Todd Jacobs has left Shook, Hardy & Bacon's Chicago office just a little more than two years after the Kansas City, Missouri-based firm entered the Windy City market by absorbing Grippo & Elden, a 25-lawyer complex commercial litigation boutique that Jacobs led as managing partner for nearly a decade.

Jacobs is now opening a Chicago office for a much smaller firm: 27-lawyer, Iowa-based Bradley & Riley. The firm will now be known in Chicago as Bradley Riley & Jacobs. The departure from Shook Hardy, Jacobs said, was amicable.

He continues to be co-counsel on some cases with his former colleagues. The move to Bradley & Riley was driven by a desire to be closer to his wife, who lives in Cedar Rapids and married Jacobs about four years ago. Jacobs will split his time between his hometown of Cedar Rapids and Chicago, where he has developed a national practice over the past 25-plus years.