Amy L. Arndt

Amy L. Arndt advises privately held and owner-managed companies on corporate matters that arise in daily operations and at major turning points. As Practice Leader of Ballard Spahr’s Transactions and Outside General Counsel Group and a member of its Mergers and Acquisitions practice, Amy works with middle-market businesses and family offices, as well as companies seeking outside counsel to complement an in-house legal team. Her work covers governance, corporate restructurings, financing, ownership transitions, and mergers and acquisitions.

Amy oversees outside legal services for clients whose needs span multiple matters and practice areas. Under the outside general counsel model she leads, a dedicated team works with management and in-house lawyers through a single point of entry. Centralized intake, matter tracking, status meetings, and document management help clients keep sight of pending work, deadlines, responsibilities, and emerging risks. Amy coordinates the broader legal portfolio, connects related issues, and draws on additional lawyers when a matter calls for them.

In transactional work, Amy advises on acquisitions and strategic divestitures, corporate reorganizations, private placements, debt and equity financings, shareholder and member redemptions, and business succession. She works with companies considering acquisition, refinancing, recapitalization, an ownership transition, or a sale, helping them assess transaction structures, coordinate multidisciplinary teams, and manage negotiations and diligence through closing and post-closing integration. Her practice also includes advising ESOP-owned companies and businesses considering employee ownership as part of a succession or growth strategy. That work includes restructurings for ESOP transactions, strategic acquisitions, post-closing combinations, and ESOP-to-ESOP mergers and acquisitions.

Amy advises owners, executives, boards, and in-house lawyers on the legal requirements of a decision alongside its potential effects on growth, capitalization, operations, employees, shareholders, and long-term enterprise value. Her clients operate in manufacturing, engineering and professional services, construction, technology, and life sciences. Amy’s perspective on organizational decision-making is also informed by her leadership at Ballard Spahr: she served two terms on the firm’s board and now serves on its executive team.

• Leads a dedicated, multipractice Ballard Spahr legal team serving as outside general counsel to an engineering and technology company with operations across multiple jurisdictions. Amy oversees the company’s legal portfolio, coordinating advice on corporate reorganizations, strategic acquisitions, commercial agreements, workforce issues, litigation, regulatory compliance, and professional licensing.
• Serves as outside general counsel to family offices and their operating companies, helping owners and executives manage legal matters across manufacturing businesses, investment entities, real estate holdings, and other assets. Her work encompasses governance, entity and ownership structures, investments, financing, acquisitions, enterprise risk, and succession planning.
• Leads dedicated Ballard Spahr legal teams for established middle-market companies seeking outside general counsel services or experienced legal counsel to complement their in-house capabilities. Acting as an extension of management and the in-house team, Amy coordinates the client’s legal needs across the firm while helping the business anticipate risk; strengthen its organizational and ownership structure; and prepare for recapitalizations, refinancings, acquisitions, and sales.

• University of Nebraska College of Law (J.D. 1996)
• Augustana College (B.S., with honors, 1993)

• South Dakota
• U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota 

• Chambers USA, Corporate/Commercial (South Dakota), Band 1, 2016-2026
• The Best Lawyers in America, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, 2013-2027; Corporate Governance Law, 2025-2027; Corporate Law, 2025-2027; "Lawyer of the Year," Mergers and Acquisitions Law (Sioux Falls), 2022 and 2024
• IFLR 1000, "Highly Regarded," Mergers and Acquisitions, 2025
• Member of the Ballard Spahr team supporting Project BioTech Launchpad, recipient of South Dakota Biotech's Distinguished Collaborator Award, 2025
• Legal 500, Private Practice M&A Powerlist – South Dakota, 2024 
• EmBe, 50 Women Leaders in Sioux Falls, 2014

• State Bar of South Dakota, Business Law Committee, Chair, 2012-present
• American College of Mortgage Attorneys, Fellow, 2017-present
• American Bar Association, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, Member 
• Second Judicial Bar Association, Member