Taft Detroit, formerly Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, expands with the addition of three partners to the newly merged firm. The team includes Jordan Bolton, Stuart Schwartz, and James Waggoner. 

Bolton’s practice focuses on helping business leaders, in-house counsel, and individuals remove barriers to success by providing creative business-centric dispute resolution and transactional services, both within and outside state and federal tribunals nationwide. He counsels clients in a variety of industries in high-stakes litigation and serves as lead trial lawyer in dozens of high-profile and high-risk matters. Bolton maintains a robust outside general counsel practice for his clients who have varied legal needs.

Schwartz’s practice focuses on commercial disputes and other business concerns across a variety of industries. He represents clients of all sizes in high-risk and complex matters pending in business and other courts across the country. He maintains an active outside general counsel practice for numerous clients who rely on him as a trusted advisor to navigate a myriad of legal and strategic matters.

Waggoner’s practice focuses on a broad range of corporate matters. He advises on complex business matters for a diverse client base, which ranges from small privately held companies to large publicly traded companies. Waggoner has extensive transactional experience across a variety of industries, representing both buyers and sellers. He guides his clients through the entire transaction process while assisting in identifying, evaluating, and understanding the many legal implications.

“We are so pleased to welcome this talented team to Taft,” said Mark Cooper, partner-in-charge of the Taft Detroit office. “We are especially excited as this is the first sizeable lateral move to Taft’s Detroit market since the merger, which was effective Dec. 31, 2022. As with other Taft mergers, lateral attorneys are attracted to Taft’s non-headquarter model, transparent compensation system, and deep client service resources.”

This group adds to Taft’s existing sophisticated Litigation and business practice groups and helps increase the firm’s overall presence in Detroit as it seeks to substantially grow this market with the addition of talented attorneys, who excel in both legal skills and client service. 

Taft was founded in 1885. Today, Taft is a member of the prestigious Am Law 100, with approximately 840 attorneys spanning nine markets. The firm has pursued geographic growth in a strategic, deliberate manner, targeting the middle market, and has grown nearly 500% since 2000.

The firm made the strategic decision in 2006 to: 

• Expand through mergers to other markets to become a super-regional, Midwestern firm – primarily focused on the middle market.
• Use this larger, more complete platform and “toolbox” to attract high-performing lawyers and new clients in each of the firm’s core markets.

Detroit is Taft’s newest market with approximately 120 lawyers. The majority of this market’s attorneys and staff are based in Southfield, Michigan. Southfield is not only well positioned within a prominent commercial corridor with more than 10,000 businesses, but it is also conveniently located close to the firm’s downtown Detroit office.