Alexandra M. MacLennan

Sandy has more than 35 years of experience as bond, disclosure and underwriters’ counsel in a variety of transactions, including, in particular, financings for traditional municipal projects, healthcare, higher education, utility systems and airport projects. She serves as bond and/or disclosure counsel to several public hospital districts and nonprofit hospital organizations in Florida and public housing authorities. She also serves as underwriters’ counsel for various national and regional underwriting firms.

In July 2011, Sandy was invited by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to participate in its third and final field hearing in Birmingham, Alabama. The hearings were held as an information gathering process in advance of the issuance of the SEC’s report on the state of the municipal market which included proposed legislative and/or regulatory proposals regarding primary and continuing disclosure.

In 2017, Sandy was elected president of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL). Sandy is a member of The Florida Bar, former chair of the City, County and Local Government Law Section of The Florida Bar and a frequent speaker and panelist, locally and nationally, on municipal finance and disclosure topics.

In 2017, Sandy was a founding director of the Florida Chapter of Women in Public Finance and served as the chapter’s second president. She was also elected to the board of directors of the national Women in Public Finance organization in 2021, for which she served as secretary and currently serves as chair of the Board Governance and Development Committee.

Sandy was also a co-author of the article, “Municipal Market Evolution Reflecting the Constitutional Underpinnings of the Law of Public Finance.” The article, which was published in the June 2023 (Volume 52, Number 1) edition of The Urban Lawyer, published by the State and Local Government Section of the American Bar Association, includes extensive analysis of the legal evolution of the tax-exempt bond market. The authors received the Carlson Prize from the National Association of Bond Lawyers in October 2023.

Sandy was an editor of NABL’s Federal Securities Laws of Municipal Bonds Deskbook, Fifth and Eighth Editions, published by LexisNexis. She is also the principal author and editor of the firm’s client alerts regarding municipal securities law matters. She was the principal author of the firm’s comments to the proposed regulations of the SEC regarding municipal advisers. She was the long time chair of the practice’s national Disclosure Group, an internal group of public finance, tax and corporate securities lawyers whose purpose is to assist clients in compliance with the requirements of federal and state securities laws as applied to municipal securities by providing (1) education and training regarding the applicability of the federal securities laws to municipal securities and (2) expertise with respect to specific disclosure issues that may arise in connection with both primary and continuing disclosure matters.

In 2007, Sandy was one of the first Florida women elected a fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel and was elected in 2023 to serve on the board of directors of the college. Also, in 2007, she was recognized by the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit’s pro bono program, H.A.V.E. A HEART, and the Bay Area Volunteer Lawyers Program for her exceptional pro bono service to the Tampa community.

In 2006, she was awarded the Paul S. Buchman Public Service Award for outstanding contribution in the area of legal public service at the annual meeting of the City, County and Local Government Law Section of The Florida Bar. The award is named after Paul S. Buchman, a longtime city attorney for Plant City, Florida, who is noted throughout Florida and nationally for his contributions to municipal law and his service to the community.

In 2023, Sandy was awarded the Ralph A. Marsicano Award by the City, County and Local Government Law Section for her significant and outstanding contributions to the development of local government law in Florida. This award is the most coveted and respected award presented by the section.