What Is a Bond Attorney?

A bond attorney is a lawyer who represents municipal bondholders' interests during a bond offering and who prepares a legal opinion attesting that t🅠he issue is legal, valid, and binding. They🌌 also play other roles to ensure value for the bondholders during bond and note offerings.

Understanding a Bond Attorney

A 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:municipal bond refers to a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:debt security offered by a state, county, or local government to finan𝔉ce capital expenditures in a locality, such as infrastructure construction or school funding. Such bonds and notes are exempt from federal taxes, and often state and local taxes, depending on the location of the bondholder. The tax-exempt status makes them appealing investment vehicles.

Bond attorneys are highly trained and very specialized. They are required to pass the state bar exam and need a Juris Doctor degree to practice. Typically, they work for government agencies or banks and are well-trained in tax and security law. 

As part of their assessment of the bond, the attorney will often investigate its intended purpose and research the applicable laws accordingly. They will also help the government agency or bank ascertain that an issue is correct, complete, and pro🔯perly structured.

Given that such bonds pledge the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:full faith and credit of the issuer, which is payable from limited municipal revenue sources, strict attention to detail and an understanding of legal and financial requirements are critical to protecting the in♐terests of bondholders. It is also critical to protect the interests of the funding bank when the bond ꩵattorney is representing the financial institution involved in the issuance.

Careers As a Bond Attorney

Some of the bond attorney's responsibilities include:

• Helping state or local governments develop strategies for structuring their bond offerings
• Attending or presiding over bond hearings
• Managing the documentation for the bond issuance
• Attesting to the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or other agencies about the validity of a sale

As the American College of Bond Counsel explains, bond lawyers are experts in all facets of municipal issues. These issues might include "bonds, notes, revenue certificates, warrants and other forms of debt issued by or on behalf of states, territories, and possessions of the United States, their political subdivisions, Native American tribes, and the District of Columbia."

When working for a government or municipality, a bond attorney is responsible for assisting in the raisi✱ng of funds to finance certain projects. They ཧmust make sure that the bond issuance abides by all laws and helps the municipality.

When working for a bank, a bond attorney represents the bank that is providing the funding for the municipal project and that will issue the bonds.

According to the U.S. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median salary for all lawyers, including a bond attorney, was $127,990 in 2021. The projected job growth for all lawyers between 2020-2030 is 9%.

Lobbying Activities of a Bond Attorney

Bond atꦉtorney industry groups will sometimes lobby on behalf of certain issues affecting their lawyer members. For example, in August 2017, the  the creation of new categories of tax-🥂exempt and taxable bonds to help with the financing of infrastructure, utilities, and schools.

As the Trump administration꧟ and the U.S. Congress weighed spending🌞 as much as $1 billion on national infrastructure projects, NABL saw it as an opportunity to put forth a series of suggestions for the ways tax-exempt bonds could be used to pay for public works.