In 1998, U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team members interviewed Ballard Spahr partner John B. Langel as a possible counsel. They asked what he charged. “I told them, ‘Don’t ask, you can’t afford it.’” Mr. Langel. “I think that first year they just paid $15,000 for my travel expenses. They could have qualified as a pro bono client.” Since then, Mr. Langel has negotiated two employment contracts with U.S. Soccer, the latest of which expires at the end of 2012. He attended the World Cup final, which ended in a heartbreaking loss to Japan, and then flew back on a chartered plane with the team.