Man With a Plan

Unlike many firms in a steadily worsening economy, Adorno & Yoss has been growing, especially in and around this city, which became the base of operations for firm CEO and name partner Henry “Hank” Adorno three years ago. Between December 2007 and February 2009, the number of Adorno & Yoss lawyers in Atlanta and nearby offices in Norcross and Marietta grew from 15 to more than 50. Nationally, 303 lawyers in 17 U.S. offices now practice under the Adorno & Yoss shingle, up from about 250 at the beginning of 2008.

As of February, 38 percent of those lawyers belonged to a minority group, including 60 Hispanics and 47 African Americans. Taken together, the numbers have made Adorno & Yoss the nation’s largest minority-owned firm-a good thing to be at a time when major corporations are increasingly seeking out minority lawyers to do outside legal work. Indeed, Adorno says, the firm’s status has helped it capture dozens of big corporate clients, such as E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Eaton Corporation, Bank of America Corporation, AT&T Inc., Johnson Controls, Inc., Shell Oil Company, and The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. Firm revenues hit $102 million in 2008, up from $84 million in 2007.