By Ballard Spahr LLP issued the following announcement on Apr. 8. Managing IP has awarded Ballard Spahr partner Robert R. Baron, Jr. its “Litigation Practitioner of the Year” award for Pennsylvania. Ballard Spahr partner Hara K. Jacobs was one of four other attorneys who had been shortlisted for the award. The Managing IP Awards recognize the firms, individuals, and companies “behind the most innovative and challenging IP work of the past year, as well as those driving the international IP market.” Mr. Baron represents clients in some of their most complex, high-stakes, and strategically important disputes. He prosecutes and defends cases at the trial and appellate levels involving patent, copyright, and trademark infringement; the theft of trade secrets; licensing disputes; the breakdown of commercial acquisitions and related investments; unfair competition and false advertising; and business terminations. He is the former Vice Chair of Ballard Spahr’s Intellectual Property Department, and the former Head of its Intellectual Property Litigation Group.