The Legal 500 Names Ballard Spahr Practices and Lawyers to U.S. 2020 Rankings

Seventeen Ballard Spahr practice areas have been recognized for national strength in the 2020 rankings by The Legal 500. The recognition includes top-tier rankings for the firm's work in middle-market mergers and acquisitions and municipal bankruptcy. The highly regarded annual guide to the legal profession also lists 63 Ballard Spahr attorneys as recommended nationally in their areas of practice. The Ballard Spahr practice areas recognized by The Legal 500 for 2020 are:

• Antitrust: Civil litigation/class actions: defense
• Antitrust: Civil litigation/class actions: plaintiff
• Dispute resolution – Product liability, mass tort and class action: automotive/transport
• Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Design
• Finance – Financial services regulation
• Finance – Municipal Bankruptcy
• Fintech
• Industry focus – Energy: renewable/alternative
• M&A/corporate and commercial – M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m)
• Media and Entertainment: Litigation
• Outsourcing
• Project finance (formerly advice to lender)
• Project finance: advice to sponsors
• Real estate
• Real estate – Land use/zoning
• Real estate – Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
• Securities Litigation: Defense

The Legal 500 rankings are determined by researchers, including journalists and attorneys, who conduct months of in-depth market research. They solicit feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide and conduct interviews with leading peer attorneys.

The Legal 500 also recognized individual Ballard Spahr attorneys. Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group leader Brian Pinheiro, M&A partner Gregory L. Seltzer and William C. Rhodes—who leads the firm’s Municipal Recovery initiative—were honored as elite "leading lawyers."

Ballard Spahr attorneys recognized by The Legal 500 for 2020:

Antitrust - Civil litigation/class action - defense

• Leslie E. John
• Stephen J. Kastenberg
• Jason A. Leckerman

Antitrust - Civil litigation/class action – plaintiff

• Jay N. Fastow
• Leslie E. John
• Stephen J. Kastenberg
• Denise L. Plunkett

Dispute resolution – Product liability, mass tort and class action: automotive/transport

• David A. Haworth
• Roberto A. Rivera-Soto
• Neal Walters
• Casey G. Watkins

Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Design

• Robert J. Hartman
• Edward I. Leeds
• Brian M. Pinheiro

Finance - Financial Services: Regulatory

• Richard J. Andreano, Jr.
• John L. Culhane, Jr.
• Mark J. Furletti
• Alan S. Kaplinsky
• Jeremy T. Rosenblum

Finance - Project Finance

• Raymond W. Faricy, III
• Patrick R. Gillard
• Bruce F. Johnson
• Dirk Michels

Finance – Restructuring (including bankruptcy): municipal

• Vincent J. Marriott III
• William C. Rhodes

Fintech

• John L. Culhane, Jr.
• James Kim
• Judy Mok
• Kim Phan
• Jeremy T. Rosenblum

Industry focus – Energy: renewable/alternative

• Raymond W. Faricy, III
• Patrick R. Gillard
• Bruce Johnson
• Katie Leesman
• Dirk Michels

M&A/corporate and commercial – M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m)

• Brian D. Doerner
• Karen C. McConnell
• Michele J. Rowland
• Gregory L. Seltzer
• Maggie M. Tatton
• Robert E. Tunheim

Media and Entertainment: Litigation

• Chad R. Bowman
• Charles D. Tobin
• David J. Bodney
• Jay Ward Brown
• Leita Walker
• Michael D. Sullivan
• Seth D. Berlin

Real estate

• Dominic J. De Simone
• Mary Jo George
• Thomas Hauser
• Tina R. Makoulian
• Bart I. Mellits
• Christopher W. Payne
• Mark Pollak
• Roger D. Winston
• Kelly M. Wrenn

Real estate - Land use/zoning

• Thomas G. Bennett
• David M. Gest
• Matthew N. McClure
• Emily J. Vaias
• James R. Walston

Real estate - Real estate investment trusts (REITs)

• J. Thomas Bashore II
• Douglas M. Fox
• Craig Solomon Ganz
• Charles R. Moran

Securities Litigation: Defense

• David L. Axelrod
• M. Norman Goldberger