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| Audrey Momanaee |
Birmingham-based Balch & Bingham, once one of Alabama's most powerful and influential law firms, continues its downward spiral with word that the managing partner of its satellite office in Houston, Texas, has left after only eight months on the job, according to a report today from banbalch.com.
K.B. Forbes, publisher of the Ban Balch blog and CEO of its parent organization, the CDLU public charity and advocacy group, writes under the headline "Balch & Bingham’s Managing Partner in Houston Dumps Firm After 8 Months:
Balch & Bingham partner Audrey F. Momanaee, who unexpectedly became the Office Managing Partner in Houston, Texas, last June after four top partners and attorneys fled the firm, has now herself left the embattled law firm.
The exodus of Momanaee leaves Balch’s Houston Office with only one full-time attorney. How embarrassing!
We are not surprised as Balch has lost numerous legacy partners and seasoned professionals, only to be replaced by inexperienced junior attorneys. So desperate for experenced attorneys, Balch rehired and pulled a former partner out of retirement to join the firm last August.
Globe Newswire reports:
Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that Audrey F. Momanaee has joined the firm’s Houston office as partner in the Commercial Litigation group. As an accomplished litigator, Audrey focuses her practice on matters involving business disputes, commercial and contract claims, catastrophic property claims, construction defects and delays, and matters involving trade secret protection and litigation.
Globe Newswire reports:
Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that Audrey F. Momanaee has joined the firm’s Houston office as partner in the Commercial Litigation group. As an accomplished litigator, Audrey focuses her practice on matters involving business disputes, commercial and contract claims, catastrophic property claims, construction defects and delays, and matters involving trade secret protection and litigation
Balch's Texas offices have been operation on shaky ground for some time, Forbes writes:
Balch suffered a massive exodus in Texas last summer, as we reported in August:
Two years ago, after opening a new office in Austin, Balch predicted it would grow to 25 to 30 attorneys in the Lone Star State. Balch crowed that it had seven lawyers in Houston in a news report published that June of 2021. Now, today, Balch has been decimated and only three lawyers remain in Houston, with one of them actually based in Birmingham. From seven to three. Balch’s total number of attorneys in the Lone Star State is in the single digits, nowhere near 25 or 30.
Who else at Balch & Bingham is dusting off their resume? What carrots are being offered to other lawyers at Balch’s satellite offices?
The undisputed fact is that the North Birmingham Bribery Trial, the Newsome Conspiracy Case, the Elderly Exploitation Scandal, the Matrix Meltdown, and Southern Company’s “fear and intimidation” campaigns appear to have taken their toll and permanently damaged Balch & Bingham’s reputation.
It appears Momanaee sensed something was amiss not long after signing on with Balch. Forbes writes:
Balch originally hired Momanaee as a partner in May 2022. She didn’t last two years in her original gig at the alleged unscrupulous firm, and quit eight months after abruptly taking over the management of Balch’s Houston office.
With two former Balch attorneys sitting in federal prison, Momanaee made the intelligent decision.
Now in 2024, Balch has shrunk again and is still in the single digits in Texas.
We wish Audrey the best of luck!
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