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Karen  S.  Neal

Nashville
P:(615) 742-6274
F:(615) 742-2774

Practices

Education
University of Virginia - J.D., 1979
University of Virginia - B.A., 1976

Bar Admissions
Tennessee, 1982
District of Columbia, 1980

Memberships
Nashville Bar Association
The District of Columbia Bar
National Association of Bond Lawyers

Honors & Distinctions
Listed in: The Best Lawyers in America®; Nashville Business Journal's "Best of the Bar"
Law Clerk to the Honorable John Nixon, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, 1980-1982.



Ms. Neal, a Member in the firm's Nashville office, practices in the areas of public finance and general municipal law.  Her primary focus is in the area of municipal bonds issued by state and local governmental entities. She joined the firm in 1993, having practiced in another Nashville firm and in the office of the Tennessee Attorney General. While in the Attorney General's office from 1982-1986, she worked with the State Treasurer's office, the State Comptroller's office and the Department of Finance and Administration. She also co-authored the Local Government Public Obligations Act of 1986, which provides the statutory authority for the issuance of most city and county debt in Tennessee. Prior to that time, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable John T. Nixon, United States District Judge.  Ms. Neal graduated from the University of Virginia in 1976 with high honors and from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1979.  She is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers and has served on panels at the bond attorneys' workshop. Ms. Neal has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2003 and has been named in the Nashville Business Journal's Best of the Bar.

Her public finance experience includes the following:
  • Serving as bond counsel and issuer's counsel for a variety of governmental purpose issues and exempt facility issues for cities, counties, utility districts, special school districts, public building authorities, airports and the State of Tennessee
  • Drafting legislation authorizing and amending state statutes authorizing the issuance of municipal debt
  • Serving as underwriter's counsel to regional and national investment banks and trustee's counsel to national banks on municipal issues.