Adam Harden is a public finance partner in the Austin office of Locke Lord LLP. He primarily focuses his practice on the federal tax aspects of public finance and infrastructure transactions, including extensive experience in the 103 tax bar, Qualified Opportunity Zones, public-private partnerships and tax credit and investment incentive programs. Adam provides tax advice in connection with financing transactions for cities, counties and school districts, as well as clients in a wide range of industries, including affordable housing deals. He has experience advising on financing for professional and collegiate sports stadiums, and he also advises issuers, financial advisers and underwriters regarding financings involving new money projects, refundings, capital and working capital financings, commercial paper issues, pooled bonds, variable rate bonds and fixed rate bonds. In addition, Adam maintains a general for-profit and nonprofit corporate tax practice.
Adam Harden is a public finance partner in the Austin office of Locke Lord LLP. He primarily focuses his practice on the federal tax aspects of public finance and infrastructure transactions, including extensive experience in the 103 tax bar, Qualified Opportunity Zones, public-private partnerships and tax credit and investment incentive programs. Adam provides tax advice in connection with financing transactions for cities, counties and school districts, as well as clients in a wide range of industries, including affordable housing deals. He has experience advising on financing for professional and collegiate sports stadiums, and he also advises issuers, financial advisers and underwriters regarding financings involving new money projects, refundings, capital and working capital financings, commercial paper issues, pooled bonds, variable rate bonds and fixed rate bonds. In addition, Adam maintains a general for-profit and nonprofit corporate tax practice.
Adam has performed the tax analysis on more than 600 bond counsel transactions aggregating over $25.0 billion of total principal amount issued, including the largest tax-exempt financing transaction in the healthcare industry in 2018 as well as the first tax-exempt Qualified 501(c)(3) Bonds to be guaranteed by the Texas Permanent School Fund, the nation's largest education endowment.
In conjunction with tax-exempt financings, Adam represents numerous clients with IDRs, VCAP closing agreements, IRS audits, rebate compliance, and other administrative proceedings.
In addition to advising on public finance transactions, Adam maintains a general nonprofit corporate tax practice in which he routinely creates corporate entities, guides entities through the application process for tax-exempt status recognition, and advises on ongoing compliance issues for tax-exempt organizations. He has advised on certain tax consequences of domestic and international corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare field, and on compliance, regulatory, and legislative matters affecting 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and 501(c)(6) organizations.
In 2019, Adam was invited to testify before U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service officials concerning ways to improve the Proposed Regulations on Qualified Opportunity Zones, and several of his recommendations were incorporated into the Final Regulations released later that year. Adam presents frequently on federal tax issues at the American Bar Association's Tax Section meetings, the National Association of Bond Lawyers' Bond Attorneys' Workshop, the Bond Buyer's annual Texas Public Finance Conference, and events hosted by the Government Finance Officers Association, the Government Treasurers' Organization of Texas, and the State Bar of Texas.
Representative Experience
Adam has performed the tax analysis on more than 600 bond counsel transactions aggregating over $25.0 billion of total principal amount issued, including the largest tax-exempt financing transaction in the healthcare industry in 2018 as well as the first tax-exempt Qualified 501(c)(3) Bonds to be guaranteed by the Texas Permanent School Fund, the nation's largest education endowment.
Professional Affiliations and Recognitions
- Named, Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, Tax Law (2021)
- Named Top Attorney, San Antonio Magazine, 2019
- Named to Texas Rising Stars, Thomson Reuters, 2018
- Life Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation, 2014-Present
- Member, Pro Bono College, State Bar of Texas, 2015-Present
- Member, Texas Bar College, State Bar of Texas, 2018-Present
- City of Olmos Park, Texas, Planning and Zoning Commission, Member (2019-2021 Term, Appointed by City Council)
- American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, Vice Chair of Tax-Exempt Financing Committee (2019-2021 Term)
- State Bar of Texas, Tax Section, Co-Chair of Tax-Exempt Finance Committee (2018-Present); Vice Chair of Tax-Exempt Finance Committee (2016-2018)
- National Association of Bond Lawyers, Tax Law Committee
- Member, District of Columbia Bar, Taxation Section
- Texas Young Lawyers Association, Board of Directors, 2014-2015
Community Leadership
- Trinity University Alumni Association, Chapter President (2015), Board of Directors (2013-2014; 2017-Present)
- Trinity University, Stadium Finance Committee
- Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Founder's Council
Expert Testimony
- Oral Testimony, United States Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service Joint Public Hearing on Qualified Opportunity Zone Proposed Regulations, February 14, 2019
Panels and Presentations
- "Legislative, Treasury, and Internal Revenue Service Update," American Bar Association, Tax Section, Tax Exempt Financing Committee, 2020 Midyear Tax Meeting
- "Qualified Opportunity Zones: the ABCs of QOZs," State Bar of Texas, Tax Section Leadership Academy
- "Alternatives to Advance Refunding Bonds," Government Treasurers' Organization of Texas, 2019 Winter Seminar
- "Private Activity Bond Tests: Advanced Principles - Real World Challenges," NABL 2018 Bond Attorneys' Workshop
- "Private Activity Bond Tests: Fundamental Principles - Basic Issue Spotting," NABL 2018 Bond Attorneys' Workshop
- "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: Potential Impact on State and Local Governments," Government Finance Officers Association
- "Tax Reform: State and Local Implications," The Bond Buyer's Texas Public Finance Conference
- "Private Activity Bond Tests: Fundamental Principles - Basic Issue Spotting," NABL 2017 Bond Attorneys' Workshop
- "Tax Hot Topics: Recent Updates on Issue Price and Qualified Management Contracts," Harris County Department of Education, School Finance Counsel Workshop
- "Careers in Tax Law," State Bar of Texas Presentation at the University of Houston Law Center
- "IRS Current Events," First Southwest 2017 Post-Issuance Compliance Seminar
- "Tax Issues in 501(c)(3) Financings," NABL 2014 Bond Attorneys' Workshop
- "Launching Your Legal Career," Justice James A. Baker Guide to Ethics and Professionalism in Texas
Additional Publications
- Editor, "Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law," NABL
- Co-Author, "A Mystery Partially Unveiled: The IRS Rules on Section 7702A's Necessary Premium Test," Taxing Times
- Contributor, "Partial Exchange Guidance Keeps Improving," Taxing Times
- Contributor, "The Big Business of College Game Day," Texas Review of Entertainment & Sports Law