Akerman debuted a new data centers and digital infrastructure practice on Thursday with the hiring of partners Michael McKinley and James Grice from the Kansas City, Missouri, office of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, where Grice led the same practice.

The partners are members of Akerman’s Dallas office, although both are practicing remotely from Kansas City. The data centers practice exists within the firm’s larger real estate practice and represents the culmination of years of searching for the right candidates, said real estate chair Eric Rapkin in an interview.