Confused by your responsibilities under fair housing regulations (for residential properties) or Americans with Disabilities Act requirements (for commercial buildings)? You’d be wise to call Shelah Lynn or Mike Skojec, legal gurus on the subjects at the Ballard Spahr law firm. Mike, who has been recognized nationally as a leading expert in this area of law, joined the firm late last year and adds depth to Ballard’s expertise on housing accessibility and ADA matters.

Resident in Ballard’s Baltimore office, Mike often teams with lawyers from the DC office or Bethesda, where we caught up with him for this pic. (He lives in Columbia, so the commute to Baltimore or into DC is six of one, half-dozen of the other.) He’s a regular speaker for the National Multi-Housing Council, and recently worked with other Ballard attorneys on a critical amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Cir.) for the NMHC and the National Apartment Association, which argued that claims against developers based upon compliance with Fair Housing accessibility requirements must be filed within the two-year limitations period. Just before this publication, the case was decided in favor of the developer imposing the two-year limitations period for filing actions from the completion of the project.

“Sometimes people hear that you’re representing developers with accessibility issues and think you’re the bad guy,” Shelah says, adding that her experience is quite the opposite—developers want to comply, but struggle with the vagaries of accessibility laws. She and Mike say they often find themselves defending suits that are more about scoring political points than genuine accessibility concerns. Currently, Mike represents Trammell Crow Residential and another developer in two federal court cases filed in the Washington area by the Equal Rights Center on FHA and ADA claims.

Shelah, veteran counsel to condo associations, tells us that condo developers, now becoming landlords due to the slow condo sales market and the need to make existing inventory income-producing, need to be aware of the latest trends in Fair Housing Act claims. Do your restrictions on children using the community pool, for instance, discriminate against occupants based on familial status? We aren’t smart enough to figure these things out, but Shelah and Mike are standing at the ready to handle all your questions.