Practices

Public Finance

After serving as counsel in billions of dollars of financings, we understand how to achieve our clients' financial objectives while respecting the needs and concerns of communities.

For seven decades, Ballard Spahr has been helping finance the future. We have one of the premier public finance practices in the country, participating in the issuance of more than $1 trillion of tax-exempt obligations in all states, the District of Columbia, and American territories.

Our nearly 50 public finance attorneys represent state and local governments and authorities, nonprofit organizations, investment banks, and banking institutions in virtually every type of bond transaction. Our role in these transactions is diverse. We serve as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, disclosure counsel, issuer's counsel, lender and credit enhancer's counsel, and trustee's counsel.

And we are a recognized mainstay in the industry. Since 1958, we have been listed continuously as a nationally recognized bond counsel firm in The Bond Buyer's Municipal Marketplace (the Red Book). Thomson Reuters continuously ranks us among the top firms in the country each year as bond counsel and underwriter's counsel by dollar volume. 

Our attorneys are innovative and work to advance the bond law profession by participating and holding leadership positions in the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL), a national organization that advises on the law and proceedings relating to state and local municipal bonds and other obligations.

Experience 

  • Ballard Spahr served as disclosure counsel to the City and County of Denver in a $2.5 billion transaction to fund improvements to the Denver International Airport—the largest single airport bond issuance in U.S. history. The project was named 2018 Deal of the Year by The Bond Buyer. The funds are earmarked for capital improvement projects that include the addition of 39 gates and redevelopment of the 1.2 million square-foot Jeppesen Terminal.
  • Ballard Spahr has a long and successful history of working on bond financings across the nation for municipalities. Our team of attorneys routinely assist municipalities on transactions as part of our bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, and special tax counsel services. Over the past five years, Ballard Spahr attorneys have provided counsel for municipalities across the country aggregating more than $2.9 billion. These transactions have supported water and sewer, roads and highways, public infrastructure, and other capital improvement projects financed through general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, lease-purchase agreements, certificates of participation, Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds, special assessment bonds, and refunding bonds.
  • Ballard Spahr has represented the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) or its underwriters in connection with the issuance of more than $1.2 billion in revenue bonds, including the issuance of approximately $780 million of revenue bonds and more than $430 million of port district project bonds and refunding bonds. The proceeds of these bonds were utilized to finance economic development within the port district and constituted general obligations of the DRPA, and were not supported by a pledge of bridge system tolls. These bonds included tax-exempt bonds and federally taxable bonds, and were issued for a wide range of projects, including new capital projects and refundings of previous financings. In the course of these financings, we became familiar with the DRPA, the bi-state compact under which it is formed, its facilities, and its operations.

Conversations with Women in Finance, with Special Guest Natasha Holiday from RBC Capital Markets

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Rankings and Recognition

  • A Top-Tier National Practice

    26 practices ranked in the highest tier nationally

    Best Law Firms, 2024

  • Stat Image

    Ranked Band 1 Nationally and in Washington, D.C. for Excellence in Public Finance Law

    Chambers USA, 2023

  • #1 in Pollution Control Long-Term Municipal New Issues

    Underwriter's Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022

  • #1 in Industrial Development Long-Term Municipal New Issues

    Underwriters Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022

  • # 2 in Pennsylvania

    Bond Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022

  • #2 in Solid Waste/Resource Recovery Long-Term Municipal New Issues

    Underwriter's Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022

  • #3 in New Jersey Long Term Municipal New Issues

    Underwriter's Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022

  • #3 in Mideast Long-Term Municipal New Issues

    Underwriter's Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022

  • #4 in Single Family Housing Long Term Municipal New Issues

    Bond Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022

  • #4 in Midwest Long-Term Municipal New Issues

    Underwriter's Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022

  • #4 in Variable Rate Long-Term Municipal New Issues

    Underwriter's Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022

  • #5 in Higher Education Long-Term Municipal New Issues

    Bond Counsel, Refinitiv, 2022