After five months officially shadowing longtime Akerman leader Andrew Smulian, Chicago-based partner Scott Meyers has officially taken over as head of the Am Law 100 firm.

His appointment marks the first time Akerman has been led by a non-Floridian. Meyers joined Akerman from Ulmer & Berne in 2014 and was tasked with building its nascent Chicago location as the office’s managing partner. The outpost rapidly grew from eight to 55 attorneys. And in 2018, Meyers was promoted to firmwide managing partner before he was voted in as chairman and CEO.