When Balch & Bingham tried to gloat this spring that the embattled firm had expanded their corporate footprint by adding a one-man office in Augusta, Georgia while at the same time letting go of the only African-American female lawyer in Birmingham, observers were in disbelief.

Now with the exodus of a top partner from Atlanta and a long-time Human Resources Director, the managing partners at Balch in key markets like Jacksonville, Florida; Jackson, Mississippi; Gulfport, Mississippi; and Atlanta, Georgia appear to be facing enormous pressure to preserve what is left.

Think about it.

As more disclosures of the alleged unsavory, unethical, and unconscionable misconduct are exposed; and the drama of a civil RICO trial are in the headlines, competitors are probably going to offer golden carrots to key Balch partners. Other Balch partners, attorneys, and staff may consider breaking away.

And key clients may no longer want to be tied to an embattled law firm that is known more for their few failures than their outstanding accomplishments.

Balch & Bingham could end up being left with remnants, skeletons and the best of the best could all be gone.

Ricky J. Cox, Tara P. Ellis, Geremy W. Gregory, and T. Joshua A. Archer (pictured above) are the managing partners in key Balch markets.

Are they not tired of explaining:

• The ridiculous antics and unspeakable lapses out of Birmingham?
• The social media posts and news reports about Balch’s unsavory conduct out of Birmingham?
• The criminal conviction of a Balch-made millionaire in Birmingham?
• The suppression of African-Americans in North Birmingham?
• The targeting of poor Black children in North Birmingham with a phony “coat drive?”
• The alleged staged arrest and conspiracy to defame a competitor in Alabama?

Instead of resolving the matters at hand, Balch’s Birmingham leadership appears to have let the Newsome Conspiracy Case and the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal cripple the firm.

Sadly, in the past two and half years, the solid fortress of Balch & Bingham appears to have become a sand castle. Ricky, Tara, Geremy, and Joshua may not have enough buckets and shovels to save the sand castle.

And as the Jimi Hendrix song goes, “And so castles made of sand fall in the sea eventually.”