Orrick's Higher Education Focus Group

April.30.2020

The Orrick team has created a Higher Education Focus Group to help our clients navigate legal issues across a wide variety of disciplines. We believe that we are one of the few law firms who have oriented themselves across practice groups to best serve the needs of their higher education clients. We have market leading transaction practices to assist our clients with their complex transactional and financing needs. We also counsel clients on the things that keep them up at night, including issues around cybersecurity, financial covenants and employment. And when things go wrong, such as when regulators come knocking or when lawsuits are threatened or filed, we mobilize our litigation and white collar teams to see our clients through. We have developed a brief fact sheet that highlights and summarizes our capabilities across disciplines:

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We can also mobilize quickly to address our clients’ needs such as through the formation of our firmwide COVID-19 Task Force. (For more information on the COVID-19 Task Force, please click on the following link.)

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In addition to providing periodic content to Orrick’s upcoming Higher Education Focus Group web page, our team will begin sending alerts to help our clients stay abreast of the most current topics and pertinent information. As one example, Orrick organized a joint webinar with The Bond Buyer that included senior representatives from all four rating agencies (Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s Fitch, and Kroll Bond Ratings) for a discussion about the effects of COVID-19 on the municipal market, including impacts relating to higher education organizations. To access a recording of the webinar, please click on the following link.

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Finally, we will be providing periodic updates on positive results that we have achieved for our clients. As one recent example, please see below for a significant appellate win our team achieved for the University of California.

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Please stay tuned for information about the upcoming Higher Education Focus Group webinar on distressed higher education issues, tentatively scheduled for June 2020.

For additional information, please contact the Focus Group's Co-Chairs, John Wang and Eileen Heitzler, or any other member of our team:

Orrick's Higher Education Group

Focus Group Co-Chairs

John Wang Partner, Industrial Development, Pollution Control and Solid Waste Financing, Renewable Energy

San Francisco

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D:+1 415 773 5993
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Finance Sector
Industrial Development, Pollution Control and Solid Waste Financing
Renewable Energy
Higher Education and Student Loan Financing
Public Power Financing
Nonprofit Corporation Financing

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John Wang Partner

San Francisco

John advises issuers, borrowers and underwriters on financings for higher education, solid waste disposal (including waste-to-energy facilities), and utilities (including water, wastewater and energy facilities). He actively advises clients in such financings on a national basis, including in California, Hawaii, Guam, Nevada and Texas.

John has been recognized as a leading lawyer by multiple organizations, including as a Chambers USA, Band 2 attorney for California Public Finance, and as one of California's top 50 development lawyers by The Daily Journal.

Eileen Heitzler Partner, Public Finance

New York

See my bio

D:+1 212 506 5235
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Finance Sector
Public Finance

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Eileen Heitzler Partner

New York

As bond counsel, underwriters’ counsel, borrower’s counsel and credit enhancer’s counsel, Eileen has worked on deals ranging from a few million dollars in value to more than $1 billion. She has broad experience with all types of financing structures including fixed rate, variable rate, flexible rate and optional tender bonds; tax-exempt and taxable debt; general obligation and revenue bond financings; unsecured obligations, mortgage-secured and project-based security; synthetic structures involving derivative products; and master trust indenture structures. Marketing alternatives have included public offerings by governmental issuers or conduit issuers, taxable bonds issued directly by non-profit organizations, direct placements with banks and financial institutions, and private placements. She was ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA New York for Public Finance in 2022.

While Eileen's practice encompasses all types of financings, her areas of concentration are financings for not-for-profit organizations, affordable housing, governmental purposes and public power projects. She has also participated in helping to structure and develop special financing programs.

Museums and Cultural Institutions: Referred to as the “bond artist” by the American Lawyer in connection with her work on the Museum of Modern Art expansion financing through the Trust for Cultural Resources, Eileen has been involved in transactions for most of the cultural institutions in New York City.

Educational Institutions and Other Non-Profit Organizations: Eileen has served as institution counsel, bond counsel or underwriter’s counsel on transactions to finance projects for a multitude of colleges, universities, health care organizations, private schools and other not-for-profit corporations, often in connection with their initial financings.

Affordable Housing: Financing the construction or preservation of thousands of affordable housing units has been an important facet of Eileen’s practice. In addition to serving as bond counsel or underwriters’ counsel on 80-20 developments, she is involved with the pooled open resolution programs established by the New York City Housing Development Corporation and the New York State Housing Finance Agency (two of the largest housing bond issuers in the country).

Governmental Purpose Bonds: As special counsel to the Office of the State Comptroller, Eileen provides advice concerning the issuance of the State’s general obligation bonds as well as other issues. She has also participated in the issuance of State-supported bonds by several public benefit corporations including the Dormitory Authority and Empire State Development.

Public Power: Eileen has worked with the Bonneville Power Administration for over 25 years on a range of financing programs, including on power purchases (including nuclear power), lease-purchase financings, energy prepayments, and conservation.