Frannie Reilly
Represents nonprofits, government organizations, and private agencies in public finance, nonprofit, and ESG matters. Advises on bonds, borrowing, tax-exempt status, and sustainability.
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Public entities need legal advice when analyzing how government decisions are funded, approved, implemented, and scrutinized. We help public leaders address operational challenges and major initiatives with counsel grounded in how government works.
Our focus
Government insight backed by full-service legal depth
Public-sector decisions must satisfy legal requirements while working within financial, operational, and political realities. We help public officials and administrators consider those factors together, whether they are managing daily operations, financing an initiative, responding to a dispute, or planning for the future.
We advise state agencies, counties, cities, boroughs, townships, authorities, school districts, conduit financing authorities, and other governmental organizations. Our attorneys work with elected and appointed officials, solicitors, managers, auditors, financial advisors, and other public-sector leaders. Many have worked within state, county, or municipal government or within the agencies where public decisions are made.
Our work includes government services, public finance, labor and employment, environmental and utility matters, litigation, privacy and data security, real estate, and technology agreements. We also advise on asset sales and leases, debt restructurings, internal investigations, and other significant matters affecting public operations.
Public-sector matters frequently involve several areas of law at once. Financing may raise tax, disclosure, and infrastructure considerations. An environmental or utility matter may involve regulatory proceedings, agreements among municipalities, and long-term funding. A technology initiative may raise contracting, privacy, and cybersecurity concerns. We bring the appropriate attorneys into the work while maintaining a strategy connected to the entity’s responsibilities, available resources, and public purpose.
We partner with public officials, solicitors, managers, auditors, and financial advisors on significant legal and operational matters. Our work includes the sale or lease of public assets, relationships between municipalities and authorities, environmental and regulatory issues, internal investigations, debt restructurings, and complex disputes.
We advise state and local issuers on taxable and tax-exempt financings for capital projects, refinancings, and other public purposes. Our attorneys serve as bond counsel, issuer’s counsel, underwriter’s counsel, disclosure counsel, special tax counsel, and trustee’s counsel.
We advise public employers on workplace policies, collective bargaining, grievance administration, employee relations, and other personnel matters. Our experience includes labor arbitration and interest arbitration involving police, fire, and other bargaining units. We also provide training and represent public entities when employment disputes become contested.
We advise municipalities and authorities on environmental compliance, water and wastewater systems, stormwater requirements, electric utility matters, and intermunicipal agreements. Our work also includes utility rates and rate design, renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects, power purchase arrangements, asset monetization, and proceedings before state and federal regulatory agencies.
We represent government and quasi-governmental entities in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies. Our experience includes civil rights claims, contract disputes, eminent domain, land use matters, personal injury litigation, and internal investigations requiring independent counsel.
We help state and local government entities, school districts, and authorities prepare for and respond to data security incidents. Our work includes privacy and security assessments, policies, response plans, breach notification, and regulatory compliance. We also review and negotiate software licenses, implementation agreements, and technology service contracts.
We advise public entities on matters involving the sale or lease of assets, land use, and other real estate considerations. We coordinate this work with public finance, environmental, and other counsel when the property is part of a broader government initiative.
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Related news and insights
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Access to the tax-exempt market: importance of maintaining tax-exempt status for nonprofits
With the federal government’s increased scrutiny of nonprofit organizations and their tax-exempt status, the impact of losing tax-exempt status must be considered when these organizations are interested in issuing tax-exempt bonds. Access to the tax-exempt market is crucial for nonprofit organizations, including colleges, universities, hospitals, and health care systems, to fund necessary capital projects. The […]
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In the years following the Covid-19 Pandemic, the affordability and availability of homes has become a glaring issue in Pennsylvania and beyond, primarily due to rising interest rates, inflation, labor shortages, and an overall shortage of housing supply. In January 2024, housing listings were down nearly 20% and sales dropped more than 3% year-over-year with […]