Reed Smith Names AI Chief, Plans for Faster Deals and IP Work

Richard Robbins is about a week into his role as Reed Smith’s first director of applied artificial intelligence, but—in a sign of how quickly the area is developing—there’s already a lot on his plate.

The law firm is working on at least eight generative artificial intelligence projects, ranging from testing new products to developing AI-fueled workflows for entire practice areas. Robbins, who joined the firm from legal tech company Epiq, will help usher those projects from the test phase to broader rollouts.

“It has been everybody’s part-time work, but we knew that this is so serious,” David Cunningham, Reed Smith’s ...