Indianapolis-based Barnes&Thornburg has opened a branch in Atlanta, its eighth office overall and first in the Southeast.

The expansion-minded law firm, which has grown to employ 500 attorneys and other legal professionals, says the new Georgia office will focus on health care, life sciences and software industries, to name just a few.

“We are fortunate that we are able to continue our strategic growth nationwide," Managing Partner Alan A. Levin said in a news release today. “… Our Atlanta office opening is a logical next step in the firm’s evolution.”

B&T has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Mich., and Washington, D.C. Besides Indy, it has attorneys working out of Elkhart, Fort Wayne and South Bend.

The firm will aggressively recruit lateral attorneys in all practice areas, with the intention of building a full-service office in Atlanta, similar to its approach in Chicago where the firm has built a full-service office with more than 85, Levin said.

Stuart C. Johnson and Jason A. Bernstein, previously partners in the Atlanta office of Bryan Cave Powell Goldstein, will join the firm to open the Atlanta office. Johnson becomes a partner in the firm’s Business Department, and Bernstein becomes a partner in the Intellectual Property Department. Both will join the firm’s new office located in Buckhead at the Atlanta Financial Center.