Donna is member-in-charge of the Firm’s Lancaster Office. She is also a member of the Public Finance and Government Services Group of the Firm.
Donna serves as bond counsel, underwriters’ counsel, borrower’s counsel, trustee’s counsel and disclosure counsel to a wide range of public and not-for-profit clients. She regularly acts as bond counsel for state, county and municipal clients in Pennsylvania. Donna has counseled issuers on large-scale general obligation borrowings and toll road issuances. She has served as disclosure counsel in connection with a number of significant financings, including the issuance of unemployment compensation funding revenue bonds. Donna regularly acts as underwriters’ counsel and has counseled clients in connection with convention center, airport, hospital and health centers and solid waste financings.
What does Donna do for Clients?
Donna previously served as a deputy general counsel in the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of General Counsel, where she served as OGC’s liaison on all public finance transactions undertaken by the Commonwealth and its various issuing agencies. As a result of this experience, and during the last twenty years, Donna has developed close professional relationships with key government officials at the local, county and state level. Donna is regularly called upon to offer her insights and unique expertise in many of the most complex local, county and state financings. Donna’s good rapport, credibility and strong relationships enables her to achieve positive and efficient results for the clients of the Firm. Her background and experience also serves her well in her role as co-Practice Group Leader of McNees Strategic Solutions Group.
What do Clients have to say about Donna and the Public Finance & Government Services Group?
McNees is one of the largest bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel firms in Pennsylvania by annual deal volume. With over 100 years of collective professional experience, The Public Finance & Government Services Group provides clients with exceptional service at reasonable rates. The Public Finance professionals of the Firm includes two attorneys elected to the American College of Bond Counsel, a unique recognition.
How does Donna spend her free time?
Donna enjoys spending time on the beach with her family in Avalon, New Jersey, particularly when she’s joined by her two grandchildren; and, every chance she gets, she’s undertaking a knitting project for her friends and family.
Donna regularly participates in due diligence reviews for many issuers and underwriters on bond financings as bond counsel, disclosure counsel and underwriter’s counsel. Donna advised a number of issuers in 2014 on their responses to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) initiative. As a result of the MCDC initiative, the Firm was retained by an underwriter which is active in local government financings in Pennsylvania, to represent it as special underwriter’s counsel to review the disclosures regarding compliance with SEC Rule 15c2-12 made by issuers in the official statements for the financings in which that underwriter is involved. Donna leads this representation.
Donna headed the bond counsel team representing a large regional water and sewer authority, which financed its acquisition of a neighboring city-owned water and sewer system. This acquisition was the first public-public transaction of its kind, and The Bond Buyer recognized the financing as the co-recipient of the Deal of the Year for the Northeast United States in 2013.
McNees was ranked fifth in Pennsylvania in the 2016 Bond Counsel Rankings by The Bond Buyer. The firm also was ranked fourth in Pennsylvania in the 2016 Bond Underwriter’s Counsel, and is one of just two firms to appear in the top five in both lists. In 2013, McNees was ranked the number one Pennsylvania bond counsel firm by dollar volume, according to The Bond Buyer’s annual publication of top Bond Counsel firms. Our firm was noted as having served as bond counsel on issues totaling more than $1.4442 billion.
Shippensburg University, B.A., 1982, magna cum laude
University of Pittsburgh School of Law, J.D., 1985
The Best Lawyers in America®, Public Finance Law, 2013-present
Central Pennsylvania Business Journal Women of Influence, 2017
6th Annual Leading Woman Award, Ladies First, 2017
American College of Bond Counsel, Fellow, Elected 2017
Lancaster Chamber Board, Chair
Lancaster Bible College, Board of Trustees
Lancaster Chamber
Ladies First, Founding Board Member
Pennsylvania Commission for Women, Past Chair
Pennsylvania Association of Bond Lawyers
National Association of Bond Lawyers
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