Leslie Batchelor

Biography: LESLIE V. BATCHELOR Leslie V. Batchelor is President and co-founder of the Center for Economic Development Law, a law firm based in Oklahoma City that focuses primarily on public and public-private development and redevelopment activities. Ms. Batchelor directs the firm’s litigation practice and manages a wide variety of redevelopment and financing matters. Her litigation practice focuses primarily on representing public entities in claims arising from public financing and redevelopment activities. Her transactional practice encompasses public-private development projects of all types and sizes. Working closely with public entities, private developers and other interested parties, Ms. Batchelor is recognized for her expertise in public-private partnerships, tax increment financing techniques, and other redevelopment and financing strategies. Prior to founding the Center for Economic Development Law with her father, Ms. Batchelor served in the U.S. Department of Justice as Deputy Associate Attorney General (March-October 2000), Counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno (April 1999-March 2000), and Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division (1997-April 1999). Before joining the Justice Department, Ms. Batchelor was an associate at McAfee & Taft, where she concentrated on civil litigation. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable William J. Holloway, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Ms. Batchelor received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Brown University and her Master's and law degrees from the University of Virginia, where she was an instructor in philosophy and a teaching assistant in legal research and writing. Ms. Batchelor is active in a number of professional and community organizations, and has served in leadership roles in several, including Oklahoma District Council Chair of the Urban Land Institute, president of Historical Preservation, Inc., president of the Oklahoma County Bar Foundation, and president of the Oklahoma City Housing Services Redevelopment Corporation. She also serves on the Board of i2E and the Board of Directors of NBC Oklahoma. She is married to Scott E. Williams, a federal prosecutor, and is the mother of twin girls. Representative current and recent projects include: restoration and reopening of the historic Skirvin Hotel; creation of Dell Computer campus on former brownfield on the Oklahoma River; expansion of the Oklahoma Health Center, including a bio-pharmaceutical manufacturer; Durant-Cardinal Glass Plant; Lawton Downtown Development Project; and The Village Community Revitalization Project.