Am Law 100 firm Ballard Spahr and Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz (LSKS)—the preeminent First Amendment and media law boutique in the United States—announced that they have agreed to merge effective October 1, 2017. The powerhouse combination, which will retain the name Ballard Spahr, brings together two nationally renowned media law practices and creates a team that represents the biggest and most prominent names in the industry.
All 25 of LSKS’s lawyers, including its four name partners—Lee Levine, Michael D. Sullivan, Elizabeth C. Koch, and David A. Schulz—will join Ballard Spahr in its Washington, D.C., New York, Philadelphia, and Denver offices. LSKS is well known for its deep bench of top-tier First Amendment attorneys. Its lawyers, including Mr. Levine—who has been described in Chambers USA as “the greatest First Amendment attorney in the United States”—have argued landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and in state and federal courts across the country.
“We have made one outstanding addition after another to our Media and Entertainment Law Group—including Practice Leaders David Bodney and Chuck Tobin, who are recognized as among the very best in the business,” said Ballard Spahr Chair Mark Stewart. “With the arrival of LSKS, we will have one of the largest practices of its kind in the country. The LSKS lawyers are terrific people whose dedication to this critically important work mirrors ours. It is an exciting development for both firms.”
Media attorneys at Ballard Spahr and LSKS represent and counsel clients across platforms and industry sectors—news, entertainment, sports, publishing, advertising, and advocacy. They defend media clients in defamation, privacy, and First Amendment litigation; prosecute actions to secure open government and public access; defend journalists against civil, criminal, and grand jury subpoenas; advise reporters in their newsgathering; provide pre-publication and pre-broadcast counseling to a wide array of media; and help clients protect their intellectual property rights.
LSKS has been at the vanguard in representing the media in many of the most significant and consequential First Amendment cases in recent years. Last month, the firm achieved dismissal in federal court of a defamation suit brought against The New York Times by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. LSKS also helped the Associated Press obtain the release of sealed documents in the Bill Cosby sexual assault cases; successfully defended NBCUniversal in a defamation suit brought by George Zimmerman, the man acquitted in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin; and succeeded in reversing a jury verdict against the estate of famed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in a case brought by Jesse Ventura following the publication of Kyle’s best-selling book American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History.
“We are more committed than ever to providing our clients with the strongest, most comprehensive representation possible,” said LSKS Managing Partner Jay Ward Brown. “We saw that same commitment in Ballard Spahr, and we knew that Ballard—with its practice depth and national platform —would support and strengthen our work. We share many of the same clients, and those clients have the highest regard for Ballard Spahr. Together, this team is second to none.”
Ballard Spahr welcomes the following attorneys from LSKS:
Lee Levine
Michael D. Sullivan
Elizabeth C. Koch
David A. Schulz
Thomas B. Kelley
Celeste Phillips
Robert Penchina
Seth D. Berlin
Jay Ward Brown
Steven D. Zansberg
Michael Berry
Chad R. Bowman
Cameron Stracher
Ashley I. Kissinger
Alia L. Smith
Paul J. Safier
Elizabeth Seidlin-Bernstein
Mara J. Gassmann
Dana R. Green
Matthew E. Kelley
Jeremy A. Kutner
Max Mishkin
Thomas B. Sullivan
Al-Amyn Sumar
Alexander I. Ziccardi
The LSKS merger is the second to be announced by Ballard Spahr. Last week, Ballard Spahr announced that it will join with Lindquist & Vennum—a Minneapolis-based law firm known as a leader in middle-market M&A and private equity dealmaking—effective January 1, 2018. The combination will extend Ballard Spahr’s national footprint into the Midwest, giving the firm offices in Minneapolis and Sioux Falls, SD, and an expanded presence in Denver. When the mergers are completed, Ballard Spahr will have more than 675 lawyers in 15 offices across the country.
