Taft Stettinius & Hollister

What Taft Stettinius & Hollister does

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is a 140-year-old U.S. law firm (founded 1885 in Cincinnati, Ohio) that has grown to 1,250+ attorneys and approximately 2,200 total professionals across 25 offices in 14+ U.S. states plus Washington, D.C. The firm operates under a non-headquarters model with empowered, geographically distributed leadership and is organized into Transactional, Employment and Labor Relations, Litigation, and Real Estate service lines covering 100+ sub-practice areas. Its flagship specialty is PFAS ("forever chemicals") litigation and advisory work led by partner Robert A. Bilott, whose two-decade practice against DuPont and 3M (Tennant v. DuPont, Leach v. DuPont class action, C8 Personal Injury MDL, Minnesota v. 3M) has generated $850M+ in cumulative client recoveries, earned Bilott the 2017 Right Livelihood Award ("Alternative Nobel Prize"), and shaped global PFAS regulation. The firm is ranked #61 on the 2026 Am Law 100 by revenue with 452 Best Lawyers in America and 108 Chambers USA attorneys. Customer segments span corporate/business (M&A, capital markets, CFIUS, project finance), litigation (commercial, antitrust, mass tort, PFAS, class action), employment/labor, real estate (including Data Center Development and a "Powering AI" industry group), private client/HNW, IP, energy/environmental, government/public sector, and cross-border Japanese and Chinese clients.

The revenue model is professional services billing (hourly and engagement-based fees) supplemented by four wholly owned affiliated consulting businesses: Ginovus (economic development), Taft Advisors LLC (governmental affairs), Taft Business Consulting (CEO/owner advisory), and Taft Infrastructure Advisors (infrastructure project advisory). Pricing is engagement-based and not publicly disclosed; third-party reporting cites hourly rates of $385–$650 on no-bid Indianapolis city contracts. Revenue is generated through direct partner-led enterprise engagements across the 25-office U.S. footprint, with distribution reinforced by cross-border Japan/China practice groups and marketing via Law Bulletins, the White House Toolkit, social media, and webinars. Client-facing transactional technology is limited to a Surepoint-powered online payments portal supporting eCheck, credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and cryptocurrency across 12+ IOLTA jurisdictions; no public APIs, SDKs, or proprietary platforms exist. The firm does not develop AI products but participates as a beta-customer in third-party AI tools (e.g., AltaClaro/Verbit's DepoSim) and maintains an internal "AI Utilization Counsel" role plus a client-facing Privacy, Security, and AI practice.

Growth has been driven almost entirely through partnership-funded mergers rather than external capital: Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss (effective December 31, 2022), Sherman & Howard (effective January 2, 2025), Mrachek Law (March 2025), and Morris, Manning & Martin (effective December 31, 2025), which together expanded the firm to over 1,200 attorneys across 25 offices with projected combined revenue exceeding $1 billion. Chairman and Managing Partner Robert J. Hicks leads the firm under a servant-leadership, no-mothership model with a broad C-suite (CMO, CHRO, Chief Inclusion Officer, Chief Partner Recruiting Officer, Chief Attorney Development Officer, Chief Business Development Officer) and market-level Partners-in-Charge across each office.

Name

Taft Stettinius & Hollister

Legal name

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Website

https://taftlaw.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1885

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is a 140-year-old U.S. law firm with 1,250+ attorneys across 25 offices, ranked #61 on the 2026 Am Law 100. It serves corporate, litigation, government, HNW, and cross-border Japanese/Chinese clients, anchored by a flagship PFAS litigation practice and four affiliated consulting businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law (BPAHAAAK)

Keywords

• Legal advisory services
• Corporate law practice
• Commercial litigation services
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Intellectual property law

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices25 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Professional legal services (hourly/engagement fees): Primary revenue stream derived from legal advisory and representation services billed to corporate, institutional, government, and private client customers; ranked 61st largest U.S. law firm by revenue (2026 Am Law 100).
2. Retainer / trust deposit payments and invoice payments (including crypto):
3. Affiliated businesses advisory services: Cross-sell of business consulting via affiliated entities: Ginovus (economic development), Taft Advisors LLC (government affairs lobbying), Taft Business Consulting (CEO/owner advisory), and Taft Infrastructure Advisors (infrastructure project advisory).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is a full-service U.S. law firm with 1,250+ attorneys practicing across virtually every area of law, organized into Transactional, Employment and Labor Relations, Litigation, and Real Estate service lines spanning 100+ practice areas and dozens of industries. The firm is ranked 61st in the 2026 Am Law 100 by revenue and generates fee-based revenue through hourly engagements, retainers, and matter-specific billing. Beyond core legal services, Taft distributes four affiliated consulting businesses (Ginovus, Taft Advisors LLC, Taft Business Consulting, and Taft Infrastructure Advisors) that extend the firm into economic development, governmental affairs, CEO advisory, and infrastructure consulting.

Product overview

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is a law firm, not a packaged software vendor; its "products" are professional legal services and four affiliated consulting businesses rather than a unified SaaS platform. The core offering is Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Legal Services — a 1,250-attorney full-service practice organized into Transactional, Employment and Labor Relations, Litigation, and Real Estate service lines, with the flagship specialty being PFAS Litigation and Advisory (led by Robert A. Bilott). On top of the legal core, Taft offers four affiliated businesses — Ginovus (economic development consulting), Taft Advisors LLC (governmental affairs), Taft Business Consulting (CEO/owner advisory), and Taft Infrastructure Advisors (infrastructure project advisory) — that extend the practice into consulting work. Specialty practices that intersect with technology include the Privacy, Security, and Artificial Intelligence Practice, the Intellectual Property Practice (with a Software and Technology sub-practice), the Real Estate Practice (which includes a Data Center Development sub-practice and a Data Centers, Digital Infrastructure, and Powering AI industry group), and the Japan and China cross-border practices. Client-facing transactional tools include the Taft Online Payments Portal (Surepoint-backed) for retainers and invoice payments. Taft also participated as a beta customer in the DepoSim AI-powered deposition simulator launched by AltaClaro and Verbit, but does not itself offer DepoSim as a product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ginovus: Affiliated business that helps growing and emerging businesses achieve their financial and operational goals through economic development services.
• Taft Advisors LLC
• Taft Business Consulting
• Taft Infrastructure Advisors

Products and services

• Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Legal Services

Quantifiable outcome

• $850M+ in cumulative PFAS-related client recoveries against DuPont in C8 MDL (3,500+ cases)
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability7 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship merger partner, major merger partner, core affiliated business, minor vendor partner and minor co-marketing partner.

• Morris, Manning & Martinflagship merger partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerFull-firm merger announced August 11, 2025, effective December 31, 2025. Combines Morris Manning & Martin's Atlanta presence with Taft's national platform, increasing the combined firm to over 1,200 lawyers across 25 offices with projected revenue exceeding $1 billion. Wyatt Kendall and Lauren Prevost appointed as new partners leading the Atlanta office, with plans to expand Atlanta headcount to 150+ attorneys within 3-5 years.
• Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weissflagship merger partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerFull-firm merger announced September 6, 2022, effective December 31, 2022. Adds 120+ attorneys in Detroit (Downtown) and Southfield, Michigan, expanding Taft's Midwest presence to seven of the nine largest Midwest markets and a combined total of over 800 attorneys.
• Sherman & Howardmajor merger partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerFull-firm merger completed in 2025 (announced via "Video: Taft Completes Merger with Sherman & Howard, Growing Nationwide Presence" on January 2, 2025), expanding Taft's nationwide presence.
• Ginovuscore affiliated businessOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerTaft-affiliated business that helps growing and emerging businesses achieve their financial and operational goals through a full range of economic development services. Used to provide additional value to clients beyond legal services.
• Taft Advisors LLCcore affiliated businessOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerBipartisan, diverse, and experienced governmental affairs consulting firm (taftadvisors.com) specializing in client advocacy before federal, state, and local governments. Taft-affiliated business.
• Taft Business Consultingcore affiliated businessOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerTaft-affiliated business helping CEOs/owners of new and established firms make the most of opportunities and surmount challenges.
• Taft Infrastructure Advisorscore affiliated businessOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerTaft-affiliated business (taftinfra.com) that leads clients through innovative infrastructure projects from idea inception to project completion.
• CorporateCARE Solutionsminor vendor partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerVendor partner that provides child and adult back-up care service for all Taft attorneys and staff as part of Taft's family-centered paid benefits.
• MilkStorkminor vendor partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerVendor partner that provides a breast milk storage and shipping program to support Taft's family-centered paid benefits for new parents.
• Exit Planning Instituteminor co-marketing partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-marketing relationship: Taft partner Josh Bass presented a virtual session on M&A Exit Readiness and Value Maximization on March 24, 2026, hosted by the Exit Planning Institute. The webinar targeted founders and business owners considering a future sale.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Regional players

• Frost Brown Todd: Cincinnati-based Am Law 200 full-service firm with deep Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee presence. A primary regional competitor for Taft in its home Midwest markets.
• Ice Miller: Indianapolis-based full-service firm serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and DC markets. Direct competitor for Taft's Indianapolis and broader Midwest clients with similar sports, government, and corporate practices.

Direct peers

• BakerHostetler: Am Law 100 full-service law firm headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio with comparable size, practice breadth, and Midwest concentration. Direct competitor for corporate, litigation, IP, healthcare, and government-facing matters across overlapping Ohio, DC, and Florida markets.
• Thompson Hine: Ohio-based Am Law 200 full-service firm with overlapping Midwest footprint and similar practice mix including corporate, litigation, and government-facing work. Directly competes for talent and clients in Taft's home Cincinnati and Cleveland markets.
• Squire Patton Boggs: Am Law 100 full-service firm with Cincinnati roots, similar Ohio/Midwest heritage, and comparable scale to Taft. Direct competitor in M&A, public finance, government affairs, and cross-border practice areas.
• McDermott Will & Emery: Am Law 100 full-service firm with comparable size (~1,200+ lawyers) and similar practice breadth including energy, healthcare, and IP. Direct competitor in Taft's larger markets including Chicago and DC, and fellow DepoSim AI tool beta-tester.
• Faegre Drinker: Am Law 100 full-service firm formed via 2020 merger of Faegre Baker Daniels and Drinker Biddle & Reath. Comparable Midwest-heavy footprint and similar post-merger integration profile make it a structural twin peer to Taft's serial-merger strategy.

Broad incumbents

• K&L Gates: Global Am Law 100 full-service firm with similar practice areas (corporate, IP, litigation, energy) and similar beta-tester participation in AI litigation tools like DepoSim. Overlaps with Taft on cross-border and energy clients.
• Greenberg Traurig: Am Law 10 full-service firm with similar practice mix across corporate, litigation, IP, government affairs, and energy. Direct competitor for larger enterprise clients and a benchmark for Taft's growth trajectory toward Top 50.
• DLA Piper: Global Am Law 10 full-service firm with much broader geographic reach and larger scale than Taft, but directly competes for the same corporate, M&A, and cross-border investment clients across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Taftlaw
• Facebookfacebook.com/TaftLaw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/41333
• Instagraminstagram.com/taft_law

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A5 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Taft Stettinius & Hollister