Regarded as among the best in the field of public finance, Sherman & Howard has a long history of providing innovative financing solutions and assisting clients in addressing complex issues that raise novel legal questions.

The Sherman & Howard Difference

Sherman & Howard’s Public Finance professionals are regularly sought after and retained as bond, issuer’s, tax, borrower’s, disclosure, and underwriter’s counsel on a wide variety of public and nonprofit sector financings. Advising clients at the intersection of public finance and law since 1892, we have played an integral role in the development of many cities and towns across the western United States.

Our Approach

Our team takes a proactive approach, anticipating legal issues and opportunities, and assisting our clients with bond financings, economic development tools, tax credit programs, and emerging financing mechanisms such as “Cinderella Bonds.” We advise at every stage of a project, from idea development to structural analysis, to project completion and post-issuance compliance. We provide guidance on arbitrage and rebate, use of proceeds issues, continuing disclosure reporting obligations, IRS and SEC compliance, audits and investigations, and best practices.

Services

We assist state and local governments and other political subdivisions in finding the most effective financing vehicles for their projects and regularly work with special districts, universities, schools, healthcare facilities, infrastructure banks, housing authorities, transportation departments, airports, and other entities. Our team brings together lawyers with diverse experience who work collaboratively, utilizing creative financing structures and products to meet our clients’ needs while ensuring compliance with tax, securities, and state laws.

We regularly assist in development and infrastructure financings to fund the improvement and expansion of existing municipalities as well as engage in financings for large-scale projects, including airports, healthcare facilities, affordable housing, cultural facilities, utilities, schools, sports stadiums, convention centers, and transportation hubs. In addition to serving our issuer clients as bond counsel and issuer’s disclosure counsel, we have extensive experience in representing other transaction participants, including underwriters and private placement purchasers, borrowers, developers, trustees, and credit providers.

Dedicated to improving the places where we live and work, our team advises on and assists clients regarding all aspects of public finance. We help clients with:

• Derivative and other hedge products
• Economic development
• Election law and Fair Campaign Practices Act compliance
• Federal and state income tax analysis
• Federal and state securities law compliance
• Governmental general obligation and revenue bonds
• Higher education
• Industrial development and nonprofit corporation issues
• Interest rate swaps
• IRS audits and participation in the Voluntary Closing Agreement Program (VCAP)
• Lease purchases and certificates of participation
• Legislative drafting and advocacy
• New markets tax credits
• Post-issuance compliance
• Private activity bonds
• Qualified 501(c)(3) and other nonprofits’ financings
• Securities and disclosure law issues and compliance
• Special taxing districts
• State and local government laws and compliance issues
• Tax credit bonds
• Tax increment financing/urban renewal
• Traditional public and charter schools

Experience

Our firm’s bond attorneys were the original drafters of many of the western states’ authorizing bond statutes. This experience gives us uncommon insight into public finance laws and regulations. Combining current market knowledge with our impressive history of negotiating public finance transactions, we provide practical counsel and innovative financing solutions, and possess exceptional skill in crafting well-structured public finance solutions.

Highlights

Sherman & Howard has been listed in the “Municipal Bond Attorneys” section of The Bond Buyer’s Municipal Marketplace (the “Red Book”) since that publication first started listing municipal bond attorneys in 1939. The firm is regularly recognized among the leading public finance firms in the “Municipal Market Analysis” published by Refinitiv (formerly known as Thomson Reuters). The 2019 year-end rankings included:

• Top 20 National Bond Counsel
• Top 15 National Disclosure Counsel
• Top 5 Colorado Bond Counsel
• Top 5 Colorado Disclosure Counsel
• Top 5 Colorado Underwriters Counsel
• #1 Nevada Bond Counsel
• # 1 Nevada Disclosure Counsel
• Top 5 New Mexico Bond Counsel
• Top 5 New Mexico Disclosure Counsel

Our team is also ranked nationally by U.S. News & World Report and received metropolitan rankings for public finance law in Colorado and New Mexico.