Law360 Recognizes Ballard Spahr as a Pennsylvania Regional Powerhouse

Ballard Spahr, a national law firm with more than 600 attorneys in 15 offices nationwide, has been recognized as a Pennsylvania “Regional Powerhouse” by leading global news service Law360.

Each year, Law360 profiles firms with strong regional footprints centered in eight states throughout the country, including Pennsylvania. The publication selects winners based on achievements over the preceding year, including significant transactions, projects, and litigation victories in the state. It also considers a firm's physical presence in the state, as measured by number of offices and percentage of total attorneys based in the state.

Founded in 1885 in Philadelphia, Ballard Spahr's long history as one of Pennsylvania's largest and most accomplished law firms includes key roles on groundbreaking development projects, major business transactions, and precedent-setting court cases.

Over the past year in Pennsylvania, the firm handled billions in financing transactions, helped emerging companies enter the market and thrive, guided many of the region’s most notable real estate projects, advised on major infrastructure projects, and led litigation that made national headlines. Ballard Spahr’s clients include many of the largest companies in the region, which the firm represents in high-stakes cases, projects, and transactions, Law360 notes.

The firm’s Pennsylvania-based lawyers helped clients navigate challenges, as well as opportunities, presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, covering the full range of industries and areas of law and regulation—from patent applications for PPE technology and vaccines to landlord/tenant issues to guidance on government stimulus programs and compliance with shifting workplace guidance and requirements.

The Pennsylvania matters below represent a small sampling of the numerous high-stakes cases and projects that Ballard Spahr handled over the past year:

• We defeated more than a half-dozen lawsuits by the Trump campaign—represented by Rudy Giuliani and others—and a handful of Pennsylvania Republican Congressmen against the state and Boards of Elections in various counties, challenging mail-in voting practices and absentee ballot validity. In Delaware County, the Ballard Spahr team was successful in both state and federal courts. Our work helped secure the Third Circuit decision that cleared the path to election certification in Pennsylvania.
• Project finance partners handled more than 35 deals worth nearly $5 billion. Their work paved the way for cutting-edge projects in areas such as renewable energy, educational and student housing facilities, and transportation infrastructure.
• On behalf of the Philadelphia City Controller, we conducted an independent review of the City’s response to civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd. The United Nations Human Rights Commission cited our report in its call to the U.S. government to adopt reforms to end police violence and address systemic racism.
• For a major transaction in the burgeoning real estate technology space, we advised Philadelphia-based STRATIS IoT—which connects smart apartment systems and devices into a single, easy-to-use resident app—on its sale to RealPage, Inc., a leading global provider of software and data analytics to the real estate industry.
• A Philadelphia-based IP team advised Exelon on the intellectual property of energy storage, microgrids, electronic vehicles, and other aspects of its $5.3 billion investment to improve system reliability and optimize new technologies directed to making a smarter energy grid.

Ballard Spahr’s Pennsylvania lawyers are also well known for their extensive community service and pro bono work. The firm ranked first among more than 35 area law firms in a 2021 survey of pro bono hours donated in the region in 2019, with more than 23,000 hours. Philadelphia-based attorneys advocate for pro bono clients’ fundamental human rights; help veterans and first-responders with estate planning through Wills for Heroes; staff legal clinics for unhoused people; assist artists in protecting their intellectual property; advise entrepreneurs on building successful businesses; and represent low-income individuals and families in the spectrum of matters.