There was a time when law firms didn't need a button on their websites to list office locations because they had only one.

That's largely not the case anymore—including for some midsize firms in the Southeast with offices in Atlanta. Conversations with leaders at Hall Booth Smith, Miller & Martin and Stites & Harbison show that their reasons for expanding vary. One move might stem from needing to help a client in a particular spot. Another opens in a new location to grab a well-known litigator there. Yet another firm might let a lawyer plant a flag elsewhere because his family has to move.

Robert M. Connolly, who chairs 170-lawyer Stites & Harbison from Louisville, Kentucky, notes that technology makes it simple for lawyers to work from any location. But some of the reasons his firm has 10 offices across Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Indiana and Virginia include: “Proximity to the courthouse saves money for clients. Knowledge of the judge and local bar are very helpful in preparing litigation strategy.” Also, some states require the active involvement of counsel licensed in that jurisdiction.

Atlanta-based Hall Booth Smith has been expanding around the Southeast since 1999. It started first in smaller cities around Georgia, where it now has six offices. It also has launched outposts in Florida (three offices), Tennessee (two), North Carolina (two), South Carolina and Alabama (one each). Last week it opened its 15th office, in Tallahassee, Florida.

Managing partner Alex Booth said that, while the firm is always interested in expanding its client base, the moves were aimed at expanding services to its established clients in core practice areas, which include representing insurers of professionals and hospitals.

He said the firm sent a representative from Atlanta to help open some early offices, while others were prompted by Hall Booth lawyers who wanted to move, for example, to the Georgia coast, Charleston and Nashville. Many other new offices have grown out of the most previous move, as occurred in Florida.

He said lawyers in the relatively new Jacksonville office suggested the firm consider meeting Bill Fuller, a veteran trial lawyer in Tallahassee. “It was a no-brainer,” Booth said.
In other cities, he added, “We've been fortunate to be introduced” to new partners.

Booth said he expects any further expansion would occur in the region, save for a “unique opportunity” somewhere else.

“The Southeast makes sense,” he said of the firm, which is approaching 200 lawyers overall.

Miller & Martin, a 150-year-old firm that started in Chattanooga, Tennessse, doesn't like to grow for the sake of growth, but it has opened offices for either “opportunistic” or “strategic” reasons, said Chris Parker, an Atlanta litigation partner on the firm's policy committee.

During the 1990s, the firm opened an office in Atlanta to serve a particular client. Later, it merged with a smaller firm in Nashville to work with clients on legislative affairs matters in the Tennessee capital.

Last year, a partner needed to move to Charlotte, North Carolina, and with the city being a major Southeast hub for business, the firm opened an office there.

“We're actively looking” for possibilities in north Florida or Alabama, he said.

Connolly of Stites & Harbison said most of the firm's expansions came through mergers.

“Merging two firms is never easy,” he said. “However, if the cultures are compatible and the strategic advantages outweigh the inconvenience of learning new systems or procedures, then most people will work hard to accommodate the changes.”

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