LOS ANGELES -- Nixon Peabody LLP has expanded its east and west coast practices with the addition of two veteran public finance attorneys.
The firm announced Thursday that Lisel Wells is joining its Los Angeles office and Katherine Baynes is returning to the firm’s Rochester, N.Y. office, both as counsel.
“Given the firm’s commitment to our public finance practice, both on the east and west coasts, we are pleased to introduce Lisel to our clients and reacquaint them with Katie,” said Stephen Zubiago, partner and chair of Nixon Peabody’s business and finance department. “Lisel and Katie bring strong industry knowledge and experience through their years of practice.”
Wells joins the firm from Fulbright & Jaworski LLP. She has over 30 years of experience as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, and letter of credit counsel on a wide variety of public finance matters, with a focus on California state and local agencies. Wells will focus on public school and community college financing.
“In the last few years, we have seen increasing client interest in doing large public finance deals especially in California,” said Richard Jones, managing partner of the Los Angeles office. “Lisel is a known figure in public finance with a well-deserved industry reputation for excellence.”
Baynes began her career at Nixon Peabody, and is returning to the firm from DLA Piper. She represents government authorities, issuers, and underwriters in connection with a variety of financings, including higher education bonds, healthcare bonds, and multi-family housing bonds. When she was at Nixon Peabody, she led the 2009 bond financing for the completion of the New York Mets’ Citi Field Ballpark.
In addition to the new hires, the firm has also announced the promotion of public finance attorneys Jim Montes and Rudy Salo to partnership, effective Feb. 1.
Montes, based in New York City and Long Island, has represented various local municipalities throughout the state of New York and various authorities in Puerto Rico. He concentrates on the financing of general infrastructure, electric utilities, and water utilities.
In the Los Angeles office, Salo has experience working on a broad range of financings involving transportation systems, cultural institutions, sports teams, and governments in California and throughout the country. He also represents commercial banks providing credit and liquidity facilities in support of municipal securities.
Nixon Peabody has offices located in 17 cities, including Chicago, London, and Shanghai. The firm is ranked among the top ten most active bond and underwriter’s counsel in terms of par value of bonds issued, according to Thomson Reuters data.
