Kansas City, MO | May 14 – 16, 2025
The Essentials 2025
Foundational conference for attorneys and other municipal market participants new to areas of bond law hosted in Kansas City, MO on May 14 – May 16, 2025.
See You in Downtown Kansas City!
The Essentials convenes new bond lawyers, paralegals, issuers, underwriters, investors, and others looking to get a deep primer on all things bond law. This conference will be held at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown from Wednesday, May 14 to Friday, May 16, 2025.
Our Essentials conference is designed to start at the most basic topics related to public finance law and gradually work up to deeper dives in an effort to prepare the next generation of bond lawyers and municipal market participants. Panelists focus on the principles and general concepts of public finance practice, covering the fundamentals of bond law, including conduit issues and issuers, state law issues, closing logistics, tax law, securities law, and private activity bonds.
Who Should Attend
Anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of the rules and laws that govern the $4 trillion municipal market — particularly new bond lawyers. While the majority of our attendees will be practitioners with less than five years of experience in public finance law, the conference is open to other stakeholders who would benefit from a primer on issues related to bond law, including municipal issuers, underwriters, investors, trustees, and interested law students.
Lawyers New to Bond Law
Issuers, Underwriters, Investors, Trustees, and Other Market Participants
Law Students Interested in Public Finance
Conference Leadership
As always, the programming of this industry-leading event is member-driven. We are grateful to our conference leadership for their commitment to excellence and support in organizing this special event to help advance the public finance legal community.
What to Expect
Bond Law Bootcamp
A thorough overview of municipal bond law that will start with basic topics and concepts and work up to deeper dives.
CLE Hours
Attendees will have the opportunity to earn up to 15 hours of continuing legal education (CLE) credit with their respective state bar(s). Be sure to confirm that your NABL profile is up to date with your current state bar information.
Networking Opportunities
Numerous networking opportunities for law students, new bond lawyers, and other market participants just starting their careers in public finance. Attendees will meet with each other and experienced faculty members at all levels of their careers.
Valuable Insights
Expect to return to your practice or law school with a deeper understanding of the rules and laws that govern the $4 trillion municipal market.
Registration Fee
| Early Bird (Ends April 4, 2025) | Regular (After April 4, 2025) | Non-Members |
| $895.00 | $995.00 | $1,495.00 |
- Need help justifying your attendance? Download our attendance justification letter template to make your case for leadership.
- Government employees can register at the NABL member rate. Please email registration@nabl.org for support.
- If you prefer to pay over email or by check, please use this PDF Registration Form. Simply email the completed form to registration@nabl.org or mail to National Association of Bond Lawyers, 1775 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Suite 950; Washington, DC 20006.
- Substitutions and cancellations are permitted when requested in writing by Wednesday, April 23, 2025. Please email all written requests to registration@nabl.org.
Agenda
Session times and details are subject to change. Please select your desired sessions during registration to ensure CLE credit accuracy.
An overview of the conference and previews of what to expect over the 2.5-day conference.
Group SessionThis session will cover the central structural elements, documentation, and financial aspects of a municipal bond transaction.
2:15 – 2:45 PM
Networking Break
Group SessionIntroduction to federal tax laws governing municipal bonds.
4:15 – 4:30 PM
Networking Break
Group SessionThis session will address federal securities laws applicable to municipal bonds.
7:30 – 8:30 AM
Continental Breakfast
Breakout Session
Overview of the role of and expectations imposed on underwriter’s counsel in a municipal bond transaction.
Breakout SessionDiscussion of common state law issues that need to be addressed throughout the structuring of a municipal bond transaction and related disclosure issues.
Breakout SessionOverview of the private activity bond rules applicable to tax-exempt municipal bond transactions.
9:45 -10:15 AM
Networking Break
Breakout SessionIntroduction to and discussion of the underwriting process, including all aspects of structuring the deal through taking the municipal bonds to market.
Breakout SessionOverview of general arbitrage concepts, arbitrage rebate requirements, and the application of the various exceptions to the arbitrage rebate rules.
Breakout SessionIntroduction to state law creation of and limitations on conduit bond issuers, the roles of counsel, multi-state issuers, and many other issues unique to conduit bond issues. Overview of the rules applicable to qualified small issue bonds, including qualifying projects, prohibited and restricted uses and maximum amounts, and the rules relating to qualified exempt facility bonds.
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Lunch Break
Lunch SessionWe all know the pithy Schoolhouse Rock version of how a bill becomes law. Now join our Chief Policy Officer, Brian Egan, for a deeper dive into how ideas become law, the federal rulemaking and comment process, how and why NABL advocates for sensible public finance policy, and (most importantly) how you can get involved. Not CLE eligible.
Breakout SessionOverview of the role of, responsibilities and expectations imposed on issuer’s counsel in a municipal bond transaction.
Breakout SessionIntroduction to the tax requirements applicable to the issuance of 501(c)(3) bonds, including ownership and use requirements and issues specific to hospital, residential housing, and school financings as well as commonly used financing structures.
Breakout SessionIntroduction to the legal and tax aspects of refundings and the core tax concepts of a reissuance.
2:15 – 2:45 PM
Networking Break
Breakout SessionAn overview of the logistics of closing a bond transaction, including drafting of various closing papers, preparing the Form 8038G or 8038, and DTC’s role prior to, during, and after a bond closing.
Breakout SessionDiscussion of hypotheticals that involve the application of certain federal tax laws relating to refundings, including the repeal of tax-exempt advance refundings, as well as reissuance.
Breakout SessionOverview of certain transactions that do not fit typical structures but are common such as leases, installment payment contracts, pool programs, certificates of participation and others.
4:00 – 4:30 PM
Networking Break
Group Session
Discussion of best practices for emerging bond lawyers for professional and practice development including an overview of the Depository Trust Corporation (DTC) and its functional role in municipal bond transactions.
Netorking Opportunity
Connect with other attendees at a restaurant close to the event venue and form lasting relationships.
7:30 – 8:30 AM
Continental Breakfast
Breakout SessionDiscussion of hypotheticals that involve the application of certain federal tax laws relating to arbitrage rebate and the exceptions to the arbitrage rebate.
Breakout SessionOverview of the due diligence process with which practitioners should be familiar in municipal bond transactions and practical guidance for preparing disclosure documents.
Breakout SessionDiscussion of hypotheticals that involve the application of certain private activity bond rules to tax-exempt municipal bond transactions.
9:45 – 10:15 AM
Networking Break
Ethics Group SessionThis session will address, in an interactive format, some of the ethical and practical issues related to legal representations in municipal finance, including: engagement letters, delivery of opinions and conflicts of interest, and a discussion of applicable ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. This session is anticipated to qualify for CLE ethics credit.
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Networking Break
Closing General SessionThe Essentials concludes with a fourth General Session entitled “Tying It All Together.” This popular session takes attendees through a typical bond issue – from the initial client call to closing – using an interactive, informal platform that incorporates concepts from across the General Sessions and breakout sessions. Panelists play the roles of issuer, underwriter, bond attorney, and tax attorney as they navigate through a bond transaction from start to finish. Along the way, they encounter, explain, and resolve issues typically encountered in public finance transactions.
Hotel: Kansas City Marriott Downtown
To ensure you have the best experience, we highly recommend booking your stay at our event hotel. Staying at the event venue provides you with convenient access to all conference activities and helps us meet our hotel block obligations, which in turn supports the overall success of the event. Our room block at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown closes on May 5, 2025. Rooms for conference attendees booked through our room block start at $236.00 per night. We look forward to seeing you there!
What’s a Bond?
Really new to bond law? Start with the Basics. Enhance your experience at the Essentials by reading The Bond Basics, our introductory primer on municipal bond law.