Tucked away on the 12th floor of One Memphis Place, just a block away from the Shelby County Justice Center, sits Ballin, Ballin & Fishman P.C. The office remains a bustling shuffle of clients, attorneys, and support staff from the moment the doors open at 8:00 a.m, until the moment they close that night. A staff of ten lawyers handles criminal defense, personal injury, wrongful death lawsuits and everything in between. However, it hasn’t always been this way.
Ballin, Ballin & Fishman was once just Marvin Ballin, sitting in a small office lucky to see five clients a day. When Marvin Ballin decided to close his dry goods store and begin attending law school classes at night, not even he could have imagined the heights the firm would one day reach. Closing the South Memphis store meant Marvin and his son were fully invested in the law business. Upon Leslie’s 1977 graduation from the University of Memphis, father and son began working together again, for the first time since Leslie swept the floors and stocked the shelves as a boy.
In 1994, Leslie’s childhood friend Randall J. Fishman joined the firm, and Ballin, Ballin & Fishman was born. Since 1996, the firm has served a multitude of clients on the 12th floor at One Memphis Place, growing to today’s large workforce. Even though Marvin is retired, his fingerprints are all over the office. From pictures of his host of employees and clients from the last thirty years to the occasional re-telling of his favorite jokes, Marvin is never far from the minds of his firm.
Marvin’s watched as the family he started with his loving wife Sondra, has multiplied each year. Leslie and his wife Renelle graced Marvin with three children, Blake, Devon and Jana, who in turn gave Marvin seven great-grandchildren. Marvin was also lucky enough to practice law for many years not only with his son and grandson, but also with his daughter, Roseanne Goodman. Roseanne and her husband Jack are the parents of his granddaughter, Jenny, who continues to add to the number of Marvin’s great-grandchildren giving him more joy than any legal victory ever could.
Today, Ballin, Ballin & Fishman continues to grow and uphold the legacy which Marvin left. Pictures of him grace the halls where ten years ago, he’d see as many as fifteen clients a day. Gone is the raspy voice and witty one-liners. But never forgotten is the foundation that Marvin built. He will always be our founder and our friend.
Areas of Practice
- Criminal Law
- Personal Injury Law
Education
- Southern Law University, Memphis, Tennessee
- LL.B. – 1963
Awards
- Joseph B. Jones Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Criminal Defense – 2009