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Massachusetts Divorce Law
and Family Law
Attorney Steven Ballard is an experienced Massachusetts litigator practicing divorce and family law and criminal defense, and he is an especially successful trial lawyer in child custody and other high-conflict cases. He boasts a rare set of attributes, combining the broad real-life experience and street-smarts typical of the best trial lawyers together with academic credentials that match or surpass those of top lawyers in blue-chip law firms.
Steven Ballard works hard to achieve the best outcomes for his clients by strategic planning, skilled negotiations, and when necessary, aggressive court representation at hearings and at trial. He represents individuals in divorce and family law cases on a regular basis in the Greater Boston Area, in the courts of Middlesex, Norfolk and Worcester Counties. He also takes cases in Suffolk, Essex, Plymouth, Hampshire, Hampden, Barnstable and Franklin Counties.
As a family lawyer, Steven Ballard draws on several years of direct experience with children and adolescents, having taught primary school, secondary school and university students both in the United States and abroad, in his previous career as a pianist, music scholar and teacher. He is also the sole custodial parent of his only child after divorce. He is thus uniquely able to understand and handle custody and visitation matters and other issues involving children.
He understands firsthand the problems and challenges of single and divorced parenthood, and many of the typical problems of both men and women as they face divorce and other family law problems. He is eager to help his clients find the best, easiest, and most harmonious long-term solutions to their problems.
Credentials
Steven Ballard grew up in the Atlanta area, and then attended college at Columbia College, Columbia University in the City of New York, where he graduated with a Bachelor's in history-sociology.
He thereafter returned to his home state to attend law school, and received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1992. While in law school, he was a member of the Criminal Defense Clinic and received a coveted fellowship from the Public Interest Law Initiative of Chicago.
Public Interest
Steven Ballard has devoted much energy to serving the public interest. He has acted pro bono on behalf of Massachusetts family law litigants through legal aid agencies in Middlesex and Worcester Counties and has served for many years as Lawyer for the Day for the Middlesex County and Worcester County Divisions of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court.
He has also acted as a judge in years past in several statewide high school Mock Trial competitions sponsored by the Massachusetts Bar Association.
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Steven Ballard provides high quality representation in the areas of:
- Divorce & Family Law
- Criminal Defense
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Attorney Steven Ballard - National Merit Finalist, Ivy League Graduate, Honors Graduate of a first-tier law school, and winner of the prestigious Public Interest Law Initiative Fellowship in Chicago - is a seasoned trial lawyer, negotiator and litigator.
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Criminal, Civil, and Appellate Litigation
Before starting his own practice in 2002, with a primary emphasis on family law and criminal defense, Steven Ballard was associated with one of Boston's most successful plaintiff law firms, where as a trial lawyer he handled personal injury cases, ranging from workplace accidents to complex matters of professional malpractice, and also claims of employment discrimination, based on race, gender, sexual orientation, sexual harassment and disability. His practice, then and since, has included appearances as lead counsel in Massachusetts district and superior courts throughout the state, and before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the Department of Industrial Accidents.
Immediately after establishing his independent law practice, Steven Ballard was appointed by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston to argue federal criminal appeals before that court, and was also soon certified to take criminal cases on a court-appointed basis in the Massachusetts state court system.
Attorney Steven Ballard now takes select private criminal defense cases and related civil cases in district and superior courts – frequently when most convenient and practical for clients with related family law matters - including especially cases involving allegations of domestic violence, restraining orders, and sex abuse allegations.
He also handles appeals in the Massachusetts appellate courts for family law litigants in appropriate circumstances, and has managed to achieve victories for clients on several occasions right at the beginning of the appeals process, by reaching satisfactory agreement out of court before full-blown appeals proved necessary.
Music and Teaching
From his early years Steven Ballard was an accomplished classical pianist. He has performed professionally throughout the United States and abroad, has studied piano at the Vienna Conservatory, harpsichord at Vienna's Hochschule für Musik, and has studied and taught at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he received a Master of Music in piano performance as a New England Conservatory Scholar. He has taught advanced piano students, both in Taiwan, while living and performing there as a concert pianist for several years, and in the United States, and has also taught and directed music and choral programs at schools in New York City and in the Boston area.
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