Rancho Mirage, CA | February 4 – 5, 2027
The Institute 2027
The Institute 2027: Member-Exclusive Forum for Bond Attorneys with 10+ Years of Practice Experience.
Hosted at The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage, in Palm Springs, California, from February 4-5, The Institute fosters an environment for meaningful professional connection, thoughtful dialogue, and practical insight.
Attendance is limited to 100 participants to preserve the program’s highly interactive nature and to ensure every attendee can contribute.
Move beyond presentations and enjoy candid conversations with peers.
- Explore emerging legal issues.
- Unpack evolving interpretations and market developments.
- Discuss complex challenges in a confidential environment.
The Institute operates under the Chatham House Rule, creating an environment where participants can discuss challenges, share perspectives, and exchange ideas openly while maintaining confidentiality. AI-powered notetaking and transcription tools are not permitted. We hope you’ll join us in Rancho Mirage, just outside Palm Springs, California!
Registration Fee $1,950.00
Not a NABL member? Join today to gain access to The Institute 2027, plus an exclusive community of public finance professionals and valuable educational programs, resources, and networking opportunities throughout the year.
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 for the public finance legal community.
Conference Agenda
Session times and details are subject to change. Please select your desired sessions during registration to ensure CLE credit accuracy. Please note that all sessions listed below are in pacific time. Some of the sessions repeat throughout both days of the conference to give you a chance to participate if you have competing priorities.
7:00 – 8:00 AM
– Networking Breakfast –
Opening General SESION: SECURITIES & TAX LAW
This session is designed to highlight current issues law firms face in 2027 relating to a public finance practice, including billing rate pressures, size of firm, practice shifts, incorporating AI, staffing changes, WFH pressures/opportunities, training, and succession. This session will have a lecture format but will have interaction with audience.
– Breakout Sessions: Select at Registration –
SECURITIES LAWThis forum will discuss current points of focus of the SEC and recent enforcement efforts, and provide strategies for avoiding issues, managing interactions, and achieving client goals.
Tax LAWThis forum will explore issues with recently released proposed edits to Treasury Regulation §1.148-6, the rise of use of demand deposits SLGs, problems with determining issue price, and usage of GICs.
SECURITIES & TAX LAWThis forum will explore the practical integration of artificial intelligence tools into the day-to-day work of bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel. Panelists will address how AI is being used for document drafting and review (official statements, bond resolutions, continuing disclosure filings), due diligence, and tax compliance analysis. The discussion also covers how firms are developing internal policies around AI use and the issues confronted.
– Breakout Sessions: Select at Registration –
SECURITIES LAWThis forum tackles the evolving disclosure obligations facing issuers, underwriters, and their counsel. The discussion will examine the expanding scope of material information (including climate risk, cybersecurity incidents, and ESG-related disclosures), and how the MSRB’s continuing disclosure framework is adapting.
Tax LAWThis IRS enforcement forum will discuss current issues relating to audits, and discuss strategies to manage the process.
TAX LAWThis forum will explore collateral tax issues relating to municipal bond and securitization, such as tax issues relating to unit investment trusts (including how they are structured and restrictions).
– Luncheon Session: Ethics –
ETHICSThis luncheon ethics session will be in a lecture format and address current ethics issues, when dealing with bond transaction participants, including confidentiality, privilege, record keeping, appropriate roles for participants (including interfacing with unregistered municipal advisors) and strategies.
– Breakout Sessions: Select at Registration –
SECURITIES LAWThis forum will explore the legal architecture underlying alternative delivery and off-balance-sheet financing models for infrastructure—including public-private partnerships, credit tenant leases, and Energy-as-a-Service agreements.
TAX LAWThis forum will explore current tax issues relating to tenders, defeasances, reissuances, and refundings including strategies to achieve issuer objectives.
– Breakout Sessions: Select at Registration –
SECURITIES & TAX LAWThis forum will discuss current issues relating to private activity bond conduit financings (including exempt facilities and pools) from both a securities law and tax perspective.
SECURITIES & Tax LAWThis forum will address the surge in data center development and the public finance issues that accompany it. Topics include how state and local governments are using tax-increment financing, industrial development bonds, and other incentive structures to attract data center projects; and the tension between economic development benefits and community concerns. The panel will also explore how bond counsel navigate the tax-exempt eligibility questions that arise when governmental entities finance or lease facilities used by private technology companies.
TAX LAWThis forum will explore issues with recently released proposed edits to Treasury Regulation §1.148-6, the rise of use of demand deposits SLGs, problems with determining issue price, and usage of GICs.
5:45 – 6:45 PM
– Welcome Reception –
7:00 – 8:00 AM
– Networking Breakfast –
– Breakout Sessions: Select at Registration –
SECURITIES & TAX LAWThis forum will explore the practical integration of artificial intelligence tools into the day-to-day work of bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel. Panelists will address how AI is being used for document drafting and review (official statements, bond resolutions, continuing disclosure filings), due diligence, and tax compliance analysis. The discussion also covers how firms are developing internal policies around AI use and the issues confronted.
Tax LAWThis forum will explore collateral tax issues relating to municipal bond and securitization, such as tax issues relating to unit investment trusts (including how they are structured and restrictions).
SECURITIES LAWThis forum will discuss current points of focus of the SEC and recent enforcement efforts, and provide strategies for avoiding issues, managing interactions, and achieving client goals.
– Breakout Sessions: Select at Registration –
SECURITIES LAWBank transactions and direct purchases remain a critical part of the municipal finance toolkit, but shifting bank appetite and evolving regulatory capital requirements have complicated the structuring landscape. This forum will focus on the documentation and structuring challenges counsel face in these transactions. Panelists will also address the securities law framework, including Section 4(a)(2) exemptions, bank-qualified designations, and the municipal advisor registration issues that arise in the private placement context. The discussion will be grounded in recent deal experience, with a focus on what bond counsel and bank counsel should be negotiating, drafting, and advising on today.
Tax LAWThis forum will explore various “change in use” issues and methods to resolve, including formal “changes in use,” reallocation of proceeds, and equity infusions.
– Breakout Sessions: Select at Registration –
TAX LAWThis IRS enforcement forum will discuss current issues relating to audits, and discuss strategies to manage the process.
SECURITIES & Tax LAWThis forum will address the surge in data center development and the public finance issues that accompany it. Topics include how state and local governments are using tax-increment financing, industrial development bonds, and other incentive structures to attract data center projects; and the tension between economic development benefits and community concerns. The panel will also explore how bond counsel navigate the tax-exempt eligibility questions that arise when governmental entities finance or lease facilities used by private technology companies.
SECURITIES LAWThis forum tackles the evolving disclosure obligations facing issuers, underwriters, and their counsel. The discussion will examine the expanding scope of material information (including climate risk, cybersecurity incidents, and ESG-related disclosures), and how the MSRB’s continuing disclosure framework is adapting.
Hotel: The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage
We are taking The Institute to sunny California! Join us at The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage, in Palm Springs. Our room block will close on Monday, January 11, 2027, with only limited availability. Rooms for conference attendees booked through our room block start at $444.00. 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. We look forward to seeing you there!
Connect with Other Attendees Before or After the Conference!
Interested in golfing, hiking, or visiting the spa?
Approximately three weeks before the conference, we will connect conference attendees who have expressed interest in the same activity.
Registration Substitution and Refund Policies
Substitutions and cancellations are permitted upon written request by Monday, January 11, 2027. Refund requests after this date will be subject to a 50% cancellation fee. No refunds will be granted after Thursday, January 21, 2027. Please email all refund or substitution requests to registration@nabl.org.