Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan, a national minority-owned law firm based in Milwaukee, added public finance lawyer Susan Pease Langford as a partner.
Langford will be joining both its Atlanta and New York offices, the firm said Monday in a press release. She previously worked as a partner in the Atlanta office of the Cincinnati-based Peck, Shaffer & Williams, which closed its Atlanta office at the end of 2013. Langford did not bring any of the attorneys she worked with at Peck Shaffer over with her, but said that she will continue to be working with former Peck Shaffer tax lawyers in the future.
"Gonzalez Saggio is becoming active in more jurisdictions," Langford said." It has offices in 15 different cities and I have more opportunity to be active in those cities."
Langford said that she also moved for the opportunity to enhance Gonzalez Saggio's public finance practice. She said the firm has five lawyers doing bond transactions, including herself.
"We are growing our national public finance presence, and having Langford solidifies us as a national public finance firm," said Emery Harlan, chairman of Gonzalez Saggio. Langford is well-known in the issuer community, he said, and has developed a niche working with historically black colleges.
Langford has served as bond, underwriter's, borrower's and bank counsel in tax-exempt bond financing, advising clients on transactions structure, tax issues, and the policies and requirements related to individual transactions. Her work focuses on education and affordable housing.
"I will continue working with all the colleges and universities I had been working with at Peck Shaffer," she said. These include Fort Valley State University, Georgia Regents University, and Paine College, all located in Georgia.
Langford has been the underwriter's counsel for high-profile bond financings including a $1.5 billion deal for the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2011 and $307.41 million of Dallas, Texas' Waterworks and Sewer Systems revenue refunding and improvement bonds.
Langford earned her J.D. at Emory University School of Law and her B.A. at Mount Holyoke College.
