John H. Estey to Return to Ballard

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- John H. Estey, chief of staff to Gov. Rendell from 2003 to 2007 and now senior adviser to the governor, will leave government service on Feb. 15 to join Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP as a partner, leading a new Government Relations & Regulatory Affairs Practice that will serve as a strategic partner to business clients nationwide in their interactions with state government, Ballard Chairman Arthur Makadon announced today.

Makadon said that Estey was the ideal candidate to marshal the firm's significant government relations capabilities. "We expect him to play a large role in the future of the firm representing important clients and managing key client relationships in the government relations area," Makadon said.

Estey, who will be based in Ballard's Philadelphia office, concentrates his practice in the areas of general business and corporate law and government relations. He was a partner at the firm from January 2002 through January 2003 before joining Gov. Rendell's administration in Harrisburg.

"John Estey performed superbly for five years as my chief of staff and as senior adviser," Gov. Rendell said. "His departure is a loss to the Commonwealth. Ballard is fortunate to be able to welcome John back to the firm."

Estey will continue to serve as chairman of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and as the governor's designee as chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority.

"I am very excited to be returning to Ballard, a firm of outstanding lawyers and exceptional people with a national practice," Estey said. "The firm has a stellar reputation, and I look forward to rejoining my friends and colleagues. I am particularly excited about working with a team of experienced lawyers to grow and expand the Ballard Government Relations Practice throughout the United States. We intend to focus on providing advice concerning interactions with state governments to clients in regulated industries and clients involved in economic development projects."

Lawyers from each of the firm's 11 offices and its four legal departments will be part of the Government Relations Practice.

As chief of staff, Estey oversaw and managed a budget of approximately $27.5 billion and the activities of 18 operating departments and more than 78,000 employees. He led Rendell Administration negotiating teams for four commonwealth budgets, and for several of the governor's major legislative initiatives.

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP is an Am Law 100 firm with more than 500 lawyers in 11 offices in the United States. Ballard clients include Fortune 500 corporations, hospitals, universities, financial institutions, managed care organizations, defense contractors, utilities, public officials and private individuals. Ballard combines a broad scope of practice with strong local market knowledge in its various engagements. For more information on the firm, please visit www.ballardspahr.com.

About John H. Estey

John H. Estey, 45, was chief of staff to Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell during his first term in office, from 2003 to 2007, and now serves as senior adviser to the governor.

Since 2004, Estey has served as the governor's designee as chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Delaware River Port Authority, the bi-state agency that owns and manages four toll bridges and the PATCO rail line. In 2007, Rendell named Estey chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the Pennsylvania authority that owns and operates port facilities on the Delaware River in Philadelphia. The governor has asked Estey to pursue a significant public-private partnership port development project in Philadelphia, on PRPA property adjacent to the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Estey serves as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Independence Visitors Center Corp., a not-for-profit entity that operates and maintains the Independence Visitors Center at Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Gettysburg Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation that is constructing and will operate a new visitors center and museum at Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pa.

From 1997 to 1999, Estey served as deputy chief of staff when Rendell was mayor of Philadelphia. He was a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas N. O'Neill Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He also has been affiliated with two other Philadelphia law firms: Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads and Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin.

As chief of staff, Estey was the Governor's Office lead on initiatives in 2003 to balance the budget and eliminate a projected $2.4 billion budget deficit, placing the commonwealth on sound financial footing. Estey twice oversaw successful labor negotiations with the commonwealth labor unions and worked to implement the governor's management and productivity initiatives, which to date have cut more than $1 billion in costs and expenses from the commonwealth budget.

Estey served as a lead counselor to the governor and lead negotiator on the governor's major legislative initiatives. He led the teams that negotiated four commonwealth budgets between 2003 and 2006, each of which was highlighted by record investments in education across the commonwealth. He also led the teams that negotiated several major legislative initiatives, including the following:

    -- Legislation to expand prescription drug coverage for Pennsylvania
       senior citizens in 2003;
    -- The Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act of 2004, which
       legalized slot machine gaming at 16 locations around the state;
    -- The $2.8 billion economic stimulus legislation of 2004, which supported
       economic development programs that have led to record high job levels
       in the commonwealth;
    -- The Growing Greener II legislation in 2005, which established a $625
       million fund to protect and preserve the Pennsylvania environment;
    -- Legislation enacted in 2006 that will provide more than $1 billion in
       property and wage tax relief to Pennsylvania citizens;
    -- The first increase in the Pennsylvania minimum wage in more than a
       decade, enacted in 2006; and
    -- Legislation enacted in 2007 that allocates gaming revenues to support
       significant economic development in Philadelphia and Allegheny
       Counties, including the expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center
       in Philadelphia and the construction of a new multi-purpose arena in
       Pittsburgh.

Estey worked closely with Gov. Rendell and his senior staff to resolve a number of important and complex non-legislative matters, including the SEPTA transit strike in Philadelphia and the threatened Port Authority transit strike in Pittsburgh in 2006. He was one of the architects and negotiators of the financing plan that supports the development of the new $290 million Pittsburgh arena, and he led the successful commonwealth efforts to develop the new Judicial Center in Harrisburg. Estey also worked closely with the governor to resolve an extended dispute with the State of New Jersey that will allow the deepening of the Delaware River, fostering substantial economic development in shipping commerce throughout the region.

In his capacity as senior adviser to the governor, Estey worked with Rendell on important state issues in and around the City of Philadelphia. These included the budget and strategic direction of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, the $700 million expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and a $400 million riverfront development in the City of Chester.

Estey holds a B.A. from Carleton College and a J.D., cum laude, from University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he served on the Law Review.