Blank Rome LLP

Joan N. Stern has established herself as one of the country’s top public finance attorneys.  She concentrates her practice in the areas of general government and education, transportation and utilities, tax and revenue anticipation financing, healthcare and housing finance, refinancing and working capital finance, project finance, and derivatives transactions.  Ms. Stern serves clients in the full range of public finance matters, including:

• serving as bond counsel, underwriter's counsel, issuer's counsel, and trustee's counsel for all types of bond issues, tax-exempt and taxable
• drafting debt and finance legislation for a variety of financing programs for governmental and corporate clients
• derivative transactions
• enforcement matters involving the SEC and the IRS

Chambers USA names Ms. Stern one of America's leading banking and finance lawyers.  Chambers notes she has "phenomenal understanding of bond transactions and related tax and corporate issues."  Clients say that her "experience and command of the legal requirements of debt issuance are extraordinary" and she "is refreshingly direct and gets the job done." 

She was recognized as the Best Public Finance Lawyer in Philadelphia by Philadelphia magazine.  She is also listed in Who’s Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who’s Who of American Women, and Who’s Who in American Law.  Ms. Stern has received the highest possible rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
 

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

• Ms. Stern is the principal drafter of the statute creating the financial oversight authority for the City of Philadelphia and has served as special counsel to the City in connection with that legislation and the bond issues of that authority.
• As bond counsel, Ms. Stern drafted the legislation and bond indenture creating a multi-modal transportation authority in New Jersey, consisting of a toll road, an airport and a group of public parking facilities and as bond counsel for the authority’s initial financing, provided for the acquisition of all of the transportation assets, including the toll road and airport.
• As bond counsel to The School District of Philadelphia, Ms. Stern drafted deficit funding legislation for the School District and served as lead bond counsel for deficit funding bonds, multiple series of bonds for capital improvements and refunding bond issues for the District.
• Ms. Stern has served as lead bond counsel for two of the largest pension funding bond issues undertaken; one for a state and the other for a major city.  For both issues, Ms. Stern drafted the authorizing legislation as well as creating the governing instruments for the bonds.

COMMUNITY SERVICE & AFFILIATIONS

Ms. Stern serves on the boards of the Police Athletic League, the Urban Tree Connection, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the Thomas Skelton Harrison Foundation, the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust, the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation and The Franklin Institute.  She is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Moore College of Art and Design.  She is a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation.  Ms. Stern served as the chair of the Task Force on Alternative Finance Strategies for The School District of Philadelphia, as a member of the Tax Policy and Budget Advisory Committee of the City of Philadelphia and on the Task Force on Regulatory Reform for The School District of Philadelphia.  In addition, she served as consulting counsel for the Philadelphia Charter Commission.