Christian R. Barnes, Ballard Spahr LLP

Christian Barnes spends most of his workday on mergers, acquisitions and other strategic business transactions. Unlike many M&A attorneys, though, he has avoided typecasting.

“My work is very industry-agnostic, whereas some [M&A lawyers] present themselves as healthcare attorneys, technology company attorneys and so on,” he said.

Barnes’ wheelhouse is the broad middle market. His transactions range from around $10 million to $500 million, split about evenly between “financial buyers” like private equity firms and “strategic companies” looking to grow through acquisition or divest non-core divisions. It’s a wide enough range to expose him both to super-savvy parties “who’ve done this a hundred times” and to family business owners cashing in on their life’s work.

“Those [family business transactions] are really fun because you’re helping someone who has been doing this their whole life,” he said.

That’s what Barnes did late last year when he led the owners of Straub Metal International through a speedy combination with Norfolk Iron & Metal, an even larger family-owned steel service center. It was the first significant business transaction for Straub’s owners, who were equally sensitive about not being taken advantage of by a more sophisticated buyer and with closing the deal by the end of 2024.

Barnes and his team ticked both boxes. It was an exercise in the pragmatic dealmaking Barnes prides himself on.

“The client was super happy with the outcome and we were able to get it done in an efficient way,” he said. “I try to differentiate myself by being practical on deals — sometimes people can get caught up in the weeds and miss the forest for the trees.”

Another rewarding part of Barnes’ job is working on the occasional employee stock ownership plan transaction. When they involve sales of employee-owned businesses, those deals create windfalls for dozens or hundreds of individuals, not just the folks in the corner office.

“It’s not just one person getting a payday, but everyone who built the company,” he said.