Board of Directors Biographies

Joseph (Jodie) E. Smith, President

Read Jodie’s Inaugural Speech

Joseph (Jodie) E. Smith is a shareholder in the Public Finance Group of Maynard Nexsen P.C., in Birmingham, Alabama. He has over twenty-five years of experience and focuses on tax-advantaged finance and securities transactions and on infrastructure transactions. Jodie advises government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations on taxable and tax-exempt financings, serving as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, issuer’s counsel, and underwriter’s counsel. Jodie also advises clients on other types of tax-advantaged financings such as deals eligible for federal and state New Markets Tax Credits and deals eligible under the federal Opportunity Zone program, on economic development options and economic incentives, and on infrastructure transactions. Jodie served from 2011 to 2013 as Chair of NABL’s Securities Law and Disclosure Committee, as an editor of NABL’s Federal Securities Laws of Municipal Bonds Deskbook, and as a frequent panelist at NABL’s educational conferences. He served as Vice Chair of NABL’s 2013 Tax and Securities Law Institute (TSLI) and as Chair of the 2014 TSLI and has served on the Steering Committee for NABL’s Bond Attorneys’ Workshop. Jodie received a B.A. from Birmingham-Southern College in 1989, an M. Phil from the University of Glasgow in 1993, and a J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1995.

Carol J. McCoog, President-Elect

Carol J. McCoog is a Partner in the Portland office of Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP. She has over 20 years of municipal finance experience and currently serves as bond counsel to a wide range of cities, counties, school districts, urban renewal agencies, transit agencies and Oregon state agencies. Carol also serves as underwriters’ counsel on a variety of public financings. She is a past Chair of the Oregon Municipal Debt Advisory Commission. Carol currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) and served as the Chair of NABL’s Securities Law and Disclosure Committee (2013-2016). She served as Chair of NABL’s Tax and Securities Law Institute (TSLI) in March 2016 and Vice Chair of TSLI in March 2015. She is listed in the Public Finance Law section of the Best Lawyers in America and named 2013 Best Lawyers’ Portland, OR Public Finance Law “Lawyer of the Year”. Carol was also recognized in the Portland Business Journal’s 2010 Forty Under 40.

Jason Akers, Treasurer

Jason Akers is a Partner in the New Orleans office of Foley & Judell, L.L.P., where he rep- resents local government entities in debt financing and economic development projects. A NABL member since 2001, Jason has served as Chairman of NABL’s Education Committee and was the 2013 Chairman of NABL’s Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law Seminar. In addition to his participation in NABL, he regularly lectures on bond-related topics to various trade groups in Louisiana. Jason is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of the South (Sewanee) and the Board of Directors of Friends of First, an
organization dedicated to promoting STEM-related extracurricular activities in public schools. Jason graduated from Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Matthias M. Edrich

Matthias M. Edrich is a Tax Partner in the Denver office of Kutak Rock LLP. Matthias routinely serves as lead tax attorney in debt issuances for clients ranging from banks, securities dealers and governmental and corporate securities issuers to energy and solid waste recycling companies, manufacturers, hospitals and other healthcare organizations and various types of nonprofits. A particular area of focus includes economic development financings relating to special districts, community improvement districts and community development districts throughout the country. Matthias also advises clients in Internal
Revenue Service audits and private letter ruling and voluntary closing agreement program (VCAP) requests. Matthias received a B.S. from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an M.B.A., J.D. and LL.M in taxation from the University of Denver. He is admitted to practice in the State of Colorado and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and before the U.S. Tax Court. He has served in various roles in several of NABL’s conferences over the past years and has led and coordinated NABL working groups to produce tax and general public finance related comment papers and articles. Matthias grew up in Germany and has served German companies and individuals in business and litigation matters.

Ann D. Fillingham, Past President

Ann D. Fillingham is a Partner at Dykema Gossett in Lansing, MI. Ann’s principal areas of practice include public and structured finance and traditional commercial finance work. In the public finance arena, Ann has served as bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel to numerous state and local issuers. She has worked extensively with the State of Michigan and its various departments and authorities with respect to both taxable and tax- exempt issues. In addition, she has served as bond counsel or underwriter’s counsel on many county, municipal, school and local authority bond issues. Ann regularly speaks at NABL conferences on matters related to public finance. She was the 2015 Bond Attorneys’ Workshop Chair and is the past Chair of the NABL’s General Law and Practice (formerly Municipal Law) Committee. She received her J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan and her B.A. from Michigan State University.

Deanna L. S. Gregory

Deanna L. S. Gregory is a Partner at Pacifica Law Group LLP in Seattle, Washington. Deanna serves as bond counsel and disclosure counsel on financings for a variety of public entities, including cities, counties, public utility districts, transit agencies, school districts, universities, special purpose districts and state agencies. She also serves as underwriters’ counsel on various financing matters, and as counsel to Washington governmental agencies on general municipal matters. Deanna is a member of the NABL Steering Committee for the NABL Workshop (2021) and served as Chair of the NABL Institute seminar (2021), as Chair of the NABL Essentials seminar (2016), as Chair of the NABL General Law and Practice Committee (2017-2019), as Chair of the NABL Education Committee (2011-2013), and as a Member of the NABL Board of Directors Nominating Committee (2014, 2019). She is a frequent speaker at NABL conferences and at other national and local seminars, addressing federal securities law, general law and financing, ethics, and revenue options available to local governments. Deanna has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Public Finance Law (2019-2021), selected as a Washington Super Lawyer (2013-2021) and was named to the Top 50 Washington Women Super Lawyers (2014). She received her J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Washington.

JoLinda L. Herring

JoLinda Herring is a Shareholder in the law firm of Bryant Miller Olive P.A. She currently serves as the Chairman of the Firms’ Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the Public Finance Group. Ms. Herring’s practice is dedicated to municipal law, governmental tax- exempt financings and blue sky securities law. She has served as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriter’s counsel to various governmental entities across the State of Florida, State of Connecticut and State of Louisiana. She has served as the Chair of NABL’s The Workshop 2019 and as the Chair of NABL’s 2011 Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law Seminar. Additionally, she is a frequent speaker at NABL Workshops and Florida Government Finance Officers Association conferences. Ms. Herring graduated from Florida State University College of Law and received an M.B.A. in Finance with honors from Vanderbilt University. She has won numerous awards for both her legal and volunteer work, most recently being honored as a Woman of Impact in South Florida.

John W. Hutchinson

John W. Hutchinson (Johnny) is a Partner in the New York City office of Nixon Peabody. He focuses on all aspects of public finance tax. He serves as first-chair tax lawyer on all types of tax-advantaged state and local debt, including governmental financings of all sizes, 501(c)(3) financings for healthcare systems and higher education institutions throughout the country, and private activity bond financings for solid waste disposal and sewage facilities for large utilities and industrial firms. Johnny has unique expertise with governmental bond and private activity bond financings for airport facilities. Johnny has extensive
experience with “post-issuance compliance” for tax-advantaged bonds. He has represented issuers before the IRS in audits of all types of tax-advantaged bonds, and he has considerable experience in representing issuers submitting requests to the IRS Voluntary Closing Agreement Program. Johnny regularly writes for and speaks in front of key industry groups. Johnny has served as chair of NABL’s Tax Law Committee, as a member of the editorial board of the Federal Taxation of Municipal Bonds Deskbook and treatise, and as a participant and chair of numerous panels at NABL’s conferences.

Marybeth Orsini

Marybeth Orsini is a Partner at Ballard Spahr LLP, based in the firm’s Baltimore, MD and New York, NY offices. Her practice focuses on advising clients as to the federal tax aspects of tax-favored bond transactions, including for governmental, not-for-profit, and project finance deals. She has also worked as an attorney in the tax-exempt bond branch of the IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Financial Institutions and Products). Marybeth has served as a member of The Workshop
Steering Committee (2015-2017, 2022) and the NABL Nominating Committee (2021). She has also served as Chair of The Institute: Hybrid 2022, as Vice Chair of The Institute: Virtual 2021, and as a panelist at various NABL conferences. Marybeth received her B.S. in Biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, and her LL.M. in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

Jeffery Qualkinbush

Jeff Qualkinbush is a Partner in the Indianapolis office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP. During his more than 30 years of practicing in the area of municipal finance, Jeff has worked with a wide variety of state and local issuers as bond counsel, including several financings by the City of Indianapolis and its related entities. He has also served as bank or underwriter’s counsel to local, regional and national financial institutions and investment banks in both governmental purpose and private activity bond transactions. During this time, Jeff has developed extensive experience in both equipment and building lease financings for local governmental entities as well as a specific focus serving as bond counsel to a large number of public school corporations and libraries across the State of Indiana. Since joining NABL in 1993, Jeff has been a regular panelist at many NABL conferences on matters related to public finance and participated in several NABL projects. Jeff’s NABL service has also included, but not been limited to, serving as Chair of The Workshop (Virtual)(2020), Chair of Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law (2017), Member of the Nominating Committee (2015) and Chair of the Education and Member Services Committee (2013-2014). Jeff has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Public Finance Law (2011-2023) and was selected as an Indiana Super Lawyer (2012-2017). He received his J.D. from University of Michigan and his B.A. magna cum laude from Wabash College.

M. Elizabeth Walker

Elizabeth Walker is a shareholder in the Indianapolis office of Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman. She has more than 15 years’ experience providing legal counsel for tax-exempt bond transactions. Elizabeth’s practice focuses on debt financing for 501(c)(3) and governmental health care organizations. She has broad experience representing borrowers, issuers, underwriters and lending institutions throughout the country, in tax-exempt and taxable financings. In addition to her transactional work, she regularly advises her clients with regards to ongoing tax, disclosure and obligated group compliance matters, and represents her clients in audits by and voluntary closing agreements with the IRS. Elizabeth currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Bond Lawyers. She previously served as chair of NABL’s governmental affairs committee, editor of the Federal Taxation of Municipal Bonds, and as chair and participant on numerous NABL panels. She received her B.A. in
anthropology from the University of Kentucky and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

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Linda H. Wyman, Chief Operating Officer

Linda Wyman is NABL’s Chief Operating Officer. As COO, she is responsible for managing and overseeing all financial and business planning activities, human resource functions, the education, marketing, communications, and membership programs and the administrative functions of the NABL office. Linda serves as the staff liaison to the Board of Directors and all Board committees as well as the Diversity, Education, Issuer’s and In-House Counsel, and Publications Committees. Prior to joining NABL in 2010, Linda served for ten years as COO at the National Utility Contractors Association. Linda served as Vice President at the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. She earned her B.A. in Political Science and her B.S. in Business & Finance from Mount Saint Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Brian M. Egan, Director of Governmental Affairs

Brian M. Egan is NABL’s Director of Governmental Affairs. Brian leads the organization’s federal advocacy efforts on policy issues relating to public finance. He also staffs NABL’s Securities Law and Disclosure, Tax Law, and General Law and Practice committees. Prior to NABL, Brian served as the policy director for the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) where he helped navigate the group’s federal outreach throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing emergency measures. He also led the State Debt Management Network, a professional organization for the issuers and managers of statewide debt. He also served as the legislative manager for finance policy and intergovernmental relations at the National League of Cities (NLC). Brian is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C.