Taft expands into Florida through merger with Mrachek Law

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, the second-largest law firm operating in Indianapolis, is expanding south through a merger with Florida-based law firm Mrachek Law, it announced Tuesday.

This latest merger, effective June 30, 2025, marks Taft’s first venture into the Sunshine State.

According to the firm, Mrachek Law is a litigation boutique firm based in the cities of West Palm Beach and Stuart that will bring an 18-lawyer trial team to Taft.

With its specialty in trying cases, the firm, which was founded in 2000, has handled several high-profile and complex civil litigation and arbitration cases in the Florida trial and appellate courts.

Taft sought the merger because of the highly attractive market dynamics in West Palm Beach and the growing needs of its clients to have a strategic beachhead in Florida.

“This is a very targeted move that positions Taft in one of Florida’s most affluent markets so we can better serve our clients and corporate leaders who are spending more time and doing more business in the Sunshine State,” said Robert Hicks, the Indianapolis-based chairman and managing partner at Taft. “The Mrachek team is a perfect complement to our litigation capabilities across the country, and our shared commitment to exceptional client service and advocacy makes this an ideal partnership. As we look ahead together, we anticipate attracting additional top-tier talent to Taft in these markets and plan to expand into other strategic practice areas there.”

Hicks told The Indiana Lawyer last fall that the firm was setting its sights on expanding into Florida and the Northeast.

On Jan. 1, the firm finalized its merger with Denver-based Sherman & Howard LLC.

“After 25 years as a boutique, and at a time when the firm was flourishing and growing, we saw an opportunity to further expand the breadth and scope of our practices by joining forces with Taft,” said Alan Rose, one of Mrachek’s founders and its current managing shareholder, in a released statement. “This presents an exciting opportunity for our firm and our clients. Taft’s collaborative culture and reputation in high-profile litigation matters matches both our values and our focus. We look forward to leveraging Taft’s national platform to enhance how we’re serving clients in Florida. This will allow for expansion into key practice areas–real estate and corporate transactions; land use; trusts, estates and probate; technology and life sciences; private wealth management and preservation, among others.

With the latest merger, Taft boasts more than 1,050 attorneys spanning from the Mountain West region to Washington D.C.

In Indianapolis, Taft had 172 attorneys in 2023, according to IBJ research. Indianapolis based Barnes & Thornburg LLP is the city’s largest law firm, with 197 attorneys.

Along with Rose, the Mrachek team joining Taft includes shareholders Roy Fitzgerald III, Scott Konopka, Daniel Thomas, Gregory Weiss, Manuel Farach and Erica Lester Sadowski, and approximately a dozen associate attorneys.

The merger is the eighth Taft has made in the past 18 years, following combinations in Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago, Columbus, Cleveland and Indianapolis.

The firm entered the Indianapolis market in 2008 when it absorbed locally based Sommer Barnard, a 39-year-old firm with 103 lawyers.

In announcing the merger, Taft noted that it has typically focused on mergers of 100-plus lawyers that immediately establish critical mass in a new market.