Midwest’s Taft Law Continues Climb With Profit, Revenue Gains

Taft Stettinius & Hollister’s merger-fueled growth strategy paid off in 2024 with revenue and profit increases that surpassed industry averages.

The century-old law firm with Ohio roots cleared $1 million in profits per equity partner for the first time last year, a 19% jump, according to its leader. Taft’s gross revenue climbed by 17% to cross the $700 million mark, Robert Hicks, the firm’s managing partner and chair said in an interview.

“We had a really good year,” Hicks said. “We hired a lot of lateral partners who brought in revenue, and we had a lot of revenue growth from rate increases.”

Law firm profits were up nearly 17%, while revenues grew by more than 12% on average last year, according to researchers at Citi Law Firm Group.

Taft is best known leading a sweeping lawsuit against chemical giant DuPont over environmental pollution from its manufacture of a toxic chemical connected with Teflon. The case, which was made into the 2019 movie “Dark Waters,” resulted in a $671 million settlement for some 3,500 plaintiffs. It boosted the profile for the firm, which was founded in 1885 and has ties to the family of former President William Howard Taft.

Taft’s financial gains highlight an acquisitive growth strategy in which the firm merged with seven firms since 2008 and expanded its presence in several Midwestern and Mountain West markets. The firm boosted its roster in Chicago, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Denver through mergers over the last five years and said Tuesday that it acquired a South Florida trial boutique.

Hicks said the firm’s financial success also came from lateral hiring of business-bearing partners and rate increases that placed roughly 40% of the firm’s timekeepers in the $700 to $800-an-hour range and nudged top end partner rates close to $1,100-an-hour.

The latest revenue and profit figures don’t account for Taft’s Jan. 1 combination with Sherman & Howard. The tie-up should add $104 million to its 2025 revenue, Hicks said.

The firm has no plans for additional mergers this year, he said, and will focus on growing and integrating lawyers in Taft’s newly acquired offices in Denver, Phoenix, and Florida. The firm is eyeing longer-term opportunities to enter Salt Lake City.

“We do want to look at other markets in the Mountain West,” Hicks said. “When you see the flight of businesses and individuals from California, it’s pretty significant.”

The firm has maintained steady increases in revenue per lawyer, a measure of the average amount of income generated by each attorney, as it has added to its headcount. Its RPL ticked up by 11% to $851,000 last year, while its full-time lawyer headcount grew by 5.4% to 824.

Taft also juiced profits by padding out its non-equity partner tier. The firm’s total number of non-equity partners rose by 24% to 218, while its equity partner tier ticked down slightly to 251 lawyers.