Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP was founded in 1886. Throughout our history, we have been committed to excellence in the practice of law. We have grown to be one of the 100 largest law firms in the country, with over 430 lawyers and seven offices located throughout the mid-Atlantic corridor and the western United States. As a large, multi-office, multi-regional law firm, we are able to combine a national scope of practice with strong local market knowledge to represent companies, individuals, and other entities in virtually every state and around the world.
Ballard Spahr has a longstanding commitment to providing legal assistance to those who cannot afford it. In all of our offices -- Baltimore, Denver, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Washington, DC, Voorhees, and Wilmington, DE -- lawyers, legal assistants, and summer associates provide invaluable contributions to individuals and organizations in their communities.
The firm's pro bono policy strongly urges all lawyers to devote time to pro bono matters, and all time spent on pro bono matters is treated as billable time. We subscribe to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge and have committed to "annually contribute, at a minimum, an amount equal to 3 percent of the firm's total billable hours to pro bono."
Our Pro Bono Committee actively solicits pro bono representations and has formed substantial relationships with numerous public interest and community groups, including Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program, the Support Center for Child Advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. The firm handles a diverse range of pro bono work, including death penalty, voting rights, asylum and immigration, and child advocacy cases. We also provide tax, corporate, and employment assistance to a wide variety of nonprofit organizations.
The firm publishes a pro bono annual report as well as regular newsletters.
Currently, we are co-sponsoring a two-year National Association of Public Interest Law (NAPIL) fellowship at Community Legal Services. We also participate in the Philadelphia Public Interest Fellowship Program, which allows incoming associates the opportunity to spend their first year of practice working full-time for a public interest organization.
Ballard Spahr and its lawyers have received numerous honors, both locally and nationally, for pro bono efforts, including recognition from the American Bar Association, Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program, Philadelphia Legal Services, the Legal Clinic for the Disabled, the Homeless Advocacy Project, the Baltimore Bar Pro Bono Project, and the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia.
