Ballard Spahr LLP is an
AmLaw 100 law firm practicing throughout the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Founded in 1885, the law firm focuses on litigation, securities and regulatory enforcement, business and finance, intellectual property, public finance, and real estate matters. The firm is headquartered at
1735 Market Street in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
History
Ballard Spahr originated in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
in 1885 and became known as 'Ballard and Spahr' in the early 1900s when
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
alumni Ellis Ames Ballard and Boyd Lee Spahr began practicing law together. The firm has continually grown by number of attorneys, practices, and offices throughout the United States since inception.
The firm opened its first office outside of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
in 1978, with the opening of its
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
office. Ballard subsequently opened its
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
office in 1981, beginning the firm's growth in the Rocky Mountain and Southwest regions. The firm later opened offices in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
in 1987,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in 1992, and
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
in 2002.
Ballard Spahr acquired Needle & Rosenberg, P.C., an intellectual property boutique firm in Atlanta in 2008, expanding the firm's IP services and expanding to the Southeast. The firm opened an office in New York City in 2013, joining with Stillman & Friedman, a white collar defense and securities litigation and enforcement boutique.
The firm has also acquired First Amendment litigation boutique Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz in 2017, bolstering Ballard's national media and entertainment law practice, as well as,Lindquist & Vennum, a firm that focuses on middle-market deal making.
Practice areas
Ballard Spahr is a general practice law firm with a particular emphasis on litigation. Litigators at the firm advise market players in securities and antitrust class actions, patent infringement cases, white collar defense matters, and federal and state appeals. The firm has a large
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
practice in the United States, encompassing real estate finance,
conveyancing
In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contrac ...
,
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
, and
development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development hell, when a project is stuck in development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
*Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped
* Photograph ...
. The firm also has a significant presence in
mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
,
securities
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...
and securities enforcement, and other areas of
corporate law, including the representation of
sports franchises. The firm has also represented government entities in the issuance of
municipal bonds
A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often, ...
and other
tax-exempt
Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...
instruments. The firm also practices in the areas of
labor & employment,
insurance law Insurance law is the practice of law surrounding insurance, including insurance policies and claims. It can be broadly broken into three categories - regulation of the business of insurance; regulation of the content of insurance policies, especial ...
,
environmental law,
tax law
Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...
and other related sub-disciplines.
[http://www.ballardspahr.com/about/practice.asp Full list of practice areas]
See also
*
White-shoe firms
References
External links
*
{{Philadelphia Corporations
Law firms established in 1886
Law firms based in Philadelphia
1886 establishments in Pennsylvania