Phila.-based firm Ballard Spahr creates Mortgage Banking Group

Philadelphia law firm Ballard Spahr has announced that it has created a new Mortgage Banking Group, and has retained to head the unit four Washington, D.C. attorneys “whose skill and depth of experience put them at the forefront of evolving regulatory developments in the industry,” firm chairman Mark Stewart announced Monday.

The four attorneys – partners Richard J. Andreano, Jr., John D. Socknat, Michael S. Waldron and associate Reid F. Herlihy – will work out of Ballard Spahr’s Washington, D.C. office.

The Mortgage Banking Group, the firm announced in a statement on its website, will comprise more than two-dozen attorneys in nearly all of Ballard Spahr’s 13 offices nationwide.

The incoming attorneys will lead a team that will specialize in various types of regulatory work, such as advising mortgage companies and other financial firms on compliance and licensing issues. The team will also handle structuring operations and will represent clients in state and federal enforcement actions.

The unit will also advise clients on things like e-commerce, electronic signatures and electronic records storage.

“Acquiring this group of superbly talented lawyers fills out our Consumer Financial Services Group in an important way by adding attorneys whose focus is on residential mortgage regulatory work – a need we’ve been aware of for some time,” Stewart said in the statement. “We’re confident that these lawyers will be a perfect complement to our existing practice.”

Partner Andreano, one of the new team leaders, said in the statement: “We are excited about the expanded opportunities we will have by combining our mortgage banking practice with Ballard’s robust Consumer Financial Services Group, and the ability to provide a broader range of services to our clients. In particular, the mortgage litigation practice at Ballard is a perfect fit for our clients.”

The statement says that lawyers in the new Mortgage Banking Group will represent clients ranging from start-up companies to Fortune 500 corporations in both the residential and commercial mortgage banking industries.

Ballard Spahr employs more than 500 attorneys in its 13 offices across the country. The firm was founded in 1885 in Philadelphia.