Linda B. Schakel

Linda B. Schakel is a partner in the Public Finance Department and a member of the Tax, Tax Credits, Exempt Organizations, Housing, and Higher Education Groups, as well as the Municipal Recovery Initiative.

Ms. Schakel served as an attorney adviser in the Office of Tax Policy of the U.S. Treasury (May 1995 to August 1997) after practicing with Ballard Spahr for nine years. At the Treasury Department, she had primary responsibility for tax legislative and regulatory projects in the areas of tax-exempt bonds, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, empowerment zones and enterprise communities, work-opportunity tax credits, and welfare-to-work tax credits. Ms. Schakel returned to Ballard Spahr after her work with the Treasury Department. Before law school, she taught gifted elementary-school students and teachers of gifted students at the University of South Florida and several universities in the Washington, D.C., area.

Ms. Schakel has done numerous tax-exempt bond financings for 501(c)(3) organizations, including charter schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, continuing-care facilities, independent schools, museums, and cultural institutions. She has served as tax counsel for empowerment zone financings in the District of Columbia and other jurisdictions. Most recently, Ms. Schakel has been active in the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program as a natural extension of her work with empowerment zone tax incentives. She has given speeches and published papers on NMTC and has served as counsel to various participants in these transactions.

Representative Matters

• Assisted in the structuring of the bond financings for the Wheeler Creek Estates HOPE VI project, Washington, D.C.
• Assisted in the structuring of the bond financings for the Henson Ridge HOPE VI project, Washington, D.C.
• Assisted in the structuring of the bond financings for the Victory Street Apartments mixed-finance project, Houston
• Assisted the Housing Authority of Portland, Oregon, in structuring a New Markets Tax Credit transaction to finance a new public school and community center

Pro Bono Experience

Ms. Schakel's pro bono work focuses primarily on public education and education advocacy. In 2011, she led a team of Ballard Spahr attorneys working with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to research recent legislation requiring public school students and their parents to disclose their immigration status.

Professional Activities

American Bar Association
District of Columbia Bar Association
Maryland Bar Association
National Association of Bond Lawyers, past President

Recognition & Accomplishments

The Best Lawyers in America, public finance law, 2008-2012

Recipient, National Association of Bond Lawyers' Frederick O. Kiel Distinguished Service Award, Fall 2010, for her long record of service to NABL, including serving as its President, a faculty member, and panelist on many seminars, and authoring the tax column in The Bond Lawyer

Recipient, Ballard Spahr's 2012 Pro Bono Award, for significant pro bono service

Publications

Co-author, "Build America Bonds: A New Tool to Finance Government-Owned Affordable and Workforce Housing," Tax Credit Advisor, August 2009

"Washington Update (2000 Tax Legislation)," Municipal Finance Journal, Summer 2001

"Tax Law Developments: Guidance on the New Markets Tax Credit," Municipal Finance Journal, Spring 2002

Speaking Engagements

"Tax Credits and Other Tax Benefits – New Markets Tax Credit," Tax and Securities Institute, National Association of Bond Lawyers, February 20, 2004

"Linking Local Collaborations to Venture Capital: New Markets Tax Credits," Tax Incentives Workshop, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, April, June, October, and November 2003

"The Pennsylvania Downtown Tool Kit – Using Tax Credits Effectively," Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities, June 26, 2003

"Using New Markets Tax Credits Effectively," Annual Conference, Community Action Program Legal Services, Inc. (CAPLAW ), June 12, 2003

"New Markets Tax Credit: An Opportunity for your CDFI," Coalition of Community Development Financial Institutions National Institute, January 24, 2002

"New Markets Tax Credits," 2001 National Community Capital Association Conference, October 25, 2001

"Preparing Your Bank to Raise Capital with NMTC: Legal Aspects and Documentation," National Community Investment Fund Network Conference, May 29, 2001

Board Memberships

National Association of Bond Lawyers

Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1986, cum laude)

University of South Florida (M.S. 1976; Ph.D. 1984)

Iowa State University (B.S. 1970, with honors and distinction)

District of Columbia

Maryland