Alison M. Ballard

Biography
Presentations & Publications
Deals & Cases
Education
Community

Alison M. Ballard is a Shareholder in the Firm’s Atlanta office and a member of the Litigation practice group. She is an experienced commercial litigator representing her clients as lead counsel in all types of disputes in federal and state courts, in arbitration, and before administrative agencies.

Ms. Ballard zealously protects and enforces her clients’ rights in intellectual property, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, employment, and commercial contracts. Ms. Ballard represents public companies, large corporations, small businesses, executives, and individuals that span a diverse range of industries. She has a track record of significant wins both prosecuting and defending disputes at all stages of litigation, from pre-litigation investigations and strategic negotiations through trial and appeals.

Ms. Ballard has particular experience with the technology sector. Her clients range from publicly-traded, global service providers to IT developers and start-ups in the areas of software, SaaS, CRM, CX, telecommunications, and more. Ms. Ballard is also well-versed in the technological aspects of investigations and litigation. She manages large scale electronically stored information (“ESI”), forensic investigations, and e-discovery, and previously served as an e-discovery chair, developing firm wide protocols for client ESI.

In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Ballard is a trusted advisor to her clients on a variety of pre-litigation legal issues, including employment matters, internal investigations, government investigations, data privacy, data breach response, proactive safeguarding of trade secrets and intellectual property, and more.

Ms. Ballard previously served for five years as Deputy General Counsel to a full-service law firm based in Atlanta, where she was a partner.

Ms. Ballard has consistently been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Georgia Super Lawyers, and other organizations. In her community, Ms. Ballard has served on nonprofit boards of directors, as a mentor, and as a trustee. For over a decade, she has devoted significant time to Georgia Appleseed, a non-profit advancing justice for marginalized children through policy change. Ms. Ballard co-founded Georgia Appleseed’s program training attorneys to pro bono represent Georgia foster children in school hearings.

Awards and Honors

Best Lawyers in America®, 2023-2025; Ones to Watch, 2021
Georgia Super Lawyers, 2023, 2024
Georgia Super Lawyers, Rising Stars, 2014-2023
Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, Good Apple Award for Outstanding Volunteerism that Promotes Justice, 2016
University of Georgia 40 Under 40, Nominee, 2023

Professional Involvement

The Sedona Conference
State Bar of Georgia, Labor & Employment Section, Mentorship Academy, Mentor
State Bar of Georgia, Co-Chair of YLD Labor & Employment Committee, 2013-2015