Locke Lord Public Finance Partners Elected to American College of Bond Counsel Positions

October 1, 2018 – Locke Lord Public Finance Co-Chair Stephanie Massey (Boston) has been elected as a Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel (ACBC), and Cincinnati Office Managing Partner Todd Cooper has been elected to serve as Vice President of the ACBC. 

In addition to Massey and Cooper, Locke Lord Public Finance Partners Karen Grande (Providence), Rick Manley (Boston) and Walter St. Onge (Boston) also hold the distinction of being Fellows of the ACBC.

A member of Locke Lord’s Board of Directors, Massey serves as bond counsel, underwriters' counsel and borrower's counsel in connection with the issuance of tax-exempt and taxable revenue bonds. She represents governmental entities, including housing finance agencies, and in conduit issuer transactions for nonprofit institutions, including hospitals, colleges, private secondary schools, charter schools, retirement communities, nursing homes, CCRCs, solid waste disposal companies and cultural and other institutions. She frequently represents borrowers in connection with the bond counsel role and has experience with public offerings, private placements and taxable non-conduit bond offerings, including century bonds. Her practice encompasses transactions throughout the Northeast and nationally. She has been recognized as a leader in her field by Chambers USA.

Cooper focuses his practice on tax matters related to public finance, tax-exempt organizations and state and federal tax credits. He has been an ACBC Fellow since 2007, served on its Board of Directors since 2014 and chaired its Membership Selection Committee. Cooper also serves as the Chair of the Tax-Exempt Financing Committee of the American Bar Association Tax Section. Additionally, Cooper is a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Development Board and its Partners in Action Committee, serves on the Board of Trustees of the Linden Grove School, a school for children on the autism spectrum, and is President of the Board of Directors of the Catamount Residential Owners Association in Colorado. He previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, The Summit Country Day School, and St. Ursula Villa. Cooper is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed in Ohio Super Lawyers. He was featured in the 2013 edition of Top Lawyers in Ohio and the 2012 and 2013 editions of Who’s Who in Greater Cincinnati Law. Cooper, who has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Public Finance Law, received the special designation of Lawyer of the Year in the 2019 edition, an honor earned by just one lawyer in each practice and metropolitan area. 

Locke Lord’s Public Finance Practice Group has one of the largest bond counsel practices in the country and more than 130 years of involvement in the law of public borrowing and the federal tax and securities aspects of public debt obligations. The Firm’s public finance lawyers have 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.

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About Locke Lord LLP
Locke Lord is a full-service law firm with global reach and 20 offices designed to meet clients’ needs around the world. The Firm has a history that spans more than 130 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, tax, regulatory and transactional teams.