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One of Indianapolis’ largest law firms has announced the election of a new chief managing partner who will step into the role in 2026.
Ice Miller announced Tuesday that partner Josh Christie has been elected by the firm’s partnership as its next chief managing partner, effective Jan. 1.
Based out of the firm’s Indianapolis office, Christie has been a member of its Business Practice Group since 2006. He currently serves on Ice Miller’s board of directors.
Christie succeeds current Chief Managing Partner Michael Millikan, whose four-year term expires at the end of this year. Under his stewardship, supported by Deputy Managing Partners Rebecca Seamands and Laurie Miller, Ice Miller has enjoyed significant growth both in terms of revenue and footprint, improving year-over-year returns and adding new offices in Baltimore, Miami, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Naples, Florida.
Millikan also oversaw the deal that will move the firm’s flagship Indianapolis office to a newly constructed building in the city’s Bottleworks District later this decade.
“Serving Ice Miller as Chief Managing Partner for the past four years has been one of the great honors of my career, and I’m incredibly proud of the remarkable success we’ve achieved,” said Millikan in a news release. “Josh is a colleague and friend who has already made a huge impact on the firm with his sharp mind and steady presence—I’m wholly confident he will continue to build on the momentum of the last few years and continue to add to the impressive legacy of Ice Miller. On a personal level, I am excited to return to full-time practice representing private equity and mezzanine funds investing in great companies, as well as representing family-owned businesses and entrepreneurs in their exit strategies.”
Founded in 1910, Ice Miller is the fourth-largest law firm in Indianapolis, according to IBJ’s Book of Lists, based on number of local attorneys as of 2023. The firm had 137 local attorneys and 89 partners at the time.
Nationwide, Ice Miller has more than 356 attorneys with offices in cities including Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.
According to the firm, Christie primarily focuses his legal practice on mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions, joint ventures, commercial agreements, and general corporate matters, also serving companies as outside general counsel.
He regularly assists clients in the analysis, negotiation, documentation, and consummation of a variety of transactions, including the acquisition and sale of assets and equity, equity issuances, financing and re-financing, mergers and joint venture formations, and assists entrepreneurs in entity formation and other legal matters related to starting new businesses.
His transactional and commercial experience crosses a wide variety of industries, including private equity, energy, utilities, health care, life sciences, road construction, manufacturing, distribution, food products, recycling of hazardous materials, agribusiness, retail, information technology, consulting, and professional services.
“I am honored and overwhelmed by the faith this partnership has instilled in me with this responsibility,” Christie said in a released statement. “I know I have big shoes to fill, and don’t take lightly the task of continuing the efforts of my predecessors to help Ice Miller on its trajectory toward achieving even greater heights. I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and get to work with our current management to hit the ground running on January 1.”
Christie’s election coincides with the recent addition of new leaders across the firm’s C-suite, as well as a renewed firm-wide focus on innovation, cutting-edge technology, and best-in-class business professionals and client service. His deputy ranks will be filled in the coming weeks.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, in 2003, with a minor in philosophy. He then returned to Indiana and earned his juris doctor, cum laude, from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2006.
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