Balch Attorneys Ian Burt & Christina Pantazis Selected for Rotaract Club of Birmingham’s 2023 Board Fellows Class

Birmingham attorneys Ian Burt, member of the firm’s Real Estate Practice, and Christina Pantazis, member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice, were selected to be members of Rotaract Club of Birmingham’s 2023 Board Fellows Class. Ian and Christina join a class of 24 young professionals who will be working with the boards of their matched nonprofit organizations and spending the year learning about the importance and work of nonprofit governance.

The Board Fellows Program was launched in 2019 as a formal program to educate Rotaract members on the mission and impact of other Birmingham nonprofit organizations. The program is designed to foster civic engagement, drive professional development, and deepen the Club’s impact on other civic organizations in Birmingham. Rotaract members have the opportunity to join the boards as non-voting, ex-officio members. 

Ian will participate in the program with Red Mountain Theatre Company (RMT), a nonprofit theatre that fosters artists, inspires youth and engages audiences through quality theatre and education programming. RMT offers a broad scope of theatre-based educational opportunities for youth, including the acclaimed RMT Youth Ensembles. 

Christina will participate in the program with Hand in Paw, a nonprofit organization that trains qualified animals and their owners to work as a team in therapeutic settings. Hand in Paw teams become heroes to people of all ages dealing with emotional and physical life challenges. These Therapy Teams deliver positive distraction, motivation, empathy and compassion in several facilities across Central Alabama and Tuscaloosa.

Ian focuses his practice on all aspects of real estate transactions including acquisition, financing, and development. He also advises clients throughout the lifecycle of a real estate project, including review and analysis of due diligence materials.

Christina regularly defends companies against claims involving employment laws (such as Title VII, ADA, Rehabilitation Act, ADEA, and the FMLA) made to both administrative agencies and in court. She is experienced in business competition litigation, including matters involving trade secrets, defamation, business interference, and non-competition agreements. In addition to defending her clients in adversarial proceedings, Christina counsels employers in developing new human resources policies and confronting the challenges of the ever-changing workplace. Her clients include healthcare providers, logistics and manufacturing companies, financial institutions, and large research universities.