Senior Counsel, Blank Rome Government Relations LLC

In her practice at Blank Rome, Joan Bondareff focuses her practice on marine transportation, environmental, regulatory, renewable energy, and legislative issues. Before joining Blank Rome, Joan was chief counsel and acting deputy administrator of the Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. She was also former majority counsel for the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. Joan served on the Obama Transition Team for the Department of Transportation handling maritime related issues. 

In July 2024, Joan was reappointed as At Large Vice Chair of the Marine Resources Committee of the American Bar Association (”ABA”) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources for the 2024–2025 term. She has previously served as vice chair of policy and vice chair of committee articles of the committee. Joan has been a member of ABA’s Experience Magazine Editorial Board since 2021.

In January 2021, Joan received a formal letter of appreciation from the United Nations, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea Office of Legal Affairs, for her writing contributions to the Second World Ocean Assessment (“WOA II”), which was adopted during the General Assembly’s 75th Session on December 31, 2020, as part of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects, which covered the period 2016–2020. The WOA II assesses the state of the marine environment, including socioeconomic aspects, and focuses on how to improve the science-policy interface to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and marine resources. It will be finalized by February/March 2021, and the translation in all the other UN languages is scheduled to be completed around May 2021.

In December 2021, Joan received a letter from Governor Ralph S. Northam on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, expressing his admiration and sincere appreciation for her selfless service, achievements, and contributions to the development of Virginia's offshore wind energy resource.
In 2021, Joan was selected to be an international mentor for Women in Wind and, in January 2023, she was awarded a Certificate of Recognition for her dedicated service as a Mentor during the 2022 edition of the Women in Wind Global Leadership Program.

Joan served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School for the spring 2022 semester teaching renewable energy (January–May 2022) and as an adjunct professor at American University/Washington College of Law teaching the new United Nations treaty on biological diversity and international law during the 2024 spring semester.

Joan is a member, American Bar Association Center for Excellence in Elder Law and Dementia (2022–2024)