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Babst Calland opens Akron office

Clay Keller

Richard Lolli

David Northrop

SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter

Published: July 16, 2012

The Utica Shale exploration has already begun creating jobs in Ohio for workers in the oil and gas industry, but it’s also having an impact on the legal profession as it gives rise to new deals and agreements.

The increase in work is one of the main reasons Pittsburgh-based Babst Calland opened an office in Akron.

“The firm has always had a strong energy and natural resources practice and recently many of our clients have become involved in oil and gas drilling projects in Ohio,” said David Northrop, an energy and environmental shareholder at Babst Calland.

The office opened on June 12 at the PNC Center at One Cascade Plaza. Northrop, who is based in Pittsburgh, is one of three new attorneys who will be handling Ohio matters for clients.

He joined Babst Calland in May after spending 40 years as an attorney in Columbus, including 14 years in the Ohio Attorney General’s office. He most recently practiced with Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur in Columbus.

Two former partners from Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs are also part of the team.

Oil and gas litigator Clay Keller started on June 15 and will be representing clients on matters ranging from lease negotiations and disputes to mineral title issues and asset sales and transactions.

“It was a great opportunity for me to expand my oil and gas practice, which I have been focusing on almost exclusively,” said Keller, who is a shareholder at the firm. “With the expansion that is taking place in Ohio I will now be able to take things to the next level.

“I am bringing some clients with me, and our goal is to help grow this office by servicing Babst Calland’s existing clients and developing new clients for the firm.”

Richard Lolli began as a shareholder in the firm’s Akron office on June 25. He is focusing on real estate, small business and title insurance.

“This is an exciting time in eastern Ohio,” said Lolli. “The area has faced economic difficulties for so many years and now there is all this activity and growth. I think Babst Calland is well suited to be a major player in the arena, and I look forward to being part of its success.

Babst, Calland was founded in Pittsburgh in 1986 with seven attorneys as a boutique firm focusing on environmental regulatory law. It now has about 105 attorneys and several offices including State College, Pennsylvania and Sewell, New Jersey.

In October 2011 it began operations in Charleston, West Virginia, to meet clients’ needs stemming from oil and gas exploration in that area. The Akron office is essentially following the same model that was used in West Virginia.

“In both Akron and Charleston the firm has a core of three base areas: energy and natural resources, the environment and real estate,” said Lolli.

“There are more than 60 attorneys with energy clients across the firm,” said Keller. “Clearly the work stemming from oil and gas exploration does not know any state or political borders. In West Virginia, we addressed the Marcellus Shale and in Ohio we will focus on the Utica Shale.”

The goal is to add attorneys in the Akron office as the number of clients increases.

“Akron was a logical choice for many reasons,” said Northrop. “It is surrounded by areas experiencing drilling and it is not far from the Pittsburgh office where we have many attorneys who are licensed to practice in Ohio who can be called upon to handle the work.

“We want to make sure that we are in a position to continue providing the high-quality service that our clientele expects and our Akron office will help us to do that.”


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