Chicago tax lawyer Scott Bakal has followed his clients south, joining the Fort Lauderdale office of Greenberg Traurig as a shareholder, the firm announced on Thursday. He previously co-chaired the tax department of midsize law firm Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, a 130-lawyer firm with a single office in downtown Chicago, where he had practiced since 1986.

Bakal is the first tax shareholder to join the firm in 2022 after a year of expansion for the practice. In 2021, Greenberg added shareholders Joseph Curran in Boston, Jeffrey Ekeberg in Chicago, and Seth Entin in Miami. Bakal’s clients include high-net-worth individuals in the U.S., Latin America, and Israel, as well as partnerships and public companies.