We have substantial experience with transportation-related public finance transactions throughout the U.S.  In the area of transportation, the firm serves as counsel in financings for airports, highways, bridges and toll roads, mass transit systems and maritime ports. 

Airports

The firm’s finance practice with respect to airport facilities has reached a high level of sophistication in recent years.  The firm serves or has served as bond, disclosure, special tax or underwriter’s counsel in financings for many of the largest airports around the country.  Kutak Rock attorneys are leaders in analyzing and identifying the types of airport capital costs that can qualify for governmental versus private activity bond tax treatment, and in analyzing the impact that revenue-sharing use and lease agreement provisions may have on such tax treatment.  In the role of bond counsel to various airports, firm attorneys have drafted state-of-the-art master senior and subordinate revenue bond indentures that control all future debt issuances by such airports, including provisions that allow for the issuance of commercial paper notes to facilitate the interim financing of major airport improvement programs.  Firm attorneys also have served as counsel on numerous public-private partnership financings related to airports, including special facilities bonds, among other financing structures.

Highways, Bridges and Toll Roads

Kutak Rock serves or has served as bond counsel, special tax counsel, disclosure counsel or underwriter’s counsel to several state highway bond issuers and other major highway, toll road and bridge financing authorities throughout the nation.  A number of these transactions involved the use of public-private partnerships and/or loans provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program, including financings of significant toll roads and a major west coast bridge replacement project.  Our experience also includes numerous grant anticipation (GARVEE) bond financings. 

Mass Transit

The firm serves or has served as bond, disclosure or underwriter’s counsel in financings for many local agencies that operate light-rail, heavy-rail and bus transit systems.  To cite our most notable engagement in this area, in the 1980s Kutak Rock was instrumental in creating the financing program for a county-wide rail transit system operator on the west coast.  In subsequent decades we have served as bond, disclosure or underwriter’s counsel and in other roles for billions of dollars of bonds supporting the operations of this entity.

Maritime Ports

Kutak Rock has substantial experience providing legal services in financing transactions of port and marine terminal facilities for harbors situated on every coast of the United States and on major inland waterways.  The firm has provided legal services in numerous financings for port authorities or dock and wharf facility projects aggregating in the billions of dollars.