Locke Lord’s Todd Cooper Elected President of American College of Bond Counsel; Brenda McDonough and Margaret Comey Elected as Fellows

September 21, 2020 – Locke Lord Cincinnati Office Managing Partner Todd Cooper, a member of the Firm’s Public Finance Practice Group, has been elected President of the American College of Bond Counsel (ACBC). Partner Brenda McDonough and Senior Counsel Margaret Comey have also been elected as Fellows of the organization.

In addition, Locke Lord Public Finance Partners Karen Grande, Rick Manley, Stephanie Massey and Walter St. Onge hold the distinction of being Fellows of the ACBC.

Cooper focuses his practice on tax matters related to public finance, federal taxation aspects of municipal bonds and tax-exempt organizations and state and federal tax credits. He also serves as bond and underwriter’s counsel on public finance transactions. Cooper has been an ACBC Fellow since 2007 and Board of Directors member since 2014, and has previously served as the organization’s Vice President and Selection Committee Chair. He is also a past 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, Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the Linden Grove School and 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. 

McDonough, based in the Firm’s Boston office, serves as bond counsel to numerous municipalities in New England in connection with the issuance of general obligation tax-exempt bonds for the financing of infrastructure and other capital projects for governmental purposes. She has assisted cities, towns and districts in all phases of the borrowing process, including the drafting of proceedings, advising on permissible financing structures and federal tax matters, and the preparation of disclosure materials and closing documents. She has also assisted clients with the issuance of tax-exempt lease obligations, Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds, Clean Renewal Energy Bonds and other tax-benefitted obligations. She is an active member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) and Boston Women in Public Finance.

Comey, based in the Firm’s Cincinnati office, has vast experience serving as bond counsel, borrower’s counsel, issuer’s counsel and underwriter’s counsel for tax-exempt and taxable debt financings. She has been lead counsel for local government issues, including new issues and refundings for municipalities, counties, townships, special districts and authorities issuing general obligation, special obligation, revenue and mortgage revenue debt instruments. She has served as underwriter’s counsel for local government, convention center and health care facilities financings. Her experience also includes tax increment financing, industrial and economic development, due diligence and disclosure. She is a member of NABL, the Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA), Ohio Township Association and its Law Director Network and various regional chapters of the Government Finance Officers Association.

Locke Lord has one of the largest bond counsel practices in the country. For more than 130 years, the Firm has been involved 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, underwriter’s counsel, issuer’s counsel, borrower’s counsel, bank counsel, special tax counsel and trustee’s counsel for governmental and quasi-governmental issuers, special purpose entities, tax-exempt organizations and other entities and financial institutions.

Locke Lord consistently ranks among the top public finance practices nationally. Most recently, the Firm ranked fourth top bond counsel for competitive issues in The Bond Buyer’s H1 2020 Top Bond Counsel rankings with 73 issues totaling $1.48 billion. The Firm also ranked fifth on the Top Underwriter’s Counsel List for H1 2020 with 35 issues totaling $5.98 billion and second for private bond counsel nationally in H1 2020. In The Bond Buyer's Full Year 2019 National Rankings, the Firm ranked 13th overall among bond counsel firms.

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About Locke Lord LLP
Locke Lord is a full-service law firm with global reach and 21 offices designed to meet clients’ needs in the United States and around the world. The Firm has a history that spans more than 130 years and is a leader in the middle market arena. Locke Lord focuses on providing the highest levels of commitment, quality and service to clients across its five Key Sectors: Energy and Infrastructure; Finance and Financial Services; Insurance and Reinsurance; Pharmaceutical; and Private Equity. In addition, the Firm advises clients across a broad spectrum of other industries, including fund formation, venture capital, health care, public finance, real estate, technology, cybersecurity and white collar, while providing a wealth of experience through its complex litigation, intellectual property, tax, regulatory and transactional teams.