Taft to merge with Morris, Manning & Martin, expanding Southeast position

Taft Stettinius & Hollister (Taft) and Morris, Manning & Martin, a firm with offices in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., on Monday announced their plan to combine effective Dec. 31, 2025. According to a news release, the Morris Manning combination is Taft’s latest move in becoming one of the leading middle-market firms in the United States and reflects Morris Manning’s evolution in partnering with a national Am Law 100 firm.

The merger will bring more than 100 lawyers to the Taft platform, expanding its position in the Southeast. The firm will gain a significant presence and talent base in the competitive Atlanta market and deepen its presence in Washington, D.C. Following this merger, Taft will have more than 1,200 lawyers in 25 offices across the country, including Minneapolis, with projected combined revenues in excess of $1 billion.

“From our very first conversation, it was clear that Taft was the right match for our firm. We immediately connected on the things that matter the most — culture, core values, client service, and strategic vision,”  Simon Malko, managing partner of Morris Manning, said in the news release. “We’ve been thoughtfully exploring ways to accelerate our growth for some time, and Taft’s innovative, modern, non-headquarter model stood out as a perfect fit for our long-term goals. For nearly 50 years, our firm has provided exemplary service to our clients. This merger and Taft’s comprehensive national platform create new opportunities to serve our clients with broad service offerings throughout the United States. We are excited and confident that the Taft combination will be a tremendous move for our future.”

Morris Manning is a nationally recognized Am Law 200 firm with a nearly 50-year legacy in real estate, litigation, and corporate law.

“We are excited to welcome this talented group of lawyers to Taft, that represent the bedrock of Morris Manning & Martin and its reputation as one of the top firms in Atlanta,” Taft Firmwide Chairman and Managing Partner Robert J. Hicks said in the release. “They share our collaborative and client-driven approach, are outstanding lawyers and people, and are deeply embedded in the Atlanta and Washington, D.C., legal and business communities. This strategic combination continues our successful tradition of merging with highly respected, established firms in new markets for Taft that bring exceptional lawyers interested in growing their firm and practices together with us. Combined with our recent momentum in Florida, we will soon have more than 100 lawyers in the Southeast—a region which has been part of our long-term strategic plan for several years.”

The merger with Morris Manning represents the latest in a series of geographic expansions for Taft in 2025:

Florida: On June 30, the firm completed its merger with Mrachek Law, an 18-attorney litigation boutique in Florida with offices in West Palm Beach and Stuart, marking Taft’s entrance into the Southeast. Taft also launched an office in Naples in June, expanding its Private Client practice to Florida.

Mountain West: Effective Jan. 1, 2025, Taft combined with Sherman & Howard, Denver’s oldest and third-largest firm. As a result of this merger, Taft expanded its footprint to the Mountain West region (Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada), adding approximately 125 lawyers and annual revenues in excess of $100 million. Since the announcement of the Sherman & Howard merger in September 2024, more than 20 additional lawyers have joined Taft throughout the Mountain West.