August 6, 2025
Melanie S. Lampton recently joined law firm Babst Calland’s Washington, D.C. office as a shareholder in the Pipeline and HazMat Safety practice group.
Ms. Lampton comes to Babst Calland after nearly a decade of working on energy-related matters for the Federal government. She most recently worked as an attorney advisor in the Office of General Counsel at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where she provided counsel on legislative issues and rulemakings across the department.
Prior to this role, Ms. Lampton was an attorney advisor at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). She advised the Office of Pipeline Safety on rulemakings, regulatory enforcement, litigation, and policy development. She served as counsel to PHMSA regional offices around the country, representing the agency at administrative hearings, as well as serving as an adjudicator for pipeline safety enforcement cases. Ms. Lampton was also PHMSA’s primary counsel on liquefied natural gas matters.
Ms. Lampton is a 2012 graduate of University of Maryland School of Law.
July 30, 2025
Babst Calland announced the lateral move of veteran attorney Priscilla (Polly) E. Hampton, who has joined the Firm as a Shareholder in its Environmental practice, and opened a new Babst Calland office in New York State.
Ms. Hampton’s practice focuses primarily on contaminated site cleanups, brownfield redevelopment, and environmental diligence and risk management in mergers and acquisitions. She counsels a range of businesses—from mining, manufacturing, and energy to real estate and project developers—on remediation, permitting, compliance, and enforcement matters under federal and state environmental laws.
Ms. Hampton has extensive experience with industrial operations throughout the country. She addresses the “dirty dirt” aspect of deals and projects, counseling on the identification, management, and cleanup of hazardous substances and allocation of related liability. She represents clients in defense of government enforcement and cleanup actions, and she has achieved favorable outcomes for clients facing potential natural resource damages liability. She also oversees internal environmental compliance audits both in the regular course of business and as part of transaction-related environmental due diligence, working with businesses to identify and correct potential deficiencies before and after closing.
A veteran and former U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer, Ms. Hampton helped found Women in Environment, an organization aimed at furthering professional development opportunities for women in the environmental field.
“I am excited to join Babst Calland, one of the nation’s premier law firms, with sophisticated and solutions-oriented representation in all areas of environmental law, including projects at the cutting edge of environmental and energy policy. I look forward to working with this well-regarded team of attorneys,” said Ms. Hampton.
Commenting on her lateral move to the firm, Babst Calland Managing Shareholder Donald C. Bluedorn II said, “We are very pleased to welcome Polly as part of our senior-level legal counseling team to serve the needs of existing and new clients across the country. Polly is a well-respected environmental lawyer with a great reputation among local, state, and federal regulatory agencies. She is a natural fit for us as she shares our values, philosophy, and experience in serving a nationwide clientele across a wide range of industries.”
July 18, 2025
Andy DeGory has been selected for The Institute for Energy Law (IEL) 2025-26 Leadership Class.
The Institute for Energy Law (IEL) is proud to announce its 8th Leadership Class, composed of 43 rising professionals selected for the 2025–26 program. This year’s class represents a diverse group of attorneys from eight U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Mexico, and the United Kingdom, with experience ranging from three to thirteen years in the energy industry. Class members bring a broad range of expertise, including oil and gas litigation and transactions, energy transition, land and title, midstream, upstream, natural gas, hydrogen, and more. The class also includes several engineers and a forensic accountant, enriching the group with varied technical and analytical perspectives. In addition to their professional accomplishments, members of the 2025–26 class are actively engaged in their communities.
July 9, 2025
Babst Calland announces that five practice areas and 13 attorneys are recognized in the 2025 Chambers USA Guide.
Chambers rankings are a definitive mark of excellence across the legal industry for law firms and legal professionals. A ranking from Chambers shows that the firm has stood out in the most rigorous, independent and in-depth research process and has emerged as one of the best in the field. The qualities on which rankings are assessed include: technical legal ability; professional conduct; client service; commercial astuteness; diligence; commitment; and other qualities most valued by the client.
Firm Rankings:
Pennsylvania
- Construction (Band 3)
- Environment (Band 1)
Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh & Surrounds
- Litigation: General Commercial (Band 3)
West Virginia
- Energy & Natural Resources (Band 2)
- Environment (Band 2)
Lawyer Rankings:
USA – Nationwide – Energy: PHMSA Specialists
Pennsylvania – Environment
Pennsylvania – Construction
Pennsylvania – Litigation: Mediators
District of Columbia – Environment
West Virginia – Environment
West Virginia – Litigation: General Commercial
West Virginia – Energy & Natural Resources
June 16, 2025
Litigation Attorney Austin Rogers was named 2025 Young Lawyer of the Year by the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia at its Annual Meeting. This award is given to a member of the DTCWV who has practiced five years or less (or is under the age of 36) and has, by his or her ethical, personal, and professional conduct, shown exemplary achievement in the legal profession, and/or who has contributed time and expertise to the DTCWV.
June 9, 2025
On June 4th, Babst Calland and its long-time client, ALCOSAN, met for a tour of ALCOSAN’s facilities and a luncheon get-together to thank the many ALCOSAN personnel who work with us so often.
Overall, 30 ALCOSAN representatives and 20 Firm attorneys participated. It was a great day for everyone involved!
June 2, 2025
Babst Calland announced that Attorney Natalie Baughman has joined the firm’s Washington, DC office as a shareholder and member of its Environmental practice group.
Natalie Baughman has a deep expertise in CERCLA site remediation, particularly in complex, multi-party cleanups involving decades of contamination. Her practice also includes representing clients in enforcement actions, environmental litigation, and permitting and compliance matters arising under the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and state environmental laws.
Prior to joining Babst Calland, Ms. Baughman worked in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Section and the District of Columbia’s Department of Energy and Environment, where she oversaw the agency’s work on the CERCLA cleanup of the Anacostia River and numerous other contaminated sites. Ms. Baughman has represented clients in administrative and civil judicial enforcement cases in both government positions.
Ms. Baughman earned her B.S. from Northwestern University in 2002. She received her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2009.
Ms. Baughman is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland.
May 29, 2025
Babst Calland is pleased to announce that 13 attorneys were selected to the 2025 Pennsylvania and West Virginia Super Lawyers® and the 2025 Pennsylvania and Washington, DC Rising Stars® lists, published by Thomson Reuters. Only a few attorneys from each state are selected to receive the Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars® designation for any given year. The multi-factor selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and evaluations, as well as professional achievement in legal practice. Those selected include:
Pennsylvania Super Lawyers®
Kevin K. Douglass – Shareholder, Business Litigation
Kevin J. Garber – Shareholder, Environmental
West Virginia Super Lawyers®
Timothy M. Miller – Shareholder, Civil Litigation
Pennsylvania Rising Stars®
Devlin E. Carey – Associate, Business Litigation
Kathleen H. Cooper – Shareholder, Mergers & Acquisitions
Andrew C. DeGory – Associate, Business Litigation
Alexandra G. Farone – Associate, Employment & Labor
Angela M. Harrod – Associate, Construction Litigation
Anna S. Jewart – Associate, Land Use/Zoning
Morgan M. Madden, Associate, Energy & Natural Resources
James D. Mazzocco – Shareholder, Environmental Litigation
Joshua S. Snyder – Shareholder, Civil Litigation: Defense
Washington, D.C. Rising Stars®
Gina Falaschi Buchman – Shareholder, Environmental
May 14, 2025
Babst Calland is pleased to announce that Sean M. McGovern has been elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF). Membership is limited to just one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction. Members are nominated by their peers and selected by the ABF Board.
The ABF Fellows is a global honorary society that recognizes attorneys, judges, law faculty and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and the welfare of their communities. ABF Fellows hail from nearly 40 countries and hold a wide variety of influential roles.
Sean McGovern is a shareholder in the Environmental practice and co-chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources practice of Babst Calland. Mr. McGovern’s practice involves counseling clients on a variety of federal, state, and local regulatory and compliance issues related to mining, renewable, oil and natural gas well development, production, midstream, storage, plugging and restoration in the Appalachian Basin. He counsels these clients on a wide range of environmental regulatory and enforcement matters, including water withdrawal, erosion and sediment controls, various permitting requirements, seismic and acoustic assessments, the transportation and disposal of wastes generated by industry, in addition to other issues related to pooling, unitization, and spacing and setback requirements under Pennsylvania’s Conservation Law. Mr. McGovern regularly handles storage tank issues, stray gas investigations, as well as site reclamation and remediation matters. He also has experience with environmental transactions, including due diligence activities; environmental justice considerations and requirements; and river basin commissions. In addition, Mr. McGovern has counseled clients pertaining to investigations by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mr. McGovern was recognized in The Best Lawyers in The Best Lawyers in America© in the Environmental Law Section for 2025 by BL Rankings. He is a 2022-23 alumnus of Leadership Pittsburgh XXXIX alumnus. In 2012, Mr. McGovern was selected by The Legal Intelligencer as one of only 35 “Lawyers on the Fast Track” in Pennsylvania. This recognition is given to attorneys under the age of 40 who have demonstrated excellence in four categories: development of the law, advocacy and community contributions, service to the bar and peer/public recognition. He was also selected to the 2012-2013 and 2015-2016 Pennsylvania Rising Stars lists (Thomson Reuters).
Mr. McGovern graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill in 2006.
About the ABF Fellows
Notable Fellows include Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Former United States Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton.
The ABF Fellows serve as stewards of the American Bar Foundation, an independent, nonprofit research organization that conducts short- and long-term socio-legal research projects. The ABF’s mission is to serve the legal profession, the public, and the academy through empirical research, publications, and programs that advance justice and the understanding of law. The ABF’s research falls under one of three categories: learning and practicing law; protecting rights and accessing justice; and making and implementing law. The Foundation is committed to broad dissemination of research findings to the organized bar, scholars, and the general public.
April 29, 2025
Mark Shepard was awarded the ACBA’s Civil Litigation Section Professionalism Award. Mark was presented the prestigious Award by Chief District Judge Mark Hornak during the Section’s 32nd Annual Lunch with the Judges.
Mark joins a long line of distinguished lawyers who have been presented the Award. The Professionalism Award is given annually to a distinguished member of the profession who has been active in the Bar Association and has exhibited the intangible, but recognizable, qualities of professionalism. The Award reflects an individual’s entire career, accomplishments, and contributions not only to the practice of law, but to the community as a whole.
April 15, 2025
Babst Calland Attorneys Susanna Bagdasarova and Joseph V. Schaeffer were selected by The Legal Intelligencer as a “2025 Lawyer on the Fast Track, Small/Midsize Winner” in Pennsylvania.
After reviewing the results of nominations for the annual The Legal Intelligencer awards, a judging panel composed of evaluators from all corners of the legal profession and the state selected 12 attorneys as the 2025 Lawyers on the Fast Track, Small/Midsize Winners. This recognition is only given to attorneys under the age of 40 who have demonstrated excellence in four categories: development of the law; advocacy and community contributions; service to the bar; and peer and public recognition.
Susanna Bagdasarova is an associate in the Firm’s Corporate and Commercial and Emerging Technologies groups. Ms. Bagdasarova represents business clients in connection with a broad range of general corporate and commercial law matters, including entity formation, corporate structuring, corporate governance, commercial contracts, and mergers and acquisitions, with a focus on the technology sector. She is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Aeronautical and Space Law Section Council and Commission on Women in the Profession. Ms. Bagdasarova is also a member of the board of the Dickinson Law Alumni Society, GlobalPittsburgh, and Radiant Hall. She frequently writes and presents on the Corporate Transparency Act and artificial intelligence. Ms. Bagdasarova is a 2015 graduate, summa cum laude, of The Pennsylvania State University, The Dickinson School of Law.
Joseph Schaeffer is a shareholder in the Firm’s Litigation Group and Co-Chair of the Appellate Practice Group. He focuses his practice on environmental, energy, and complex commercial litigation and has tried these cases before environmental hearings boards, courts, and juries. Mr. Schaeffer also has an active appellate practice and has served as co-counsel or lead counsel in appellate matters before in Pennsylvania and West Virginia State Courts, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third and Fourth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He currently serves as the co-chair of the ABA Litigation Section’s Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee and is the secretary of the Western District of Pennsylvania Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Mr. Schaeffer volunteers with Neighborhood Legal Services’ Protection from Abuse Program in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and has provided pro bono representation to individuals and organizations, including a national voluntary bar association in amicus curiae filings in the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a 2012 graduate, cum laude, of the University of Pittsburgh Law School.
March 3, 2025
Attorney Janet Meub has been selected as the recipient of the Neighborhood Legal Services Association Partner in Justice Award for her essential and noble legal work for Pittsburgh communities and her leadership in involving Babst Calland attorneys to volunteer in representing victims of domestic violence.
Babst Calland supports Neighborhood Legal Services in their commitment to provide equal access to justice for all residents in the region. Neighborhood Legal Services Association offers civil legal services to low-income individuals and families who are unable to afford a private attorney. The types of services include full legal representation, advice, assistance in self-representation or brief service/limited legal assistance.
February 17, 2025
Francesca C. (Cella) Iovino recently joined Babst Calland as an associate in the Litigation Group. Ms. Iovino’s experience encompasses all phases of litigation from initial pleadings through trial and appeal in the state and federal courts. She has handled a variety of complex commercial disputes, involving breach of contract, breach of warranty, shareholder disputes and oppression claims and business torts. Ms. Iovino also has represented clients in financial servicing issues, debt collection and lender liability matters, trade secret misappropriation and restrictive covenants. In addition, her experience includes handling estates and trusts litigation, real estate matters, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and domestic and international arbitrations. Ms. Iovino also has a background representing clients in complex employment disputes related to discrimination claims, harassment claims, wrongful termination, wage and hour violations, and unionization.
Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Iovino was an associate at Jackson Lewis P.C. and formerly an associate in the commercial litigation group with Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’Keefe. She is a 2017 graduate of Duquesne University School of Law.
February 10, 2025
Last week, the Trump-Vance administration announced additional key members of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s leadership team. Among these presidential appointees is former Babst Calland Attorney Keith Coyle, who will serve as the Chief Counsel of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Prior to this appointment, Keith was a member of Babst Calland’s Washington, D.C. office and a shareholder in the Pipeline and HazMat Safety group. Mr. Coyle advised clients throughout the United States on pipeline safety matters before PHMSA and state commissions and in appellate litigation before the U.S Courts of Appeal.
February 3, 2025
Ethan F. Johnson recently joined Babst Calland as an associate in the Environmental Group. His practice involves counseling clients on federal and state environmental regulatory compliance matters, representing clients involved in complex Superfund and other environmental remediations, and advising on environmental aspects of corporate transactions.
Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Johnson practiced at a law firm in Maine where he gained substantial environmental regulatory and litigation experience, including litigating one of the largest Superfund cleanups in the country. In addition, he advised businesses and municipalities on PFAS regulations, assisted a solar development company with construction law, and advised clients on land use, permitting, and environmental compliance.
Mr. Johnson is a 2020 graduate of Vermont Law and Graduate School.