Best Law Firms in the United States for Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law

Our founding members worked together for years at one of the largest law firms in Dallas, representing Fortune 500 companies and other high-profile clients in virtually every legal matter under the sun. Together, we felt that we had something new to offer – a different way of doing things. We wanted to find a way to take our big-firm experience and combine it with a personal approach that our clients simply wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else. Once we realized that, the next step was to open our own firm together.

How is our approach different?

First, we’re a part of your team. Even within a single practice, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to the law. So, before doing anything else, we work with you to create a set of goals that will form the foundation of our legal strategy. From there, we’re with you through every step of the process. We understand any legal dispute can be stressful and know that effective communication can go a long way toward allaying that. You’ll have questions, and we’ll be there to answer them. Simply put, you’ll be at the center of everything we do.

Second, our team of experienced attorneys prides itself on being more collaborative than most. When we take on a client, you’re not just getting a single lawyer’s experience and insight but the entire firm’s when it’s needed. Not a pile-on, with layers of lawyers, but a smart, efficient approach that means better solutions for you. You’re a part of the family now, so get used to the attention.

We believe that people like working with people they like, and that’s why we put personal service at the forefront of every client relationship. We get to know our clients, talk about family and vacations, and share an occasional bottle of wine. Connections are important to us.

We’re glad you found us, and we know that once you learn a little more about our attorneys and what we can do for you, you’re going to like working with us.

Practice Areas

• Appellate
• Arbitration & Mediation
• Business Litigation
• Construction
• ERISA Litigation
• Family Law
• Labor & Employment
• Legal Malpractice
• Texas Local Counsel

At Taft, we work as one team, driven and committed to helping you succeed. Our attorneys understand that innovative, value-creating solutions help our clients reach their goals. Our collaborative approach, advanced technological resources, and depth of services can transform what you expect from your legal team.

With more than 1,100 attorneys, Taft has offices in Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Delaware, Ohio; Aspen, Denver, and Colorado Springs, Colorado; Detroit and Southfield, Michigan; Minneapolis, Minnesota.; Indianapolis, Indiana; Covington, Kentucky; Phoenix, Arizona; Stuart and West Palm Beach, Florida; and Washington, D.C.

Taft attorneys serve individuals and businesses worldwide in both mature and emerging industries.

The firm practices across a wide range of industries in virtually every area of law, including:

• Business
• Bankruptcy and Restructuring
• Employment and Labor Relations
• Energy
• Environmental
  
• Health Care
• Intellectual Property
  
• Lending and Finance
• Litigation
• Private Client
• Real Estate
• Tax

Since 1885, Taft has maintained a constant focus: to provide clients, both large and small, with legal advice and services that meet the highest possible standards.

Affiliated Businesses

As an additional service to our clients, Taft attorneys often partner with members of our affiliated businesses to provide comprehensive service to our clients. Our affiliated businesses include:

• Ginovus
• Taft Advisors LLC
• Taft Business Consulting
• Taft Infrastructure Advisors

Through these businesses, clients can access business consulting across a variety of disciplines, from general planning and forecasting to government relations and public policy.

Awards and Honors

Taft has received numerous awards and honors:

• 108 Taft attorneys and 45 practice areas are listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

• Eight Taft attorneys are listed in Chambers High Net Worth (HNW), and the firm is named a leading law firm in the HNW guide in Private Wealth Law for Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio.

• Taft is ranked among the Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms." Taft received 20 national Tier 1 rankings, and Tier 1 rankings by metropolitan area in 154 practice areas.

• 363 Taft attorneys were honored with inclusion in the most recent edition of The Best Lawyers in America, with an additional 136 attorneys honored in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America.

• 112 Taft attorneys were named to the most recent list of Super Lawyers by Super Lawyers magazine.

• 78 Taft attorneys were named to the most recent list of Rising Stars by Super Lawyers magazine.

• Taft is rated a Highly Recommended Firm in Ohio and Indiana as well as a Recommended Firm in Minnesota by Benchmark Litigation, and Taft attorneys hold 22 rankings by Benchmark in one or more categories.

Main Areas of Practice:

Business: We provide legal services to public, private, and non-profit clients in a wide variety of industries, including banking, construction, distribution, finance, health care, housing, insurance, manufacturing, private equity, professional sports, real estate, retail, and utilities. Members of the group represent clients of different sizes, from emerging companies to Fortune 500 companies, on issues ranging from local matters to transactions with national and international implications.

Bankruptcy and Restructuring: We represent debtors, lenders, committees, suppliers, real estate owners and developers, equipment lessors, receivers, trustees, buyers and sellers, and other parties in connection with a wide assortment of transactions and litigation. We have extensive experience in the automotive, steel, telecommunications, basic manufacturing, retail and wholesale goods, and distressed-debt trading industries.

Employment and Labor Relations: We represent clients in a wide range of legal services to manage the complex relationship between employers and employees, including labor management relations, employment litigation, day-to-day counseling, benefit plans and ERISA compliance, workplace safety and health, immigration and citizenship, and workers’ compensation.

Energy: We provide full-service representation to a broad range of energy providers, public utilities, transmission-only utilities, independent power producers, developers, regional entities, and other energy-sector participants.

Environmental: We provide services in the areas of trial practice, Superfund defense and negotiation, enforcement defense, cost-recovery for plaintiffs and defendants, criminal environmental defense, environmental insurance and toxic tort litigation, mold and sick building litigation, lawsuits involving environmental problems discovered as a result of real property transfers or mergers and acquisitions, Brownfields redevelopment, defense of claims of occupational exposures, and administrative proceedings before state and federal agencies.

Health Care: We advise individual and institutional healthcare providers, research institutions, and pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology clients in multiple areas of law, including business and finance, employment and labor relations, malpractice litigation, insurance, regulatory and administrative law, ERISA, third-party reimbursement (Medicare, Medicaid and private payers) and hospital financing (tax-exempt bond financing).

Intellectual Property: We counsel and assist clients with patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, intellectual property, and pharmaceutical and life sciences litigation, including Hatch-Waxman litigation, biosimilars, computer software and internet-related issues.

Lending and Finance: Lenders and borrowers alike need lawyers that understand market dynamics and help simplify the complexity of transactions wherever possible. Clients trust our team to bring a practical, business-oriented approach to each transaction. Our team represents lenders and borrowers in all types of financing transactions, including asset-based lending, mezzanine finance, traditional working capital and equipment finance, acquisition finance (senior and mezzanine), capital call lines of credit, real estate finance, equipment leasing, regulatory compliance, investigations and enforcement, and consumer financial services and lending.

Litigation: We represent clients in pretrial, trial and appellate litigation in federal and state courts, before regulatory agencies and arbitration panels, and in alternative dispute resolution in a full range of matters, including antitrust, appellate, bankruptcy, construction, ERISA, education, estates, trusts and fiduciary, environmental, FCPA and international anti-corruption, First Amendment and media law, government contracts, insurance, intellectual property, pharmaceutical and life sciences, product liability and personal injury, securities, sports, and corporate compliance and white collar criminal defense.

Private Client: We counsel owners of family businesses in establishing organizational structures to satisfy current and long-term needs, to plan for the transfer of the business to the next generation (whether during the owner's lifetime or upon death), and to implement strategies. We also represent clients on personal planning, taking into account estate and income tax issues, closely-held businesses, second marriages, and planning for special needs of children and other heirs.

Real Estate: We represent clients in all services related to the acquisition, disposition, financing, leasing, management, and use of real estate, including lease, financing agreement, construction contract, and purchase and sale agreement negotiations, land use representation and litigation, and tax valuation representation and litigation.

Tax: We represent public corporations, financial institutions, domestic joint ventures, new business ventures, non-profit and tax-exempt organizations, and individuals in tax matters such as business transactions, employee benefits and executive compensation, international taxation, mergers and acquisitions, state and local tax, and tax controversy and litigation.