Taft, one of the nation’s fastest-growing law firms, announced today the opening of its office in New York, marking the latest milestone in the firm’s long-term strategic plan. Taft’s New York office is anchored by the arrival of a new energy, infrastructure, and project finance group led by Brad McCormick, Tim Moran, and Joe Tato, who all joined from Steptoe LLP.

As the world’s top financial center and largest legal market, New York represents the fourth major geographic move for Taft in less than 18 months. In 2025, the firm completed a series of strategic mergers that led Taft into new markets across the Mountain West, Florida, and Atlanta, plus an expanded presence in Washington, D.C., as it continues to expand its position as one of the leading national middle-market firms.

The addition of the New York office further strengthens Taft’s national platform and adds significant depth to its energy and infrastructure capabilities and its full-service, multi-disciplinary data center and digital infrastructure practice. The group advises clients across the full lifecycle of energy and infrastructure projects, including development, financing, acquisition, and operation of conventional and renewable energy assets. Their substantial practice includes a wide range of technologies, from traditional grid-connected thermal and renewable power projects to behind-the-meter projects and other emerging solutions to increasing energy demand driven by growth in data centers, AI, electrification, and domestic manufacturing.

“New York was the biggest missing piece for Taft as we continue to build a firm that truly serves clients nationwide,” said Taft Firmwide Chairman and Managing Partner, Robert J. Hicks. “Brad, Tim, and Joe are recognized leaders in energy and project finance, and their arrival immediately positions us to play a more prominent role in one of the most dynamic sectors of the global economy.”

McCormick, Moran, and Tato bring decades of experience advising sponsors, developers, lenders, and investors on large-scale infrastructure and energy transactions across the U.S. and abroad. Their team is known for structuring complex financings, M&A transactions, and restructurings, and guiding clients through the evolving regulatory, sustainability, and capital markets landscape.

The New York office launch also represents the third lateral group to join Taft this year, following the recent arrival of a seven-lawyer team in Colorado Springs and a five-member team in Chicago.

A Novel Approach in New York for Taft: A Strategic Move Without a Merger

Taft’s New York office is located at 1155 Avenue of the Americas, and the firm expects to scale its presence to more than 100 lawyers over the next five years, consistent with its size in existing primary markets. Notably, more than 80 of Taft’s attorneys are also licensed to practice in New York, and many of the firm’s clients are based in or operate with a New York presence.

“We were one of the largest firms in the country without a presence in New York, and this gives us a strong team and foothold from which to build,” said Hicks. “New York has been a strategic focus of Taft for several years. We continue to explore merger opportunities, looking for the right cultural, economic, and client fit to help build our New York presence. While we don’t normally enter a market other than through a merger, given the significant and mobile pool of legal talent in New York, we felt this was a good way to start our presence there. We have discovered great enthusiasm in New York for our platform, our position in the middle market, and our trajectory as a firm, which is leading to a strong pipeline of laterals. We’re very excited about the growth ahead in New York.”

By combining strategic lateral hires with targeted geographic mergers, Taft has grown into one of the nation’s fastest-growing law firms today with more than 1,250 attorneys across 25 offices and revenues exceeding $1 billion.

About the Team in New York

Bradford McCormick has a comprehensive transactional practice spanning the energy, infrastructure, and industrial sectors, including renewable and thermal power generation, nuclear, energy storage, transmission, data centers, water, and advanced manufacturing. He advises sponsors and investors (including private equity), lenders, developers, and corporate clients on complex cross‑border and domestic transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures, debt and equity financings, public-private partnerships, and large‑scale project development.

Timothy Moran represents developers, sponsors, commercial lenders, private equity, and tax equity investors in a variety of financial matters related to renewable energy, thermal energy, power infrastructure, data centers, and midstream oil and gas projects. Tim represents his clients in the structuring of complex financial transactions and in resolving unique legal and commercial challenges. Although he primarily focuses on North American markets,  Tim has spent a substantial amount of time working on projects in Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Joseph Tato represents project sponsors, equity investors, financial institutions and governments in the development and financing of energy and infrastructure projects worldwide. His practice focuses on power, oil and gas, LNG, renewables, water and mining projects across the United States, Africa, Latin America, and Europe.  Joe also advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and workouts in the energy and infrastructure sectors. He has served as counsel on some of the largest public-private partnership transactions for energy and water projects in the United States and globally. Having served as a director on several public and private corporate boards as well as an advisor to corporate boards in the energy and infrastructure industries, he frequently advises clients on governance matters.