12 Ballard Spahr Attorneys Elected to Firm Partnership

Twelve attorneys have been elected to Ballard Spahr’s partnership effective January 1, firm Chair Peter Michaud announced today. The new partners are based in six of the firm’s 18 offices—Philadelphia, Baltimore, Minneapolis, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, D.C.—and their practices span Ballard Spahr’s legal departments.

“Our new partners personify the Ballard Spahr hallmarks of excellence in legal service, unparalleled dedication to clients, and commitment to community,” Peter said. “Their election to our partnership is well deserved, and we are proud to welcome them.”

The new Ballard Spahr partners are:

• Jacob Dachs, Finance, Baltimore: Jacob represents lenders, owners, developers, and investors in a wide range of commercial real estate transactions, including financing, acquisitions and dispositions, and leasing. He also has experience serving as counsel for borrowers and lenders in the negotiation of commercial loans, including revolving and syndicated credit facilities and other complex credit products.
• Lauren Engelmyer, Litigation, Philadelphia and New York: Lauren defends clients in government investigations, securities class actions, and other complex business litigation. Her experience includes representing financial institutions in investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC, and in complex civil matters. Lauren has successfully represented clients in jury trials in federal court and in arbitrations.
• Jennifer L. Feden, Real Estate, Philadelphia: Jennifer regularly supports publicly traded and large privately held companies in managing their portfolios of fixed operating assets and navigating M&A transactions involving real estate. Jennifer also represents investors, developers, and lenders across all stages of complex real estate transactions, with a particular focus on commercial leasing work across the retail, office, and industrial sectors. 
• Catherine M. LaGrange, Finance, Minneapolis: Katie advises clients on financial services matters, with particular experience in secured transactions and acquisition financing. She represents private equity firms, senior and mezzanine lenders, family offices, and borrowers through all phases of leveraged financings. Katie’s work includes asset-based lending, agricultural finance, project finance, syndicated loans, and mezzanine and structured financings.
• Peter Lam, Finance, New York: Peter has significant experience with affordable housing developments financed with tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing tax credits, especially at the bond-issuance phase. He has counseled issuers on more than $10 billion in tax-exempt bonds that involved complex pooled financing transactions with parity bond indentures, private placement, and volume cap recycling. In addition, Peter has significant experience with bond transactions for solid waste facilities, prepay gas and electricity issuers and participants, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit borrowers such as hospitals, universities, and secondary schools.
• Rebecca A. Leaf, Litigation, Baltimore and New York: Rebecca represents public and private employers in a wide range of traditional labor matters. She routinely serves as lead negotiator in collective bargaining negotiations and provides strategic counseling to clients on union representation matters, grievance and arbitration proceedings, and hearings before government agencies. 
• Daniel J. Nunez, Finance, Washington, D.C.: Daniel represents lenders, issuers, underwriters, nonprofit organizations, and trustees on the structuring, issuing, purchasing, and securitization of a wide range of tax-exempt and taxable financings, including for public projects, including multifamily housing, 501(c)(3) transactions, education, health care, and water facilities throughout the country.
• William P. Reiley, Litigation, New Jersey: Will is a consumer financial services litigator for banks, mortgage and auto lenders, and retailers. He defends banks in trial, arbitration, and class actions involving credit reporting, account opening disputes, autodialer‑related claims, debt collection, mortgage servicing, lending disclosures, and deposit fraud.
• Lisa Ashley Seeman, Real Estate, Minneapolis: Lisa leads the Leasing Team and Western Real Estate Lawyers Team in the firm's Real Estate Transactions and Investments Group. Her practice focuses on commercial real estate and finance matters. She represents lenders and borrowers in real estate, equipment finance, and lines of credit loan transactions; buyers and sellers in commercial land acquisitions and dispositions; landlords and tenants in office, warehouse, industrial, restaurant, skyway, and retail leases; and non-traditional lenders and investment funds.
• J. Matt Thornton, Litigation, Minneapolis: Matt litigates individual and class action claims in high-stakes privacy, cybersecurity, and product liability cases. His practice focuses primarily on defending clients against alleged violations of privacy and wiretapping statutes, including the California Invasion of Privacy Act and Federal Wiretap Act.
• Elizabeth P. Weissert, Litigation, Philadelphia: Liz practices complex commercial litigation with a focus on federal antitrust cases. She has defended clients in matters involving price-fixing, wage-fixing, no-poach agreements, information-sharing, and group boycotts. She also provides antitrust advice and counseling. Liz is a member of Ballard Spahr's Education and Life Sciences Industry Groups.
• Lesley Frieder Wolf, Litigation, Philadelphia and Delaware: Lesley is an experienced trial attorney in the commercial and white collar spaces and is known for her work on complex commercial and fraud matters and investigations involving allegations of both corporate and individual misconduct. She leads litigation efforts for public and private entities across a wide array of sectors, including health care, education, finance, manufacturing, and government enforcement.

For media inquiries, please contact Will Ashenmacher at 612.371.5792.