Locke Lord Opens Office in Cincinnati, Expanding Firm’s Public Finance Capabilities and Client Support

(CINCINNATI) June 20, 2016 – Locke Lord LLP announced today it has opened a new office in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cincinnati office will advance the Firm to 23 offices worldwide and will serve as a vital part of the Firm’s highly-rated Public Finance Practice Group, which recently ranked among the top 10 for bond counsel in the United States by The American Lawyer Corporate Scorecard.

The Cincinnati office will support clients on a broad range of bond counsel, underwriters’ counsel and special tax counsel matters, as well as general corporate tax and other matters, and will be led by nationally recognized Public Finance and Tax lawyer Todd Cooper, who is joined by Senior Counsel Margaret Comey, another member of the Public Finance group.

“We are excited to announce the opening of the Cincinnati office and continue the expansion of our Public Finance practice,” said Jerry Clements, Chair of Locke Lord. “Moving into Cincinnati reflects our focus and commitment to delivering Locke Lord’s considerable capabilities and legal representation in public finance across our entire Firm. Our already outstanding Public Finance practice has been strengthened with the addition of Todd and Margaret.”

Cooper joined Locke Lord as a Public Finance Tax Partner in April. He focuses his practice on tax matters related to public finance, tax matters related to tax exempt organizations, and tax matters related to state and federal tax credits. He also provides bond and underwriter's counsel services to clients on public finance transactions. Cooper is the First Vice-Chair of Tax Exempt Financing Committee of the American Bar Association Tax Section and a member of the Board of Directors of the American College of Bond Counsel. He is a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Partners in Action Committee and the President of the Board of Directors of the Catamount Residential Owners Association in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Cooper previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, the Summit Country Day School and St. Ursula Villa.

Comey, who joined the Firm in May, has vast experience serving as bond counsel, issuer’s counsel and underwriter’s counsel for tax exempt and taxable debt financings, and counsels clients with respect to economic development. Active in the Cincinnati community, she is a member of the Women’s Capital Club of Cincinnati and serves on the Board of Trustees of Hospice of Cincinnati. She has served on the Board of Trustees of The Seven Hills School, United Home Care/Visiting Nurse Association, Children’s Protective Service and Queen City Foundation, and their committees for finance, investment and strategic planning. 

Locke Lord’s Public Finance Practice Group has one of the largest bond counsel practices in the country and more than 125 years of involvement in the law of public borrowing and the federal tax and securities aspects of public debt obligations. The team has extensive experience nationwide serving as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriters’ counsel, issuer’s counsel, borrower’s counsel, bank counsel, special tax counsel and trustee’s counsel representing the full range of governmental and quasi-governmental issuers, special purpose entities, tax-exempt organizations and other entities and financial institutions.

The Cincinnati office is located at Anderson Center, 7850 Five Mile Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45230-2356. The office can be reached by telephone at 513-688-8434 and by fax at 513- 672-0825.

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About Locke Lord LLP
Locke Lord is a full-service, international law firm of more than 20 offices designed to meet clients’ needs around the world. The Firm has a history that spans more than 125 years and is a worldwide leader in the middle market sector. Locke Lord advises clients across a broad spectrum of industries including energy, financial services, fund formation, health care, insurance and reinsurance, private equity and venture capital, public finance, real estate, and technology, media and telecommunications, while providing a wealth of experience through its complex litigation, intellectual property, regulatory and transactional teams.