Member Voices: Peter Michaud
Tell us about your practice at Ballard Spahr.
For 25 years, I practiced in the area of Mergers & Acquisitions, specializing in private equity deals. Since becoming the Chair of our firm, I no longer practice. Ballard, however, continues to have a vibrant M&A practice in public, strategic, private equity, and emerging company/venture capital transactions. My full-time job now is Chair of Ballard, which currently has about 750 attorneys and 750 business professionals in 18 offices across the country.
As Chair of the firm, what are the key challenges and opportunities you see on the horizon for Ballard Spahr and law firms generally?
The current US federal administration has proven very challenging this year, particularly because of its unpredictability. Of course, this unpredictability also presents opportunities for legal work as clients come to us for advice in a variety of areas affected by the federal administration, including finance, litigation, media (First Amendment law), governmental relations, intellectual property concerns, and other areas. An uncertain global economy also presents challenges as our clients deal with interest rates and tariffs. In terms of the legal industry itself, we continue to see changes driven by innovation, particularly generative artificial intelligence. Law firms that invest in innovative ideas and embrace the changes presented will be the firms that see long-term success. The US legal market also continues to be extremely competitive with law firms regularly trying to poach talent from other law firms. This creates an atmosphere where the competitive nature of the industry overshadows efforts to be collaborative among law firms. Our combination with Lane Powell this year was a great step for us towards adding talented and friendly attorneys in a new geographic area for us (the Pacific Northwest area of the US). I am very excited about the future of our combined firm, and I look forward to what we will accomplish together.
How does World Law Group fit into Ballard Spahr's international strategy?
Since Ballard has no current intention of expanding internationally, being a part of World Law Group is an excellent way to have a reliable network of respected law firms throughout the world with whom we can collaborate. Most, if not all, of our clients have businesses that are impacted on a worldwide level so knowing who we can go to to hire legal expertise in different areas or just call and ask a question is important. While Lane Powell was a member for decades, our legacy Ballard lawyers are becoming more acquainted with the World Law Group network. I am confident we will find many new ways we can strategize together.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to travel, spend time around one of the 16,000+ lakes in Minnesota, and read books (mostly murder mysteries). My husband and I are big foodies, so we enjoy spending time with all of them, watching them play sports, etc.