HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – May 2, 2024 – Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, P.A. Shareholder Melissa López Rogers, Of Counsel Niyala A. Harrison, and Shareholder Robert J. Downing will speak at the inaugural Southeast Bond Buyer Public Finance Conference taking place May 6-7 at The Diplomat Resort in Hollywood. Greenberg Traurig is sponsoring the event.
Rogers will deliver the opening remarks and speak on a panel, titled “Examining the Impact of Population and Business Growth in the Southeast Region (CPE).” The discussion will focus on how the Southeast states are expanding their infrastructure and addressing increased demand on services as people and businesses move in.
Harrison will moderate the “Financing the Building and Maintenance of the Climate-resilient Cities and Infrastructure (CPE)” panel, which will discuss sea-level rise, hurricanes/ tornadoes resilience and mitigation efforts. Additionally, the discussion will cover current and future efforts related to developing and retrofitting cities and infrastructure to meet the climate-related challenges of the future. The panel will also discuss the availability, or lack thereof, of property and flood insurance.
Downing will speak on a panel titled “Look at the Region’s Transportation Infrastructure: Use of P3s and the Growing Potential of EVs (CPE).” The panel will discuss the use of public-private partnerships (P3s), the electric vehicle industry’s growth, and the increased economic opportunities for issuers in the region.
Rogers focuses her practice on public finance, with an emphasis on disclosure and municipal securities issues, economic development, and public-private partnerships. She has served as disclosure counsel, bond counsel, underwriters' counsel, trustee's counsel, purchasers' counsel, lender's counsel, and borrower's counsel in connection with publicly and privately offered financings in a wide array of sectors, including general government, airports, higher education, community development districts, tax allocation districts, and water, sewer, and electric utilities.
Harrison focuses her practice on public infrastructure finance matters and securities law matters with a particular emphasis on tax-exempt and taxable bond financings, including new and refunding issues. She regularly serves as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriter’s counsel representing cities, counties, school districts, governmental agencies and underwriters on public infrastructure finance transactions across various sectors including K-12 education, water, sewer and stormwater utilities, transportation, airports, toll roads, and community development districts.
Downing has more than 35 years’ experience in domestic and international business transactions. He focuses on corporate, mergers and, and finance matters, with an emphasis on energy, infrastructure, and project development. Downing began his legal career in New York City as a securities and mergers and acquisition attorney. More recently, he served as associate general counsel at Duke Energy International, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, the largest electric utility in the United States, and senior counsel at the Cisneros Group of companies.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Public Finance & Infrastructure Practice: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has a national public finance practice that consistently ranks among the top bond, disclosure, and underwriter’s counsel firms according to The Bond Buyer’s nationwide and statewide rankings. Greenberg Traurig LLP’s Public Finance & Infrastructure Practice has been serving the needs of state and local issuers, underwriters, credit providers, bondholders, and conduit borrowers throughout the United States for more than forty years in virtually every area of public finance. The firm currently has more than 35 attorneys in the Public Finance & Infrastructure Practice in its Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington, D.C. offices.
About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2750 attorneys in 47 locations in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. The firm is a 2022 BTI “Highly Recommended Law Firm” for superior client service and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 500. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100% renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e® Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: www.gtlaw.com.