Expanding Expertise and Practice Power
With Moss & Barnett’s attorneys joining, Cozen O’Connor gains an expanded bench of talent across a wide spectrum of legal specialties — from real estate, corporate, and intellectual property law to energy, public utilities, litigation, regulatory and government affairs, family law, and estate planning.
The Minneapolis office will immediately become Cozen’s fourth largest of its 33 locations, trailing only Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C. The firm plans to relocate its Minneapolis operations to Moss & Barnett’s current office while scouting a new space to house the combined team.
“We’re excited to join forces with Cozen O’Connor,” said Brian T. Grogan, president and CEO of Moss & Barnett. “Both firms share a multidisciplinary, client-centered culture. Integrating our local expertise with Cozen’s national resources creates a powerhouse team ready to serve Minneapolis’ dynamic business community.”
A Measured Growth Strategy
Cozen O’Connor’s growth story has been one of consistent expansion and calculated acquisitions. From 763 U.S.-based lawyers in 2020 to 832 by 2024, the firm’s headcount has steadily climbed — largely through organic growth and lateral additions rather than large-scale mergers.
Between 2016 and 2021, Cozen was on an acquisition spree, adding boutique firms in Miami, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Philadelphia, and Boca Raton. But the firm had gone quiet on the merger front for nearly four years before this announcement.
The new combination marks a return to form — and fittingly, it arrives exactly 10 years after Cozen’s major 2016 Midwest expansion through its acquisition of Chicago-based Meckler Bulger Tilson, a 60-lawyer firm with offices in Chicago, Minneapolis, and San Francisco.
