Stephen is an attorney in the District of Columbia with over 15-years experience in local and Federal government relations, real property law and land use, project finance and administration, commercial and residential real estate sales, and marketing and sales management.

He is currently an independant contract attorney with Avenue Settlement Corporation in Washington, D.C., where he provides condominium conversion/creation services to clients and the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the Housing Regulation Administration. Mr. Ballard was formerly in-house counsel for HCR, a healthcare consulting firm specializing in program development, service delivery and legislative and policy analysis. His expertise includes zoning, planning, land use, historic preservation, landlord and tenant law, association management and condominium conversions.

In 2001, Mr. Ballard was named a director of the nonprofit Development Corporation of Columbia Heights, where he served on the Housing and Community Development and Resource Development Committees. He is an experienced former owner and manager of residential rental property in the District of Columbia, and since 2005 the owner and manager of Annefield Vineyards, a farm winery in Charlotte County, Virginia. In 2009 he was elected director and vice president of the Southern Virginia Wine Trail Association. Mr. Ballard is admitted to the Bar in California and the District of Columbia, and he is a licensed title insurance agent in Maryland, Pennsylvania (inactive),  Virginia and the District of Columbia.  Stephen originally worked with Avenue Title Group in 1998, left to work at another title company and rejoined Avenue in 2014.