Only four attorneys remain at Balch office in Austin, TX
Birmingham's Balch & Bingham has attempted to develop a major presence in Texas, but those plans appear to be going up in smoke,, according to a report at banbalch.com.
K.B. Forbes, publisher of the Ban Balch blog and CEO of its parent organization, the CDLU public charity and advocacy group, provides details under the headline "Texas Meltdown! Balch Closes Houston Office; Austin Crumbling; Rising Star Flees Montgomery," Forbes writes:
Balch & Bingham is in a Texas meltdown and has shut down its Houston office. Balch’s website has removed Houston from the firm's footprint.
As we reported last month, Balch & Bingham partner Audrey F. Momanaee, who unexpectedly became the Office Managing Partner in Houston last June after four top partners and attorneys fled the firm, left Balch herself after eight months.
The news out of Austin is no better in that only four Balch attorneys remain.
In 2021, Balch predicted it would grow to 25 to 30 attorneys in the Lone Star State. Instead, Balch looks like it has collapsed.
The Texas exodus appears to be fatal.
Yesterday morning, a source close to Balch & Bingham said Aria Allan, a civil rights, labor, and employment attorney who joined Balch & Bingham half a decade ago, has dumped the embattled firm.
Balch has erased any traces of Aria Allan’s profile from its website.
Allan was based in Montgomery. Sources say she is headed to work at Auburn University. We wish Aria all the best in her new position. War Eagle!!
Balch & Bingham's problems have been mounting for about a decade, many of them traced to the firm's involvement in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal. Forbes writes:
We are not surprised at the collapse and exodus as Balch has lost numerous legacy partners and seasoned professionals, only to be replaced by inexperienced junior attorneys.
Balch has been so desperate for experienced attorneys, it rehired and pulled a former partner out of retirement to rejoin the firm last August.
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