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Earlier this year, Barnes & Thornburg’s government services and public finance team made a huge move by hiring 39 attorneys from national firm Ballard Spahr.
The team now has 57 lawyers who handle a diverse spectrum of issues, including state and local government, banking, civil and social infrastructure and municipal securities regulation and enforcement.
The group’s chair and vice chair, Rick Hall and Kim Blanchet, spoke with The Indiana Lawyer about what the new expansion means for Barnes & Thornburg as a firm and detailed how the group is uniquely positioned to tackle current challenges.
On strategic growth and integration
What about B&T’s current standing made this the right time for such a massive lateral acquisition?
Hall: The firm has been on a growth path for the last two decades; we’ve grown across the country. And when we’ve done that, we’ve looked to find practices that are, first of all, top of class, and then secondly, fit in with our other practices that we have. So when this came along with the folks from Ballard [Spahr] – that had a national reputation, second to none – it was a great fit for our existing finance practice.
As we look to grow, the public finance practice can be a great catalyst for our different offices. Much of the work that we do in the public finance area is multidisciplinary. It involves real estate, environmental, bankruptcy, other types of law, so that we can throw off work for other departments and help grow those offices.
Blanchet: This was a unique opportunity, both professionally and culturally. … The culture fit was very important to us, and it was very important to the Ballard [Spahr] team, as well. And so it was the right place at the right time, and it was just a very unique opportunity, again, both professionally and culturally.
How does this new expansion uniquely position B&T ahead of other key competitors?
Hall: With the addition of the new lawyers, we have a much broader array of expertise that we can offer our clients in different areas. There’s literally no deal that we can’t do now with our combined teams. When you look at the two teams together, we have 57 finance lawyers now, which is an impressive number when you look at, particularly, the variety of work that they do. So it really allows us to serve our clients better across the country, with new experiences and new expertise added to the team.
Blanchet: This firmly puts us in the top 10 public finance firms in the country and also gives us a very deep bench. … We do have expertise in all areas of the public finance and infrastructure areas now.
How will the new offices in Baltimore, Denver and Phoenix change B&T’s competitive standing for bond counsel roles in markets outside the Midwest?
Hall: The lawyers that we’ve brought in those offices have reputations, both in their cities and also across the country. So with those reputations, it allows us to serve clients and more geographies. The additions of the offices help in that regard, and that we can reach across the country and provide clients with national service.
Blanchet: We still serve the Midwest market, right? I mean, we will continue to do that and continue to do it well. These new offices allow us to kind of expand that Midwest philosophy to kind of a national platform across the country.
How do you expect this new addition’s experience and depth to impact the firm’s other departments, such as banking, real estate and municipal securities enforcement?
Hall: The nature of a lot of the work that we do in the public finance area is such that we have to call upon other departments to provide expertise to get the transactions completed. So the transactions that we have, like in health care and project finance and infrastructure financing and P3 projects, is going to necessarily involve assistance from those other departments.
Blanchet: Historically, our department, public finance and governmental service, has been a large exporter of work to other departments, and so that just adds to that volume. And the Ballard [Spahr] folks on this acquisition had a very similar structure, where they were exporters of work to other departments, as well. And so this is just, again, giving us more depth to do so and to kind of expand those roles on the transactions.
On technical and regulatory challenges
How is your expanded team helping clients adapt to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s heightened focus on disclosure and enforcement in the municipal space?
Hall: With the new additions to the firm, we’ve added a lot of expertise in this area, in SEC regulation. We do a lot of underwriters council work across the country, so this just brings more talent to those questions, those emerging trends, to get the best results for our clients.
As infrastructure projects become more complex, how are you navigating the evolving risk profiles between public entities and private developers?
Hall: With the new group, we will have a lot more P3 expertise. We’ve definitely expanded our depth in that area. And that’s the best thing that we can do; these transactions involve – they’re complex transactions – and we have experienced lawyers that can put their minds to them, and the more the better.
The federal government had a heavy deregulation year in 2025, which has left states to pursue enforcement actions. How do you plan to leverage your expanded national bench to assist clients against a splintered enforcement landscape?
Hall: With the addition of the new lawyers, we have more people in different states that have strong relationships with the security regulators and have worked with them for a long period of time, so those relationships, that experience, will allow us to address those issues in more states. … With their addition, we have the ability to address the most complex of issues that come up in our public finance practice.
Blanchet: I think it’s also imperative to note that when we did the Ballard [Spahr] acquisition, they came over with some very, very high qualified 103 lawyers, which are the federal tax side 103, and that allows us to have a bench in that space that meets not only federal government regulations, but trickles down also to the state.
Future outlook
Rick, you previously described this acquisition as “transformative” for the firm. Beyond The Bond Buyer volume rankings, what specific milestones do you both hope this group achieves within the next few years to solidify B&T’s position in the top tier?
Hall: The transaction there was transformative because it grew our public finance practice from primarily in Indiana to now nationally. And as we look at specific milestones to achieve going forward, the first and most important is that the team get integrated with our existing lawyers, and we could not be happier as to how quickly that has happened. As Kim mentioned, we are very much culturally aligned and have the same commitment to excellence – and commitment to one another, which has allowed that integration to move so smoothly.
We will continue to look for other opportunities to grow across the country. With the national practice that we now have, we have access to much more talent than we would if we were just located in a single state. So I can’t tell you there’s specific numbers that we want to hit, but we are in an aggressive growth position to add talent that fits with us.
Blanchet: We’re just getting started. I mean, the sky is the limit for us. We are so excited about how this has landed and how it came to be.
I think the other thing that’s important for us to stress … is this acquisition was not just a transaction. It was an acquisition of people. It was an acquisition of people who are not only experts in their practice areas, but they’re humans. And for us, we’ve extended our family, and that’s really how we see it. … It was key for us. And it was very important, imperative for us that they’re not just a transaction, they’re human.
Looking ahead to the next three years, what unique legal footprint do you want this combined team to leave on the national public finance landscape?
Hall: As a group, we want to continue to grow our national reputation for excellence and support the firm’s initiatives. In that regard, as I said earlier, we’re not looking to grow just for the sake of growth as a firm. We’re actually trying to take advantage of specific practices that will enhance the existing practices. So the same thing would be true with our public finance department, and that we would continue to look for excellent lawyers across this country that allows us to elevate the service we have to our clients.
Is there anything else you would like to stress about where this new expansion will take the firm in the future?
Hall: I would just say that the combination with these new lawyers really is transformative. We now have the ability to do any kind of transaction. We have so much more breadth in the types of deals that we can do. So, we look forward to continuing to grow.
Blanchet: Strategic growth. I think that’s important to us. … Like Rick said, it’s aligning, kind of, our strategies and where we want to be and where we want to grow, and also culturally.•
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