TAITS LEGAL - FROM 1867
A LONG AND PROUD HISTORY

  • William Ardlie commenced practice in Warrnambool in 1867. Retired partner John Ardlie is his great-grandson.
  • In January 1897 John Sym Tait, grandfather of retired partner James Tait, opened his practice in Warrnambool. After being admitted in 1934, his son John Officer Tait joined him, trading as J.S. Tait & Son. In the 1940s, after being joined by Neil Symons, the firm became J.S. Tait & Co.  It practised under this name until 1990 when the name changed to Taits Solicitors.
  • In 1962 the century old Ardlie practice merged with J.S. Tait & Co.
  • Sole practitioner Jack Powling, whose grandfather established the E.W. Powling firm in Port Fairy, merged his century old practice with us in 1974 trading in Port Fairy as J.W. Powling & Co.
  • Soon after, Bill Archer in Mortlake joined us, merging his one man practice W.L. Archer & Co., which had been founded by his father in the 1890s.
  • George S. Mackay commenced practice in Warrnambool in 1891. In 1893 James Fletcher joined George to become Fletcher & Mackay. In the 1920s J.McD. Taylor became a partner of the firm, and the firm became Mackay Taylor. His son, Ian Taylor, worked with him from 1953 to the mid-1980s. Neville Smith joined the firm in 1968 and became the owner on J.McD. Taylor’s death in 1970. In 1983 and 1984, the firms of Trickett & Garside and Stock & Kerr of Terang merged with Mackay Taylor.
  • In 1999 Taits Solicitors and Mackay Taylor amalgamated to form Tait Taylor Lawyers.
  • Peter Conlan purchased the Murphy legal practice in Port Fairy in 1926. In 1952 he established a partnership with Colin Leishman under the name Conlan & Leishman. Colin Leishman's son Bruce joined the practice in 1985 and became a partner in the merged firm of Tait Leishman Taylor in 2002. 
  • Hence from early days the combined firms have served Warrnambool and its hinterland, offering full legal service with a rich history of skill and knowledge. The firm has offices in Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Mortlake and Terang, and is well respected for soundness of law, fairness, honesty, and its orientation to provide service to clients.
  • In December 2010 the firm changed its name to Taits Legal.
  • In 2017 Taits Legal celebrates 150 years of providing legal services to South West Victoria.