Is an implosion under way at Balch & Bingham?
Is Birmingham's Balch & Bingham law firm about to implode due to a series of missteps over roughly the past 10 years? Sources tell K.B. Forbes, of banbalch.com, that the once-proud Balch firm might be on the verge of collapse. Forbes, publisher of the Ban Balch blog and CEO of its parent organization, the CDLU public charity and advocacy group, examines the wreckage under the headline "Imploding? Top Balch & Bingham Partners Flee; Houston Closure a Crushing Blow" Forbes writes:
Is Balch & Bingham on life support? Near death?
Is the government pork trough of Mississippi, and Southern Company’s unholy allegiance, keeping the firm alive?
The legal circles are on fire 🔥, speculating about Balch’s future after the once prestigious and feared law firm shut down its Houston office, as we were the first to report last week.
Now even more damning news:
Balch legacy partner Brandon N. Robinson of Birmingham has fled the firm after 15 years and has jumped ship to Maynard Nexsen. Robinson is a leading and respected legal expert on cybersecurity and privacy.
Two top Balch partners in Austin appear to have resigned in the past week. Stacie Bennett and highly-regarded lobbyist Aaron Cole Gregg have seen their profiles wiped from Balch’s website.
Bennet joined the firm less than a year ago as a partner in their energy practice group while Gregg joined the embattled firm in November of 2021, with great fanfare.
Fanfare, however, does not seem to last long at Balch these days, Forbes reports:
Balch issued a news release at the time, writing:
Aaron, who joins the firm as a partner, is an attorney and lobbyist with demonstrated success working on matters before the Texas Legislature and executive agencies on behalf of corporations, nonprofits and trade associations.
“Aaron’s experience, long-standing relationships in Texas, respect by his peers and clients and accomplishments are impressive and will add value to our practice, while also enhancing our ability to serve as strategic partners to our clients as we continue our Texas expansion.” said Stan Blanton, managing partner.
So much for that. A planned expansion in Texas, instead of providing a lifeline, now appears to be dragging the firm down, Forbes writes:
Obviously Balch’s Texas expansion has become an apparent implosion.
Who would want a strategic partnership with Balch & Bingham where two former Balch attorneys are currently sitting in federal prison?
The stench must be so bad that yet another Balch partner, Andy Lowry, left the firm last year after five years, eventually becoming a law clerk in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Mississippi.
A law clerk appears to be a move up, step up, promotion away from the imploding manure lagoon created by the late Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., and amplified by the collector of make-believe diversity awards, Balch’s Managing Partner Stan Blanton.
