Ballard Spahr Elects Nine Attorneys to Firm Partnership

Nine attorneys have been elected to Ballard Spahr’s partnership effective July 1, 2019, firm Chair Mark Stewart announced today.

The new partners, two-thirds of whom are women, are drawn from seven of the firm's 15 offices—Atlanta, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Their practices encompass finance, intellectual property, litigation, and real estate.

"Our new partners embody the values that make Ballard Spahr a wonderful place to practice law," said Mr. Stewart. "They are excellent lawyers, thoughtful, innovative, and committed to the best interests of our clients and the firm. We are thrilled to welcome them to the partnership."

Ballard Spahr's new partners are:

Joseph P. Anderson III, Atlanta

Mr. Anderson is an intellectual property lawyer who focuses on patent filing strategies, infringement risks, and design changes in advance of large-scale product launches in the industrial, consumer product, and medical device technology sectors. He is a member of Ballard Spahr's Mechanical Technologies team and has widespread experience in preparing, filing, and prosecuting utility and design patent applications, both domestically and internationally. Mr. Anderson also is licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Robert J. Clark, Philadelphia

Mr. Clark is a litigator who represents Fortune 500 companies and public and private entities in regulatory, administrative, and legislative matters. He counsels clients involved in significant public and private economic development and infrastructure projects, public procurement and bid protest proceedings, matters involving public integrity laws, and administrative and licensing issues in Pennsylvania. Mr. Clark also advises clients in a variety of industries on public policy and political matters.

Rania S. Galan, Washington, D.C.

Ms. Galan represents borrowers and mortgage lenders in commercial real estate financing transactions. She focuses on the construction, rehabilitation, acquisition, and refinancing of market rate and affordable multifamily and health care facilities, with an emphasis on Fannie Mae agency loans and loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Ms. Galan also helps clients maintain compliance with National Housing Act and FHA regulations.

Maria Gall, Las Vegas

Ms. Gall is a commercial litigator who represents clients in breach of fiduciary duty claims, corporate governance matters, securities litigation, and other business disputes. In addition to her corporate and commercial cases, she has experience handling complex construction litigation and post-judgment collection efforts. Ms. Gall regularly appears in Nevada's business court and advises C-suite executives, as well as significant stockholders, on matters involving fiduciary responsibility and securities laws.

Holly V. Horsley, New Jersey

Ms. Horsley advises issuers, underwriters, banks and borrowers in the structuring, issuance, offering, placement, remarketing, and restructuring of tax-exempt and taxable municipal securities and other debt instruments and derivatives. She serves as bond, borrower's, underwriter's, bank, and disclosure counsel to clients across the country. Ms. Horsley also focuses on tax-exempt and taxable conduit financings for hospitals and health care systems, higher education institutions, charter schools, continuing care retirement communities, and various not-for-profit organizations.

Scott S. Humphreys, Los Angeles

Mr. Humphreys is a civil litigator with a diverse practice. He represents clients in federal and state courts in California and throughout the country. As a member of Ballard Spahr’s Media and Entertainment Law Group, Mr. Humphreys defends the media in defamation, privacy, and related First Amendment litigation and has prosecuted high-profile entertainment matters. His docket also includes the defense and prosecution of cases for a number of Fortune 500 corporations on matters ranging from intellectual property enforcement to product liability, mass tort, and complex business and commercial real estate disputes.

Michelle M. McGeogh, Baltimore

Ms. McGeogh represents property owners, commercial landlords, investors, and developers in real estate litigation. She is experienced in a range of commercial litigation, including landlord/tenant law, contract disputes, commercial foreclosures, negligence, and fraud claims. As Co-Leader of Ballard Spahr’s Accessibility team, Ms. McGeogh helps clients comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other accessibility laws. She also represents financial institutions and special servicers of mortgage loans in disputes involving lender liability, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and foreclosure.

Siobhan M. O’Donnell, Los Angeles

Ms. O’Donnell, who leads Ballard Spahr’s CMBS Loan Origination team, focuses on commercial real estate finance. She represents investment banks, commercial banks, specialty finance companies, and institutional lenders, as well as real estate developers and owners, in a variety of real estate financing transactions. Ms. O’Donnell also advises clients on permanent and bridge loan origination, CMBS conduit loans, construction loans, preferred equity transactions, mezzanine loans, and other subordinate financing structures.

Jenny N. Perkins, Philadelphia

Ms. Perkins defends banks, credit card companies, retailers, and lenders in consumer financial services litigation. She advises on the full range of federal and state consumer protection laws, including TCPA, FCRA, and FDCPA compliance. Ms. Perkins represents financial institutions in arbitrations, individual cases, government regulatory proceedings, and multijurisdictional class actions throughout the United States. She also guides businesses through the considerable challenges posed by state attorney general investigations and enforcement actions.