We help local, state, regional, and national clients finance a wide range of needs

Members of our team have participated in billions of dollars of public finance transactions in most states of the country for several decades, including financing for the following needs:

• Water, sewer, gas, and electric utilities
• Airports, ports, roads, tollways, passenger railroads, and mass transit facilities
• Healthcare facilities
• Solid waste disposal and recycling facilities and pollution control facilities
• Public, private, and charter primary and secondary educational facilities and higher educational and research facilities
• Student housing, elderly housing, multifamily housing, and single family housing
• Hotels, conference centers, and convention facilities
• Public buildings and infrastructure
• Park, sports, and recreational facilities
• Economic development projects and downtown redevelopment projects
• Working capital

Interdisciplinary experience

Our lawyers are experienced in the tax law and securities law of public finance, having served in many capacities, including:

• Assistant branch chief in the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, developing tax legislation and regulations on tax-exempt obligations, and
• Expert witness and consulting expert for the Securities and Exchange Commission in public finance civil enforcement proceedings

Team roles

Lawyers on Nelson Mullins’ Public Finance team serve as Bond Counsel, Special Tax Counsel, and Disclosure Counsel for states, cities, counties, school districts, public authorities, and other governmental entities and as counsel to underwriters, credit enhancers, and institutional investors involved in financings for state and local governmental entities. Lawyers on Nelson Mullins’ Public Finance team also frequently serve as tax controversy counsel in audits of tax-exempt obligations by the Internal Revenue Service and as special counsel to state and local governmental entities in investigations and enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.

Lawyers on Nelson Mullins’ Public Finance team have participated in a wide variety of governmental financings done on a tax-exempt and taxable basis, including those involving:

• Various types of tax-supported and revenue obligations of governmental entities
• Short-term cash flow borrowings and structural deficit financings by governmental entities
• Lease and installment purchase financings by governmental entities
• Various types of floating rate obligations of governmental entities
• Commercial paper and bond anticipation notes that serve as interim financing for governmental entities
• Tax-exempt derivative products, including interest rate swaps, caps, and collars, grantor trusts, principal and interest strips, detachable call options, and inverse floating rate obligations
• Pooled financings for governmental entities
• Tender offers for governmental obligations
• Various types of credit enhancements and liquidity products, such as bank letters of credit and standby bond purchase agreements, insurance provided by monoline insurance companies, guarantees provided by property and casualty and life insurance companies, and guarantees and insurance provided by federal agencies
• Various types of investment agreements for moneys associated with governmental obligations
• Conduit financings for non-governmental entities involved in the transportation, industrial, commercial, healthcare, housing, solid waste, utility, and educational sectors
• Land-based financings by governmental entities, including tax increment financings, special district financings, and financings secured by payments in lieu of taxes (or PILOTs)
• Federal, state, and local incentives and subsidies for projects, including ad valorem tax abatement, new markets tax credits, grants, principal forgiveness, and credit support
• Governmental obligations issued as tax credit bonds