Barnes & Thornburg is adding 35 lawyers, including 25 partners, to its government services and finance department. This group joins the firm’s 21 existing public finance lawyers to bring the firmwide practice to 56 public finance and infrastructure lawyers serving clients across the country in a broad range of industries from state and local government, to underwriting and banking, to healthcare and education, to solid waste and renewable energy, to housing and securitizations, to civil and social infrastructure, to defaults and bankruptcies, to municipal securities regulation and enforcement, and to the purchase and restructuring of distressed debt.
“We’re thrilled to kick off 2026 by welcoming one of the nation’s top public finance and infrastructure practices to the firm. With this group, we also expand in our existing offices, while entering three new markets — all of which supports the strategic growth we have been focused on,” Andrew J. Detherage, managing partner of Barnes & Thornburg, said. “This team represents a premier practice that enhances the firm’s existing public finance practice, and supports the firm’s strategic growth strategy to be a top destination for talented lawyers and marquee practices.”
New partner Valarie Allen will join current partner Kimberly Blanchet in serving as department vice chairs for public finance. John Smolen and Steve Park will lead the infrastructure practice. Among the others joining Barnes & Thornburg are partners William Rhodes and Kimberly Magrini in Philadelphia; Jeffrey Ballard, Andrew Spicknall, Charles Treece and Daniel Nunez in Washington, D.C.; Peter Lam in New York City; Silvia Shin and Emilie Ninan in Wilmington, Del.; and Teri Guarnaccia, Anastasia Khokhryakova and Michele Bax in Baltimore, Denver and Phoenix, respectively. The group also includes partner Benjamin Johnson, who previously practiced at Barnes & Thornburg and served as co-chair of the Charter School and School Innovation practice.
“This is transformative for our team and the firm,” Richard J. Hall, the firm’s government services and finance department chair, said. “Our newly expanded bench positions Barnes & Thornburg in the nation’s top 10 practices for public finance and deepens the services and value we can provide to clients across the finance and regulatory landscape.”
With this game-changing addition, Barnes & Thornburg now boasts approximately 850 lawyers serving clients across the globe from 26 U.S. offices. Since 2020, the firm has added over 200 lawyers and established market presence in Boston, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia and Morristown, N.J.
New team members are resident in 10 offices, including the three new markets of Baltimore, Denver and Phoenix. The additions also strengthen the firm’s existing presence in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Morristown, N.J., New York, Los Angeles and Wilmington, Delaware. The firm now has public finance lawyers in 15 offices, including Indianapolis; South Bend, Ind.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Columbus, Ohio; and Chicago.
The group joins from Ballard Spahr, where they were ranked regularly by The Bond Buyer in the top 10 nationally by dollar volume of bond issuances as bond and underwriter counsel. They have been nationally and internationally recognized for advancing many large and complex alternative project delivery — including public-private partnership (P3) — infrastructure projects in the nation.
The new finance team represents issuers, borrowers, bankers, investors, credit providers, trustees, developers, securitizers and GSEs in almost every type of public or project finance or other tax-advantaged transaction. The team leads infrastructure projects ranging from transportation, rail/transit and port/airport systems and energy facilities to affordable housing (multifamily, single family, student, military and senior housing) and all other types of social infrastructure. They represent federal, state and local governments and private sector developers, investors and lenders in pre-procurement activities, project development and delivery, regulatory compliance, legislative support, community relations, project implementation and related tax issues. The team is also well known for its experience with 103 tax matters, municipal securities regulation and enforcement, and defaults, work-outs, restructurings and municipal bond bankruptcies.
Barnes & Thornburg currently provides comprehensive legal services to participants in public finance transactions for both public and public-private projects. The firm regularly serves as bond counsel or counsel to underwriters, issuers, borrowers, and banks, as well as investors, indenture trustees and credit and liquidity providers.
“We are excited to launch Barnes & Thornburg offices in Baltimore, Denver and Phoenix, and to join this growing and dynamic firm of collaborators,” Allen said. “Barnes & Thornburg shares the same commitment to excellence and client service that we developed at Ballard Spahr, and we look forward to working with our new colleagues.”
Blanchet added, “This combination of outstanding lawyers creates a dynamic team that will continue to expand.”
Partners
- Valarie Allen, Philadelphia
- Jeffrey Ballard, D.C.
- Michele Bax, Phoenix
- David Fernandez, New York (Joins March 2)
- Garland Gantt, D.C. (Joins Feb. 21)
- Teri Guarnaccia, Baltimore
- Charles Henck, D.C.
- Holly Horsley, Philadelphia
- Benjamin Johnson, Minneapolis
- Anastasia Khokhryakova, Denver
- Stephanie Kim, D.C. (Joins Feb. 21)
- Peter Lam, New York
- Kimberly Magrini, Philadelphia
- Skye Nickalls, Philadelphia
- Emilie Ninan, Wilmington, Del. (Joins Feb. 21)
- Daniel Nunez, D.C.
- Steve Park, Philadelphia
- William Rhodes, Philadelphia
- Silvia Shin, Wilmington, Del.
- John Smolen, Baltimore
- Andy Spicknall, D.C.
- Jere Thompson, Philadelphia
- Randall Towers, Philadelphia
- Charles Treece, D.C.
- John Wheatley, D.C.
