WASHINGTON — The National Association of Bond Lawyers has renamed its Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law Seminar scholarship program after the late Frederic "Rick" L. Ballard Jr., who had been a partner at Ballard Spahr.
NABL announced the name change at the general session of its 39th annual Bond Attorney's Workshop in Chicago in late September. Ballard died on May 11 at age 72 after quietly battling lung cancer for almost two years.
The scholarship program, aiming to defray the cost of fees, lodging and travel for law students to attend the annual seminar, will now be named as the Frederic L. Ballard Jr. Memorial Scholarship Program. As a respected lawyer, Ballard contributed to NABL for around 35 years.
"Ballard Spahr's longstanding support of NABL and its mission has been rooted in Rick's involvement with the organization from its infancy," said William C. Rhodes, chair of the firm's public finance department. "NABL's scholarship program will provide a lasting tribute to him and his work."
Ballard had been an active member in NABL since it was incorporated in 1979 and served as the director and chair of its tax committee. He received NABL's Bernard P. Friel Medal for Service in Public Finance in 2005, and Frederick O. Kiel Distinguished Service Award in 2007. He was one of the few people to win both awards.
During his tenure at Ballard Spahr, Ballard transformed his great-grandfather's small law office into a large national law firm with a sizeable public finance practice in litigation, business and finance, real estate, and etc. He served as the chair of its public finance department from 1995 to 2000.
During his nearly five-decade career, Ballard represented government agencies, investment banks, nonprofits, and other borrowers of tax-exempt bonds. He worked in bond financings for some of the largest public building in the U.S., such as the Denver International Airport and the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
"Rick's contributions to the advancement of public finance law are immeasurable," said Mark Stewart, the chair of Ballard Spahr. "He had a relentless zeal to equip legal practitioners with the knowledge they need to understand the fundamentals of the law, and so it's fitting that NABL is recognizing his legacy in this way."
