Mary Leslie Smith, a litigation specialist who specializes in franchising and distributor disputes, will become the new managing partner of Foley & Lardner's Miami office — the latest woman to be installed into a law firm leadership position in Florida.

Foley & Lardner announced the leadership change, which will take effect March 1, on the heels of its 10th anniversary in Miami. Smith will replace William Davis, a fellow litigation partner who has held the managing partner role in Miami since Foley & Lardner launched the office in late 2007. Previously, Smith served as chair of the office's litigation practice.

While the announcement marks the first managing partner succession for Foley & Lardner in Miami, it also puts Smith among a growing group of women lawyers who have recently taken on firm leadership roles in Florida. Many of those leadership announcements have come over the past two years, following the results of a Florida Bar study among young lawyers that reported some 43 percent of young women lawyers in the survey believed they had experienced gender bias during their careers.

As examples, GrayRobinson in June 2016 named Orlando-based Mayanne Downs its president and managing director, making her the first woman to hold that position at the firm. In January 2017, Brinkley Morgan attorney Roberta Stanley, based in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, was named that firm's new managing partner, and in February 2017, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman opened a new Miami office with former Boies Schiller Flexner partner Jennifer Altman serving as founding managing partner.

In April, Greenspoon Marder announced the promotion of Rebecca Bratter in Fort Lauderdale to the role of deputy managing shareholder, while Jackson Lewis in October elevated long-time lawyer Joanne Lambert to the managing partner role in the firm's Orlando office.

This year, in February alone, at least two firms made new leadership announcements involving women partners in the state. That includes bankruptcy and litigation lawyer Corali Lopez-Castro, who was named to a one-year term as managing partner of Coral Gables-based litigation boutique Kozyak Tropin Throckmorton, and Susan Eisenberg, a labor and employment lawyer who was named managing partner of Cozen O'Connor's Miami office.

In the latest announcement, Foley & Lardner said that Smith, as the new Miami managing partner, plans to focus on expanding the firm's operations in the city through lateral hiring and other steps meant to “meet the needs of Foley's new and existing clients.” As of Wednesday, Foley & Lardner's website listed about 30 lawyers and administrative staff based in Miami. The office was launched in December 2007 with a group of nine lawyers, including Smith and the former office managing partner Davis, who joined from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.

In particular, the firm intends to enhance its offerings in core practices in Miami, including health care, litigation, labor and employment, immigration, intellectual property and distribution and franchise law.

“It's an exciting time to become managing partner of Foley's Miami's office,” Smith said in a statement.  “Foley's expansion plans in Florida and across the country as supported by my tremendously talented colleagues, make this an opportune time to lead the Miami office into its next decade.”