NABL Conference on Ethics - Professional Responsibilities of Bond Counsel

Thursday, November 29, 2007 1:00-3:00 p.m. EST

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP

1735 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ethics Conference Oultine & Written Materials

Audio Teleconferencing Option Available

On-line Registration: 

E-Mail, Mail or FAX Registration: Register Here
(Fill in the form and submit via email or print form and FAX to (312) 648-9588)

The National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) Conference on Ethics - Professional Responsibility of Bond Counsel will be held on Thursday, November 29, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern time, at the Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  As in prior years, the conference also will be accessible via audio teleconference, with registrants calling a toll-free number.   Seating for those not joining via teleconference will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Professor Geoffrey Hazard, one of the nation's preeminent scholars on legal ethics, will lead a discussion of the following topics: 

I.    Our role as bond counsel to governmental entities; applying the ethics rules

II.  Recent developments

• Recent ABA formal ethics opinions
• Circular 230 rules of practice before the IRS
  • Scope; application to written tax advice?
  • Conflict waivers

• What is required under Circular 230 (written consent within 30 days)?
• Differences between Circular 230 and ABA Model Rule 1.7
• Prospective waivers
• Who can waive for a governmental entity?

• Other developments

III. A look forward:  anticipating trends in legal ethics

NABL will apply for continuing legal education credits from those states that have mandatory CLE requirements.  Please be aware that a number of states require in-person attendance and do not recognize participation by teleconference.

Time will be set aside during the conference for questions and answers by participants, giving NABL members the opportunity to submit questions that are arising in their particular practices.  The audience is encouraged to send questions a week in advance of the program via email to questions@nabl.org.

The program fee for the conference or teleconference is $170 per NABL member and $225 per non-member. Telephone dial-in instructions will be sent to registrants via email no later than Tuesday, November 27, 2007.   For registration inquiries, please contact the NABL National Office at 312-648-9590.

Faculty participating in this seminar include the following:

Stacey H. Crawshaw–Lewis is a partner practicing municipal finance and general municipal law at K&L Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP in Seattle, Washington. She has represented a wide range of public entities, including cities, ports, housing authorities, higher education institutions, public utility districts, public development authorities and state agencies.  A former city housing and human services planner, Ms. Crawshaw-Lewis earned her J.D., with high honors, from the University of Washington and graduated, magna cum laude, from Brown University.

Professor Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr. is a Trustee Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law.  His fields of expertise are civil procedure, federal jurisdiction and professional ethics.  Professor Hazard is co-author of a treatise and a casebook in civil procedure and also in professional ethics.  He is also an author or co-author of 16 books and many articles, and is frequently an expert witness or consultant in professional ethics, including legal malpractice.   Professor Hazard earned his LL.B. from the Columbia University and graduated from Swarthmore College.

Frederic L. Ballard, Jr. is a partner practicing primarily in federal income tax matters relating to municipal bond issues at Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP in Washington, D.C.  His practice includes transactional planning for tax-exempt bond financing for hospitals and health care systems, colleges and universities and other charitable organizations, cities, states, and state agencies including housing and industrial development agencies, planning and advice for use of derivative financial products, and tax controversy representation in audits of outstanding bond issues by the Internal Revenue Service. He also represents investment bankers and business entities using tax-exempt financing.  Mr. Ballard earned his LL.B. from Harvard Law School and also graduated from Harvard College.

John H. Burton, Jr. is a lawyer with Presley Burton & Collier, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama.  Over the course of his career, he has served in all of the typical roles in a bond financing, including bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, counsel to a credit enhancer and counsel to the issuer.  He also has experience in structuring, documenting and negotiating traditional fixed-rate and structured finance transactions for municipal and other types of public clients, with particular emphasis in healthcare and education finance.  Mr. Burton earned his J.D. from Yale Law School and graduated from Birmingham-Southern College.

Marc A. Feller is a partner practicing in public finance and tax at Dilworth Paxson LLP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In his public finance practice, Mr. Feller focuses on all aspects of public finance and municipal representation. In his tax practice, he concentrates his practice on representing taxpayers in IRS controversies including tax litigation, where necessary.  Mr. Feller earned his J.D., cum laude, from George Washington University National Law Center, received his LL.M in Taxation from New York University, and graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts.