’s brave leadership has been a game-changer at Reed Smith, and in the larger legal community,” said Cristina Shea, Global Chair of the Women’s Initiative at Reed Smith. “She brings a human element to industry change and has implemented programs and policies designed to offset the multitude of reasons that women leave BigLaw. Those programs and policies have made a difference at Reed Smith and have set us apart from other big firms.”
Ryan is a fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County, and president of the University of Notre Dame Law School Advisory Council. Honored in 2023 as a Corporate Counsel Women, Influence and Power in Law Award winner in the category of innovative leadership, she has also been selected numerous times for the INvolve Heroes Women Executives Role Model List that showcases leaders championing women in business and driving change for gender diversity in the workplace.
Ryan has also been selected every year since 2006 for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America for Employment Law - Management, Labor Law - Management, and Litigation - Labor and Employment. She also was twice named Lawyer of the Year in the labor and employment space (Pittsburgh).
She received her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School and received her B.A. in English, magna cum laude, also from the University of Notre Dame, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
Ryan will receive the Hortense Ward Courageous Leader Award at the Center for Women in Law’s biennial Award Luncheon on April 4 in Austin.
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