Government Finance
We serve as bond counsel for cities, counties, districts and authorities in every part of Tennessee, closing more Tennessee issues than all other firms combined. Representing approximately two-thirds of the top 50 Tennessee cities by population, including four of the top five largest cities, our clients have financed the entire range of governmental facilities, including:
- Schools and transportation infrastructure
- Water, sewer, gas, electric and telecommunications systems
- Sports and tourism facilities
- Airport facilities
The knowledge and depth we have built as a result of this experience enables us to deliver unique insight, value and efficiency to our governmental clients.
Our team is adept with state law issues relating to public finance, having been involved in drafting the statutes under which cities in our state generally issue bonds and in drafting important public finance legislation. We are also actively involved in obtaining Attorney General opinions on behalf of clients and frequently work with the State Comptroller’s office on regulatory projects.
We have extensive experience working with Tennessee governmental issuers on alternative financing products and other financial products. For example, we have has been heavily involved in establishing commercial paper programs for both general governmental and utility capital financing programs.
We are very active in the direct placement of municipal debt with banking institutions and are well acquainted with the unique tax and disclosure issues arising within the context of those transactions. We are one of the few firms in Tennessee with experience in lease-purchase financing from both a state and federal tax perspective, and have a high level of unique experience working with derivative products used in municipal finance transactions, such as interest rate swaps.
Specialized Tax Experience
We offer a comprehensive federal and state tax practice relating to municipal bonds with particular depth in private use issues due to our extensive involvement in most of the public financings for event facilities across Tennessee. We are actively involved on a regular basis in tax issues related to municipal bonds, including post-issuance compliance issues.
Members of our firm have assisted with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audits of municipal bond transactions for almost 30 years. Familiarity with the audit process is very useful experience in helping clients structure and document public finance transactions. We also have extensive experience working with local governments on other post-issuance compliance matters, including drafting tax compliance policies for our municipal clients.
Due to the depth and experience of our public finance attorneys, we have extensive knowledge in this area with very few tax issues that our team has not considered.
Disclosure and Securities Law Counsel
We serve as disclosure counsel to local governments in the issuance of municipal bonds and in the development and implementation of securities law disclosure processes. We also serve as underwriter’s counsel for large, governmental transactions, ensuring that offerings are in compliance with applicable securities laws.
Experience
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Represented the Metro Nashville Sports Authority as bond counsel in connection with the issuance of $225 million of bonds in December 2020 to finance the construction of the new Major League Soccer (MLS) Stadium at the Nashville Fairgrounds
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Represented Montgomery County, Tennessee as bond counsel in connection with the issuance of $110 million of bonds in July 2020 to finance the construction of a Multi-Purpose Event Center in downtown Clarksville
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Served as bond counsel and local counsel to affiliates of social services organization People Incorporated of Virginia in connection with a low income housing tax credit project
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Served as co-disclosure counsel to the City of Memphis in the offering of approximately $70 million in sewer bonds
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Served as bond counsel to the Tri-Cities Airport Authority in connection with its $8.5 million public bond offering
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Represented cities and counties across Tennessee on more than 200 general obligation bond transactions valued at a combined total of approximately $4.5 billion
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Represented Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County as bond counsel in connection with approximately $3 billion of general obligation and utility system bond issues
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Served as bond counsel or underwriters’ counsel in approximately $2.8 billion of utility system bond financings since 2014
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Served as bond counsel to the Knoxville Utilities Board in connection with the issuance of $97 million of tax-exempt bonds
Professionals
Notice
Visiting, or interacting with, this website does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Although we are always interested in hearing from visitors to our website, we cannot accept representation on a new matter from either existing clients or new clients until we know that we do not have a conflict of interest that would prevent us from doing so. Therefore, please do not send us any information about any new matter that may involve a potential legal representation until we have confirmed that a conflict of interest does not exist and we have expressly agreed in writing to the representation. Until there is such an agreement, we will not be deemed to have given you any advice, any information you send may not be deemed privileged and confidential, and we may be able to represent adverse parties.
Notice
Visiting, or interacting with, this website does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Although we are always interested in hearing from visitors to our website, we cannot accept representation on a new matter from either existing clients or new clients until we know that we do not have a conflict of interest that would prevent us from doing so. Therefore, please do not send us any information about any new matter that may involve a potential legal representation until we have confirmed that a conflict of interest does not exist and we have expressly agreed in writing to the representation. Until there is such an agreement, we will not be deemed to have given you any advice, any information you send may not be deemed privileged and confidential, and we may be able to represent adverse parties.
Notice
Visiting, or interacting with, this website does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Although we are always interested in hearing from visitors to our website, we cannot accept representation on a new matter from either existing clients or new clients until we know that we do not have a conflict of interest that would prevent us from doing so. Therefore, please do not send us any information about any new matter that may involve a potential legal representation until we have confirmed that a conflict of interest does not exist and we have expressly agreed in writing to the representation. Until there is such an agreement, we will not be deemed to have given you any advice, any information you send may not be deemed privileged and confidential, and we may be able to represent adverse parties.
Notice
Visiting, or interacting with, this website does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Although we are always interested in hearing from visitors to our website, we cannot accept representation on a new matter from either existing clients or new clients until we know that we do not have a conflict of interest that would prevent us from doing so. Therefore, please do not send us any information about any new matter that may involve a potential legal representation until we have confirmed that a conflict of interest does not exist and we have expressly agreed in writing to the representation. Until there is such an agreement, we will not be deemed to have given you any advice, any information you send may not be deemed privileged and confidential, and we may be able to represent adverse parties.
Notice
Visiting, or interacting with, this website does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Although we are always interested in hearing from visitors to our website, we cannot accept representation on a new matter from either existing clients or new clients until we know that we do not have a conflict of interest that would prevent us from doing so. Therefore, please do not send us any information about any new matter that may involve a potential legal representation until we have confirmed that a conflict of interest does not exist and we have expressly agreed in writing to the representation. Until there is such an agreement, we will not be deemed to have given you any advice, any information you send may not be deemed privileged and confidential, and we may be able to represent adverse parties.
Notice
Visiting, or interacting with, this website does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Although we are always interested in hearing from visitors to our website, we cannot accept representation on a new matter from either existing clients or new clients until we know that we do not have a conflict of interest that would prevent us from doing so. Therefore, please do not send us any information about any new matter that may involve a potential legal representation until we have confirmed that a conflict of interest does not exist and we have expressly agreed in writing to the representation. Until there is such an agreement, we will not be deemed to have given you any advice, any information you send may not be deemed privileged and confidential, and we may be able to represent adverse parties.
Notice
Visiting, or interacting with, this website does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Although we are always interested in hearing from visitors to our website, we cannot accept representation on a new matter from either existing clients or new clients until we know that we do not have a conflict of interest that would prevent us from doing so. Therefore, please do not send us any information about any new matter that may involve a potential legal representation until we have confirmed that a conflict of interest does not exist and we have expressly agreed in writing to the representation. Until there is such an agreement, we will not be deemed to have given you any advice, any information you send may not be deemed privileged and confidential, and we may be able to represent adverse parties.
Notice
Visiting, or interacting with, this website does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Although we are always interested in hearing from visitors to our website, we cannot accept representation on a new matter from either existing clients or new clients until we know that we do not have a conflict of interest that would prevent us from doing so. Therefore, please do not send us any information about any new matter that may involve a potential legal representation until we have confirmed that a conflict of interest does not exist and we have expressly agreed in writing to the representation. Until there is such an agreement, we will not be deemed to have given you any advice, any information you send may not be deemed privileged and confidential, and we may be able to represent adverse parties.