Ballard Spahr New Chair Seeks Growth Through Mergers, Hires (1)

Ballard Spahr’s new national chair, Peter V. Michaud, wants his firm to seek out growth opportunities through acquisitions of regional firms or lateral hires as he takes the reins of the top 100 law firm.

Michaud, a mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions attorney based in Minneapolis, said in an interview the firm is in an acquisitive mood. It is targeting opportunities especially in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Minneapolis, he said.

“Our clients would benefit from us adding practices and also adding new talent to our current practices that are already vibrant and thriving,” Michaud said. “My target is small to midsize firms.”

Ballard Spahr would also consider targeting individual lateral hires or group hires, he said. Other markets he indicated include the Pacific Northwest, Chicago, Texas and Florida.

Michaud was elevated to national chair this week after serving as chair of the corporate department and managing partner of the Minneapolis office. Ballard Spahr was the 97th largest law firm by revenue in 2022, pulling in more than $482 million, according to data from The American Lawyer.

Michaud joined Ballard Spahr through the firm’s 2018 acquisition of Minneapolis-based Lindquist & Vennum. He said he was the first openly gay lawyer at his previous firm, coming out to his partners around 2000.

There are few if any openly gay or LGBTQ+ leaders of the country’s top 100 law firms. Michaud said he did not know of another.

In terms of practice areas he’s targeting for growth, Michaud said the firm’s securities litigation and white collar litigation practices have been strong performers that he’d like to supplement. That’s in addition to M&A, private equity, real estate finance and intellectual property.

“Our M&A transactions practice, which is mostly characterized by middle market acquisitions, was very strong in 2023, and it may end up being our best year ever,” Michaud said.

He succeeds Mark Stewart. Michaud has named Brian M. Pinheiro as managing partner of finance and operations.

An earlier version of this story was assisted by Bloomberg Law Automation.