Robert McL. Boote

Robert McL. Boote is a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Health Care Group; Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Capital Recovery Group; and Insurance Group. His practice is concentrated in the areas of complex commercial litigation, including fidelity and surety, health care, and insurance. He is experienced in estates litigation, having litigated will contests and on behalf of institutional trustees. At Ballard Spahr, Mr. Boote has served for the past decade as chair of the Professional Responsibility Committee, which addresses ethical issues that confront lawyers in everyday practice, including conflicts, disclosure of information, and withdrawal as counsel. 

Mr. Boote has represented sureties in complex underwriting matters, in numerous substantial claims and suits, in related bankruptcies, and in recovery efforts arising from alleged defaults under financial guarantee bonds and construction performance bonds. He has substantial experience in commercial arbitration matters, having litigated disputes concerning the establishment of a health care network, the development of a complex marketing Web site for a substantially public-held company, and database management software for an insurance company.

Representative Matters

• Serves as counsel for the appeals committee of a mutual insurance company insuring municipalities
• Acts as special counsel for a northeastern Pennsylvania municipality relating to its zoning planning and litigation with an industrial land-use applicant
• Acts as counsel to a large medical certifying board in the United States, litigating the validity of its examinations and other requirements in cases throughout the country, and assisting it in developing policies and educational efforts for faculty who teach on the graduate level
• Serves as special counsel to consult with other medical certifying boards concerning similar issues
• Served as a party-appointed arbitrator on behalf of an insurance company in a multimillion-dollar dispute concerning warranty insurance
• Acted as counsel in assisting academic, medical organizations in the establishment of charitable foundations
• Served as counsel for a major medical educational institution concerning program accreditation issues

Judicial Clerkships

Hon. John P. Fullam, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Professional Activities

Florida Bar Association
Pennsylvania Bar Association

Speaking Engagements

During the past 15 years, Mr. Boote has lectured at medical conferences on legal issues in graduate medical education and accreditation. He has been an invited speaker at meetings of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the Association of Medical Colleges, the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine, and the graduate medical education retreats of Yale University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Howard University. He has been an invited lecturer on legal ethics at national conferences, including the Affordable Housing Forum of the American Bar Association, where he addressed conflicts in transactional matters.

Community Activities

Bala Cynwyd (Pennsylvania) Civic Association

Church of St. Asaph

Eagles Mere Association, trustee

University of Pittsburgh School of Law (J.D. 1970, cum laude)
Member, Order of the Coif; Comment Editor, University of Pittsburgh Law Review

University of Pittsburgh (B.S. 1966)

Florida 1985

Pennsylvania 1971

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Supreme Court