{"id":130195,"date":"2025-08-11T10:38:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T18:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/11\/another-day-another-merger-biglaw-firm-scoops-up-midsize-firm-gutted-by-departures\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T10:38:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T18:38:50","slug":"another-day-another-merger-biglaw-firm-scoops-up-midsize-firm-gutted-by-departures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/11\/another-day-another-merger-biglaw-firm-scoops-up-midsize-firm-gutted-by-departures\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Day, Another Merger: Biglaw Firm Scoops Up Midsize Firm Gutted By Departures"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an effort to expand their footprints across the United States, Biglaw firms have been raiding midsize firms in the Southeast to open new offices and fortify specific practice groups. Morris Manning & Martin \u2014 a well-regarded Am Law 200 firm that brought in $157,946,000 gross revenue last year \u2014\u00a0was so hard hit by these practices that it lost more than one third of its attorneys (about 60) to firms like Fox Rothschild, Clark Hill, Reed Smith, Bradley Arant, and Gunderson Dettmer, and Seyfarth Shaw. Earlier this summer, the firm had entered into merger talks<\/a> with an Am Law 100 firm, and now, its previously unnamed merger partner has been revealed.<\/p>\n

As noted by the American Lawyer<\/a>, Morris Manning is planning to merge with Taft Stettinius & Hollister \u2014 a firm that brought in $701,000,000\u00a0gross revenue\u00a0in 2024, putting it at No. 79 on the Am Law 100 \u2014 one of the fastest-growing firms in the country. Taft\u2019s merger with Morris Manning will be its third of 2025. The tie-up, projected to close by the end of the year, will create a firm that\u2019s 1,200 lawyers strong with gross revenue approaching $1 billion.<\/p>\n

Am Law has some addition details on how the firms\u2019 plans came together:<\/p>\n

\n

As firm leaders evaluated the possible deal, [Taft managing partner Robert] Hicks said that \u201cbecause of the departures we were concerned\u201d if Taft would be \u201cgetting the best\u201d talent that remained at Morris Manning.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly, there\u2019s like zero doubt in our minds,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cFrankly, every time we met with Morris Manning just got better and better, and we felt more and more solid about it.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n

Hicks said he believed Morris Manning was a \u201cvictim of its own success\u201d because large firms typically seek out the highest-performing partners at the top local firms when moving into any new market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually saw this as a positive,\u201d he said of the departures. \u201cWe looked at their client base and were highly impressed. We looked at the talented lawyers [and] were highly impressed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Simon Malko, Morris Manning\u2019s managing partner, went on to say that while they\u2019d been approached with mergers \u201cmany times\u201d before, Taft seemed the most promising \u201cWe\u2019ve never said we\u2019re going to merge for merger\u2019s sake,\u201d he said. \u201cNone of the conversations before Taft were compelling opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Morris Manning and Taft on what seems like a merger decision that was made just in the nick of time. Let\u2019s see how far the combination will move Taft up in the Am Law 100 rankings.<\/p>\n

Fast-Growing Taft Finds Third Merger Partner This Year in Atlanta\u2019s Morris Manning<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Biglaw Firm Enters Merger Talks After Losing Nearly 60 Lawyers To Competitors In Mass Lateral Moves<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Another Day, Another Merger: Biglaw Firm Scoops Up Midsize Firm Gutted By Departures<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

In an effort to expand their footprints across the United States, Biglaw firms have been raiding midsize firms in the Southeast to open new offices and fortify specific practice groups. Morris Manning & Martin \u2014 a well-regarded Am Law 200 firm that brought in $157,946,000 gross revenue last year \u2014\u00a0was so hard hit by these practices that it lost more than one third of its attorneys (about 60) to firms like Fox Rothschild, Clark Hill, Reed Smith, Bradley Arant, and Gunderson Dettmer, and Seyfarth Shaw. Earlier this summer, the firm had entered into merger talks<\/a> with an Am Law 100 firm, and now, its previously unnamed merger partner has been revealed.<\/p>\n

As noted by the American Lawyer<\/a>, Morris Manning is planning to merge with Taft Stettinius & Hollister \u2014 a firm that brought in $701,000,000\u00a0gross revenue\u00a0in 2024, putting it at No. 79 on the Am Law 100 \u2014 one of the fastest-growing firms in the country. Taft\u2019s merger with Morris Manning will be its third of 2025. The tie-up, projected to close by the end of the year, will create a firm that\u2019s 1,200 lawyers strong with gross revenue approaching $1 billion.<\/p>\n

Am Law has some addition details on how the firms\u2019 plans came together:<\/p>\n

\n

As firm leaders evaluated the possible deal, [Taft managing partner Robert] Hicks said that \u201cbecause of the departures we were concerned\u201d if Taft would be \u201cgetting the best\u201d talent that remained at Morris Manning.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly, there\u2019s like zero doubt in our minds,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cFrankly, every time we met with Morris Manning just got better and better, and we felt more and more solid about it.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n

Hicks said he believed Morris Manning was a \u201cvictim of its own success\u201d because large firms typically seek out the highest-performing partners at the top local firms when moving into any new market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually saw this as a positive,\u201d he said of the departures. \u201cWe looked at their client base and were highly impressed. We looked at the talented lawyers [and] were highly impressed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Simon Malko, Morris Manning\u2019s managing partner, went on to say that while they\u2019d been approached with mergers \u201cmany times\u201d before, Taft seemed the most promising \u201cWe\u2019ve never said we\u2019re going to merge for merger\u2019s sake,\u201d he said. \u201cNone of the conversations before Taft were compelling opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Morris Manning and Taft on what seems like a merger decision that was made just in the nick of time. Let\u2019s see how far the combination will move Taft up in the Am Law 100 rankings.<\/p>\n

Fast-Growing Taft Finds Third Merger Partner This Year in Atlanta\u2019s Morris Manning<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Biglaw Firm Enters Merger Talks After Losing Nearly 60 Lawyers To Competitors In Mass Lateral Moves<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"Staci
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an effort to expand their footprints across the United States, Biglaw firms have been raiding midsize firms in the Southeast to open new offices and fortify specific practice groups. Morris Manning & Martin \u2014 a well-regarded Am Law 200 firm that brought in $157,946,000 gross revenue last year \u2014\u00a0was so hard hit by these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":130172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Staci-Zaretsky-pfi67f.jpg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}