MG+M Acquires Boston Boutique Donovan Hatem Amid Merger Uptick

Litigation firm Manning Gross & Massenburg has acquired Donovan Hatem, a 21-lawyer boutique focusing on infrastructure design clients.

The deal brings the firm, known as MG+M, up to more than 185 attorneys across 15 cities, it said Thursday.

“The Donovan Hatem attorneys that are all joining us are not only incredibly talented in their niche area representing design professionals in insurance, but they are also elite litigators,” John B. Manning, MG+M’s chairperson, said in an interview.

The tie-up comes amid an uptick of law firms combining in order to scale up. A total of 29 law firm mergers were announced in the first half of the year, more than the total for all of last year, according to Fairfax Associates, a consultancy that tracks the deals.

Donovan Hatem’s lawyers represent architects, engineers, and construction managers and others in a wide range of matters. It also has a consultancy that advises design professionals and insurance companies on issues related to large projects, like tunnels and bridges.

The Boston-headquartered firm had been exploring merger deals for the past 9 months, said David Hatem, its executive chair. MG+M’s culture aligned the most seamlessly with his firm’s goals and values, said Hatem, who joins as a partner.

“We’ve represented design professionals, but primarily in risk and liability related areas,” Hatem said. “MG+M has the capability of allowing us to expand the scope of that representation not only geographically, but in substantive areas, namely transactions, mergers and acquisitions, other corporate organizations.”

MG+M “is approached a lot and we approach a lot of firms” when it comes to opportunities for growth, according to Manning. “But the vast majority of the time we declined because preserving our firm culture of team work and client service is paramount,” he said.

MG+M is gaining eight partners, three of counsel attorneys, and 10 associates in the combination. It expects to have more than 200 lawyers on its roster by the end of the year, Manning said.

“We want to have the capabilities and resources and footprint and talent to handle any piece of litigation in America, but not lose our core culture.”