Public finance attorney, tax expert and National Association of Bond Lawyers board member Johnny Hutchinson has left Squire Patton Bogg’s Houston office to join Nixon Peabody as a partner.
Hutchinson has extensive experience with private activity bond financings, federally tax-advantaged debt transactions, defending issuers and borrowers against Internal Revenue Service audits, helping clients resolve tax issues within the IRS, and all matters related to post issuance compliance. Through his work with NABL and personally, he is a prominent voice in the municipal finance community.
“One of the things that attracted me to Nixon Peabody was the complexity of the transaction that they’re often called in to work on,” Hutchinson said. “The tax practitioners are often sought out for their expertise in some pretty tough situations and that challenge is really exciting to me.”
Nixon Peabody’s client list of state and local governments will give Hutchinson the opportunity to broaden his practice to more complex, pure governmental bond issuances.
“Our firm’s public finance attorneys play such an integral role in the nation’s infrastructure, and our city is a prime example of that,” said Ilana Kameros, managing partner of Nixon Peabody’s New York City office. “Johnny has spent his career helping clients create positive impact in their communities and his collaborative nature is a great fit for the firm.
A Houston native, he will continue to live in the country’s fourth largest city but will be based out of Nixon Peabody’s New York office and plan to spend most of his time with clients in New England, while helping on the west coast as he’ll be Nixon Peabody’s western-most tax attorney.
“There’s not necessarily a strict geographical correlation between where the tax lawyer sits and what they work on,” Hutchinson said.”I expect to be doing stuff all over but I think I’ll be primarily focused in New York and in New England.”
Hutchinson began his career as a summer associate at Beggs & Lane in 2005, before moving over to Squire Patton Boggs in 2007 and becoming a partner with the firm in 2016. He earned his dual bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
In addition to his work with the firm, Hutchinson will continue sitting on the National Association of Bond Lawyers’ board and also continues to write for the Public Finance Tax Blog.
“Johnny is well-known for advising clients on sophisticated transactions in a user-friendly way,” said Virginia Wong, Nixon Peabody partner and leader of the firm’s Project Finance & Public Finance practice. “Johnny works on financings that affect the infrastructure across the country at all levels and touch many aspects of daily life. We’re thrilled to welcome him to the firm.”