Roger Davis Named to Bond Buyer’s Hall of Fame

October.31.2022

Congratulations to Orrick’s Roger Davis on his induction into the Bond Buyer’s inaugural Hall of Fame class, which recognizes groundbreaking individuals who have left an indelible legacy on the business of municipal finance.

Over the course of his nearly 50-year career at Orrick, Roger has had a lead role in more than 1,000 transactions across the United States involving almost every type of municipal security. For 40 years, he led the public finance group at Orrick, where he orchestrated the team’s transformation from a single office with less than a dozen lawyers to a national practice in 10 offices around the country, consistently ranked the #1 bond and disclosure counsel, with a reputation for broad experience, market presence and creativity.

Roger has also helped transform the industry by helping to create several financing structures and programs, including pension obligation bonds, a service contract alternative to leasing or other private use formats, and a conduit issuer ownership/P3 structure and related workforce housing program.

Roger is recognized alongside Ben Watkins, Director of Bond Finance for the State of Florida, F. John White, Chairman Emeritus of Public Financial Management, Suzanne Shank, President & CEO of Siebert Williams Shank and David Andersen, Managing Director, Municipal Negotiated and Competitive Underwriting, BofA Securities.

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Among the attributes that contributed to his Hall of Fame selection were:

Recognized and sought out for his ability to apply his unusually extensive and diverse experience to solve problems as they arise and develop new programs or financial structures, and for his expertise and judgment in securities laws and disclosure.
Dedicated to helping bring about projects and programs (whether sponsored by public entities, nonprofit corporations or for-profit enterprises) that provide a public benefit and make people’s lives better.
Having led the development of the housing and healthcare practices at Orrick, his recent focus has been on governmental transactions, all manner of non-profit corporations, public private partnerships (P3), portfolio sales, securitizations, energy and water efficiency programs, student, senior and workforce housing, pool programs, new financial structures and programs and applications of Public Finance Authority (created in Wisconsin to finance any type of project or program in any state or territory).
Some of those new financial structures and programs have included pension obligation bonds, variable rate lease financing, and, more recently, joint powers authority ownership structure (turning private activity projects or projects not generally eligible for tax-exempt financing into tax-exempt governmental purpose bonds; for example, for middle income workforce housing), and energy and other infrastructure as a service (P3, simplifying procurement, off balance sheet).
Responsibility for legislation crucial to the scope and operation of California public finance, including California Health Facility Financing Authority, California School Finance Authority, changes to joint power authority law that helped propel California Statewide Communities Development Authority and California Municipal Finance Authority into two of the most prolific issuers in the country, local agency refunding law, authorizations for swaps, investment agreements and other derivative products, creation of security interests, streamlining validation actions, and in several other states including Hawaii and creation of Public Finance Authority in Wisconsin.
Chair of Orrick’s Public finance department for several decades through 2020, during which he presided over the growth of the department from one office with 12 lawyers in San Francisco to 10 offices and over 100 lawyers and paralegals around the country, consistently ranked (for more than 2 decades now) as number one bond counsel and disclosure counsel, and within the top four underwriter counsel, for bonds issued by state and local governments throughout the United States. During this period, he also held a number of other leadership positions at Orrick, including several terms on its Executive Committee and on the Management Committee of Orrick’s wholly owned subsidiary, BLX Group, LLC (providing the public finance community with a variety of non-legal services).

In addition to his selection by The Bond Buyer for its Public Finance Hall of Fame, Roger is ranked Band 1 by Chambers, and as Acritas Star Lawyer by Acritas, as Dealmaker of the Year (twice) by American Lawyer, as “best,” “super,” “most honored,” “preeminent” or “lawyer of the year” by several other publications, and declared “the Bond King” in a cover article by California Lawyer.

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