Nixon Peabody LLP

  • People
  • Capabilities
  • Insights
  • About

Trending Topics

    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni

    Practices

    View All

    • Affordable Housing
    • Community Development Finance
    • Corporate & Finance
    • Cybersecurity & Privacy
    • Environmental
    • Franchising & Distribution
    • Government Investigations & White Collar Defense
    • Healthcare
    • Intellectual Property
    • International Services
    • Labor & Employment
    • Litigation
    • Private Wealth & Advisory
    • Project Finance
    • Public Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Regulatory & Government Relations

    Industries

    View All

    • Cannabis
    • Consumer
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Infrastructure
    • Manufacturing
    • Non Profit
    • Real Estate
    • Technology

    Value-Added Services

    View All

    • Alternative Fee Arrangements

      Developing innovative pricing structures and alternative fee agreement models that deliver additional value for our clients.

    • Continuing Education

      Advancing professional knowledge and offering credits for attorneys, staff and other professionals.

    • Crisis Advisory

      Helping clients respond correctly when a crisis occurs.

    • DEI Strategic Services

      Providing our clients with legal, strategic, and practical advice to make transformational changes in their organizations.

    • eDiscovery

      Leveraging law and technology to deliver sound solutions.

    • Global Services

      Delivering seamless service through partnerships across the globe.

    • Innovation

      Leveraging leading-edge technology to guide change and create seamless, collaborative experiences for clients and attorneys.

    • IPED

      Industry-leading conferences focused on affordable housing, tax credits, and more.

    • Legal Project Management

      Providing actionable information to support strategic decision-making.

    • Legally Green

      Teaming with clients to advance sustainable projects, mitigate the effects of climate change, and protect our planet.

    • Nixon Peabody Trust Company

      Offering a range of investment management and fiduciary services.

    • NP Capital Connector

      Bringing together companies and investors for tomorrow’s new deals.

    • NP Second Opinion

      Offering fresh insights on cases that are delayed, over budget, or off-target from the desired resolution.

    • NP Trial

      Courtroom-ready lawyers who can resolve disputes early on clients’ terms or prevail at trial before a judge or jury.

    • Social Impact

      Creating positive impact in our communities through increasing equity, access, and opportunity.

    1. Home
    2. People
    3. Heather G. WhitePeople
    1. Home
    2. People
    3. Heather G. WhitePeople

    Heather G. White

    Counsel


    • San Francisco, Los Angeles
    • Office415.984.8316
    • hwhite@nixonpeabody.com
    • Download vCard
    • Share

    Introduction

    Heather White represents state and local governments, investment banks, nonprofits, and others in public finance transactions. She has been involved in a wide range of financings, including tax-exempt and taxable revenue bonds, general obligation bonds, letters of credit, revolving credit facilities, and other instruments. She also has been involved in project financings with a tax-exempt bond component.

    Practice Areas

    Public FinanceProject FinanceTransportation FacilitiesGeneral Obligation BondsWater & Wastewater Management

    Industries

    Infrastructure

    My focus

    I serve as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, borrower’s counsel, and underwriter’s counsel on transactions for a broad range of issuers and borrowers, including cities, counties, school districts, airport authorities, port authorities, transportation authorities, privately and publicly held for-profit entities, and 501(c)3 nonprofits. I focus on structuring and documenting financings and refinancings of capital projects and working collaboratively with clients to prepare meaningful disclosure for investors, often for complex transactions and credits. I have worked on the financing and refinancing of a wide range of projects, including airports, hospitals, universities, schools, transportation infrastructure, and on a wide range of taxable and tax-exempt debt, including general obligation bonds, a variety of revenue bonds, letters of credit, direct purchases, and revolving credit facilities. Representative clients include the State of California, the Airport Commission of the City and County of San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Western University of Health Sciences, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, and a number of underwriting firms.

    In October 2021, I received my PhD from the University of Western Australia, where I authored a thesis entitled “Promoting Prudence: Alternatives for Improving U.S. Local Government Borrowing Practices and Securities Law Compliance.” The thesis examines how best to provide local governments with the flexibility to borrow while protecting current and future residents, considering a variety of approaches to state laws governing this borrowing, and analyzing an example of a particular borrowing method, capital appreciation bonds. The thesis then suggests ways that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), states, and others can help improve state and local government practices that the SEC has identified as leading to inadequate disclosure to investors. Portions of the thesis have been published as articles. I also taught legal writing at the University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law, in 2011.

    Looking ahead

    Volatile economic times bring a need for creative solutions that allow state and local governments to borrow to fulfill their missions and provide quality disclosure while navigating increased scrutiny and regulation.

    Insights

    • “Beyond a Bond-Aid Approach: Building a Better Bond Law,” 7 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law & Public Affairs 315 (2022)
    • “A Little Help from Our Friends: Moving Beyond Enforcement to Improve State and Local Government Compliance with Federal Securities Laws,” 22 N.Y.J. Journal of Legislation and Public Policy 129 (2019)
    • “Getting Local Governments Where They Need to Go Without Taking Taxpayers for a Ride: “CABs,” Why They Are Used, and What Can Be Done to Prevent Their Misuse,” 49 St. Mary’s Law Journal 363 (2018)
    • “Catching Too Many ‘CABS’?,” The Bond Lawyer 4 (November 2017)

    Admitted to practice

    California
    Hawaii

    Education

    University of Western Australia, Ph.D.
    Harvard University, J.D., cum laude
    University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., summa cum laude (Phi Beta Kappa)

    Professional activities

    • Board Member, Los Angeles Women in Public Finance
    • Chair, Harvard Law School Association Women’s Alliance Hawaii Chapter
    • Editorial Board Member, Securities Law Deskbook, National Association of Bond Lawyers

    In the News

    • Bond Buyer

      SFO prepares bond refunding as airport rides out pandemic

      This article about San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and its preparations for a $291 million bond refunding deal mentions NP as disclosure counsel. San Francisco partner Travis Gibbs and Los Angeles partner Dan Deaton and counsel Heather White, all of the Project Finance and Public Finance Group, advised on this matter.
      July 30, 2020
    • The Bond Lawyer

      Catching too many “CABs”?

      Los Angeles public finance counsel Heather White authored this article about general obligation capital appreciation bonds (CABs) issued by California and Texas school districts.
      March 1, 2017

    Professionals in the Practice Area

    View All
    • Virginia Wong

      Partner / Practice Group Leader, Project Finance and Public Finance
      • New York
      • Office:212.940.3028
      • vwong@nixonpeabody.com
      Virginia Wong
    • Julie K. Seymour

      Partner / Strategic Impact Partner
      • Chicago
      • Office:312.977.4353
      • jkseymour@nixonpeabody.com
      Julie K. Seymour
    • Daniel M. Deaton

      Partner
      • Los Angeles
      • Office:213.629.6050
      • ddeaton@nixonpeabody.com
      Daniel M. Deaton
    • Scott R. Singer

      Partner
      • New York
      • Office:212.940.3182
        Mobile:917.886.5967
      • ssinger@nixonpeabody.com
      Scott R. Singer
    • Mitchell Rapaport

      Partner
      • Washington DC
      • Office:202.585.8305
        Mobile:202.288.4005
      • mrapaport@nixonpeabody.com
      Mitchell Rapaport
    View All

    Subscribe to stay informed of the latest legal news, alerts, and business trends.Subscribe

    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni
    • © 2023 Nixon Peabody. All rights reserved
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Statement of Client Rights
    • Supplier Diversity Program
    • Nixon Peabody International LLC
    • PAL