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The acquisition marks Gray, Harris & Robinson's first step in its expansion into Tampa.
By SCOTT BARANCIK
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 16, 2000
TAMPA -- After 93 years of independence, the Tampa law firm of Shackleford, Farrior, Stallings & Evans said Tuesday it had agreed to be acquired by a larger firm based in Orlando.
Gray, Harris & Robinson, which has more than 60 attorneys in Orlando and small offices in Tallahassee and Melbourne, will join with Shackleford, Farrior on Sept. 1. The deal culminates several years of searching by both parties and is Gray Harris' first step in a planned expansion into Tampa.
The agreement also exemplifies a growing trend in the field of law: midsize firms such as Shackleford Farrior merging with one another to keep pace with megafirms such as Tampa-based Holland & Knight, which boasts more than 1,000 attorneys.
"As far as the modern legal market was concerned, being a medium-sized firm in a single city was not conducive to long-term survival," said Shackleford Farrior president Lucius M. "Jake" Dyal Jr. "We let it be known (around town) that we were interested."
For Shackleford Farrior, the agreement with Gray Harris provides new heft and geographic breadth. One of Tampa's oldest and best-known firms, it has shrunk from a peak of about 60 attorneys in the mid-to-late 1980s to only 22 today. Just days ago, three of its product-liability attorneys bolted to form a Tampa office for Kansas City, Mo.-based Shook, Hardy & Bacon.
For the Gray Harris firm, the agreement offers a foothold -- as well as a pedigree -- at the western end of the Interstate 4 corridor. President Byrd F. "Biff" Marshall said his firm will be able to do more for the banks, health care firms and other Orlando clients that seek to branch out into Tampa.
But the 30-year-old firm's acquisition of Shackleford -- approved unanimously at an Aug. 8 meeting -- is just the first phase in its expansion plan.
According to Marshall, Gray Harris is engaged in merger discussions with several other Tampa law firms and hopes to add 40 or 50 more lawyers in Tampa over the next couple years. The firm also hopes to open an office near the middle of the I-4 corridor, such as in Lakeland; an office in Daytona Beach; and may announce an expansion of its Tallahassee operation as early as this week.
"With what's happening in the legal markets today, we need to continue to grow like that," Marshall said.
Both firms considered other offers before agreeing to the deal announced Tuesday. Shackleford Farrior, for example, discussed the possibility of being acquired by Miami-based Greenberg Traurig but ultimately declined. The Tampa firm's conversations with Gray Harris began about three months ago when the two firms were introduced by Blane, Stevens & Kellogg, a legal recruiting firm in Jacksonville.
"Though there is room for law firms of all sizes, it's getting hard to compete in the Holland & Knight era," said Lisa Michael Imus, director of sales at Professional Placement Services Inc., a legal placement firm in Tampa.
Shackleford Farrior and Gray Harris both characterized their impending partnership as a merger rather than an acquisition. As evidence, they pointed to the fact that all 12 shareholders at Shackleford will become shareholders in the new firm.
But other factors point to an acquisition. Gray Harris has more than three times as many lawyers as Shackleford. Marshall, its president, will become managing partner of the new, combined firm, while Shackleford president Dyal will manage the Tampa office.
Moreover, Gray Harris got the better of the combined firm's new name: Gray, Harris, Robinson, Shackleford & Farrior.