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Miller Canfield Expands Public Finance Practice in Chicago
Miller Canfield, an international law firm headquartered in Detroit, is pleased to announce that it has added five seasoned professionals to the firm’s deep bench of public finance attorneys and paralegals. The team comes to Miller Canfield from Ice Miller and will work in the firm’s office in Chicago.
“We are thrilled to welcome this group of outstanding professionals to Miller Canfield’s powerhouse Public Finance Group,” said Miller Canfield CEO Mike Palizzi. “They bring with them decades of experience in municipal and public education finance, public-private partnerships, tax incentive programs, and zoning and land use. Their experience, client relationships, professional background, and skills match perfectly with our outstanding Public Finance practice.”
The additions to Miller Canfield include:
James M. Snyder, a 30-year municipal finance veteran, who is well-known in Illinois bond circles, both in Chicagoland and downstate. He joins Miller Canfield as a principal attorney. Over his career, Snyder has acted as bond counsel and disclosure counsel to hundreds of Illinois entities, including school districts, cities, villages, counties and park districts, and as underwriters counsel to all of the major municipal bond underwriters.
A graduate of The Ohio State University and OSU’s Moritz College of Law, he has served on a wide range of public finance market entities, including as a board member of the Council of Development Finance Authorities and as a steering committee member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers annual workshop. In 2023, Chambers USA recognized Snyder as a Band 1 Leading Lawyer for Public Finance, and he was recognized as the 2016 Lawyer of the Year for Public Finance Law by Best Lawyers.
Austin C. Root will also join Miller Canfield as a principal attorney. He is in his eighth year of practice after graduating magna cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2016. Like Snyder, Root acts as bond counsel and disclosure counsel to Illinois local government entities of all kinds and serves as underwriters counsel to a wide variety of investment banks in the municipal marketplace. He has experience with general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, tax increment bonds, industrial development revenue bonds, and 501(c)(3) bonds; in short, he has seen and worked on virtually every type of municipal bond transaction. In addition, he has a focus on securities and disclosure law in the municipal market, and on economic development tools and capital requirements.
Mark A. Huddle, who has experience serving as bond counsel, underwriters counsel, issuer’s counsel, and disclosure counsel on a wide range of municipal finance transactions for an array of clients. In addition, he counsels both public and private entities in the “P3” space, as well as having worked on economic development and tax incentive programs, contract procurement, zoning and land use, other regulatory matters, and with nonprofit organizations.
Huddle earned his law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois and a M.F.A. degree from the University of Chicago. He is a former principal staff assistant for environmental and public works matters for Illinois Governor James R. Thompson.
Shelly A. Scinto, who has considerable experience working on municipal bond transactions of all types in Illinois for municipal issuers including school districts, park districts, cities, villages and various other entities.
A Chicago-Kent law graduate, Scinto has served as lead counsel on more than 350 bond transactions. She is also a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Illinois Association of School Boards Service Associates, the Illinois Association of School Business Officials and the Illinois Association of Park Districts.
Kathleen A. Thomas, who has joined the firm as Municipal Disclosure Administrator in the Public Finance group. She provides support for Illinois bond transactions drawing on her prior career as a municipal finance advisor and investment banker, and particularly on aspects of disclosure in municipal bond transactions.
Thomas is a University of Michigan graduate and a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Illinois Government Finance Association, the Illinois City/County Managers Association, and the Chicago chapter of Women in Public Finance.
Miller Canfield’s Public Finance Group is nationally recognized and ranks first among Michigan-headquartered bond counsel firms and fourth among Midwestern firms, according to the 2023 Bond Counsel Rankings by Refinitiv. The group is ranked in Chambers U.S.A., a leading international lawyer and law firm research and rankings organization.
Miller Canfield’s Public Finance Group has extensive experience in all areas of public finance, including capital projects and infrastructure improvements, public-private partnerships, economic development projects, government and regulatory affairs, environmental response projects, and state and federal tax.