Akerman names new CEO and chair
David Spector, left, will succeed Andrew Smulian as chairman and CEO of Akerman. Photo courtesy of Akerman.
Longtime Akerman chairman and CEO Andrew Smulian announced that he will step down when his term expires in February 2018.
In a Monday press release, the firm revealed that it has already chosen Smulian’s successor. David Spector, co-chair of the firm’s fraud & recovery practice group and a member of the executive committee, has been elected as the Akerman’s ninth chairman and CEO and will begin his three-year term after Smulian leaves office. According to the press release, Akerman partners voted to approve the succession plan Friday.
Smulian, who has been in charge since 2008, is the second-longest serving chairman in the firm’s history. During his tenure, the firm has doubled the number of its offices, going from 12 to 24 (plus an administrative center in Maitland, Florida). According to the firm, Smulian’s decade in charge saw headcount increase to 650 lawyers and professionals, an all-time high.
In an interview with the ABA Journal, Smulian says that the time was right for him to step aside. As for why the firm announced the succession plan more than year in advance, Smulian says that it’s to ensure a smooth changeover. “We’ve got a large population spread over 24 offices throughout the country,” Smulian says. “In order to make the transition as seamless as possible, we decided to start it now.”
As for his designated successor, Smulian emphasizes Spector’s leadership skills, as well as the role Spector played in developing the firm’s growth strategy and client initiatives. Smulian also identifies Spector as a force for innovation and credits him with helping to launch Akerman’s fraud and recovery group last November. “I think David has a leadership style that is inclusive and collaborative, and that is hallmark of our culture,” Smulian says. “He is a very accomplished lawyer and a shining example of innovative thinking.”
Spector, for his part, told the ABA Journal that he plans on continuing the firm’s commitment to using technology to better serve its clients. He cites recent firm creations, including its R&D Council and its Data Law Center, as “prototypes” of where the firm is going. “Looking at what lies around the corner is part of our DNA,” Spector says. “We’re focused on that at all times, and using technology to help our lawyers be more efficient in order to better serve our clients is very important to us.”
In the meantime, Spector says he will try and learn as much as he can from Smulian before he takes over the day-to-day operations of the firm. Spector also marvels at the fact that, as a lateral partner who joined the firm in 2009, he will soon be running the place. “One of the nice things about this firm is that we are a fifth-generational law firm, but we have first-generational thinking,” Spector says. “That is what Andrew created, and I’m delighted and honored that my partners have decided that I’m the right person to lead this firm.”
