Ballard Spahr traces its origins to 1885 and became known as "Ballard and Spahr" in the early 1900s when Ellis Ames Ballard and Boyd Lee Spahr began practicing law together. Since then, the firm has grown by number of attorneys, practices, and offices throughout the United States.
1885
| Ellis Ames Ballard joins a law firm led by Rufus E. Shapley in Philadelphia.
1904 | Boyd Lee Spahr joins Shapley & Ballard.
1919 | Ballard Spahr and Andrews is established.
1920
| R. Sturgis Ingersoll joins the practice.
c.
late '20s/early '30s
| The firm's name becomes Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll.
1978 | The Washington, D.C., office opens as the firm's first office outside Philadelphia.
1981 | Peter Mattoon becomes firm Chair.
1981 | The firm opens its Denver office, laying the foundation for growth in the Rocky Mountain and Southwest regions.
1987 | The Salt Lake City office opens, the firm's second office in the West.
1992 | The firm establishes an office in Baltimore to further expand its core practices.
1998 | David L. Cohen becomes firm Chair.
1999 | The New Jersey office opens, extending the firm's Mid-Atlantic reach.
2002 | Arthur Makadon becomes firm Chair.
2002 | The firm opens an office in Wilmington, Delaware, which further extends the firm's Mid-Atlantic footprint.
2006 | The Phoenix office opens to expand the firm's key practices in the West.
2006 | To serve clients in the hospitality, gaming, and energy industries, the firm opens its Las Vegas office.
2006
| The firm bolsters its foothold in the Metropolitan D.C. area and Maryland by opening its Bethesda office.
2007 | To fuel further national expansion, the firm establishes an office in Los Angeles.
2008 | The firm acquires Needle & Rosenberg, P.C., an intellectual property boutique firm in Atlanta, expanding the firm's IP services and establishing a foothold in the Southeast.
2009
| The firm's name officially changes to Ballard Spahr LLP.
2010 | The firm opens an office in San Diego, the second in Southern California, after five attorneys from a litigation boutique join the firm's white collar and complex commercial litigation practices.
2011 | Mark Stewart becomes firm Chair.