Overview
With over 40 years of experience, and as the senior partner in the firm’s public finance practice, Wally is a trusted advisor for states and other large clients providing counsel on their tax-exempt transactions. Wally is highly regarded for his securities law disclosure knowledge and his work with complicated trust agreement matters, primarily acting as bond counsel or tax counsel reviewing arbitrage and other matters. He has particular experience in swaps and derivatives, indenture covenants, permissible amendments and restructurings, bondholder approvals and legal challenges to indenture provisions.
Wally has been the senior firm attorney responsible for more than 500 bond counsel and tax counsel representations of which the following are especially notable:
- Smallest Tax-Exempt: $10,000 Town of Newland, North Carolina Waste Water Treatment Bonds
- Largest Taxable: $223,875,000 Carolina Corrections, LLC Taxable Bonds, Series 2001 Select Auction Variable Rate Securities (SAVRS) (State of North Carolina Correctional Facilities Projects)
- Derivatives: $675,395,000 State of North Carolina Swap/Swaption, March 2005 – followed by termination with funding through $701,925,000 State of North Carolina General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2013C and D
- Tender Offer: $200,000,000 Covenant Health (Tennessee) tender for outstanding Auction Rate Securities
Wally frequently contributes to comments by the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) on Internal Revenue Service proposed regulations, including on Circular 230, Preparer Penalties, Private Activity Regulations, Credit Bond Structures and Arbitrage, and authors numerous area outlines for presentations at the Bond Attorney Workshop and NABL Seminars. He regularly speaks at meetings or seminars hosted by NABL, the North Carolina Institute of Government, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (County Attorneys), the North Carolina Association of County Finance Officers, the Southern Municipal Finance Analysts Association, the Southeastern Securities Transfer Association, the Government Finance Officers Association, The Bond Buyer and the Bond Market Association.
Prior to joining the firm, Wally was a Sergeant in the US Army from 1970 through 1973, serving with Military Intelligence in Bangkok, Thailand.