McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP Municipal Recovery & Restructuring Group Providing Counsel to Commonwealth Court-Appointed Receiver for City of Harrisburg

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Municipal Recovery & Restructuring group of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP (MLA) is representing Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett's Commonwealth Court-appointed Receiver for the City of Harrisburg, former Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Chief Counsel David Unkovic.  A team of legal, policy and financial leaders in the firm's Municipal Recovery & Restructuring group are providing counsel to Unkovic who is tasked with developing and submitting a fiscal recovery plan to the Commonwealth Court, DCED Secretary, Harrisburg City Council and Mayor of Harrisburg. 

"The breadth and depth of our political experience combined with our legal and financial restructuring knowledge provides us with a unique understanding of the issues faced by municipalities,"  said Keith Mason, co-chair of the MLA Municipal Recovery & Restructuring group.  "Our team is well positioned to provide the comprehensive counsel that is critical to the fiscal recovery plan being developed by Mr. Unkovic for the City of Harrisburg."  Mason, a former White House Deputy Assistant and Deputy Director for Intergovernmental Affairs to President Bill Clinton, has provided counsel on business strategy, legal and public policy issues to business leaders and public officials for 25 years.

"The financial issues faced by municipalities in distress situations are similar to those faced by businesses," said Thurbert Baker, MLA partner and former attorney general for the State of Georgia.  "However, municipalities are presented with a set of complex political issues that are not seen in most corporate restructurings," added Baker, who handles matters related to corporate compliance and investigations and is a former chair of the National Association of Attorneys General.  Baker is working with forensic consultants hired by the Harrisburg Authority to review the financings of its incinerator, the Harrisburg Resource Recovery Facility, for possible recovery and other legal actions.

MLA Municipal Recovery & Restructuring group co-chair Mark Kaufman, a 38-year veteran of judicial and non-judicial financial restructurings, is also advising Unkovic on the development of Harrisburg's fiscal recovery plan.  Kaufman is the author of the firm's "Municipal Recovery & Restructuring Chapter 9 Guide" and "10 Considerations for Financially-Distressed Local Governments and Public Authorities" written for local government officials.  His practice is exclusively devoted to debt restructurings and also to advising financially-distressed municipalities, special purpose districts and related government entities.

The MLA Municipal Recovery & Restructuring group includes more than 40 legal, policy and financial leaders such as former members of Congress, a governor, mayors, federal agency counsel, and chiefs of staff.  The group's lawyers are noted for their work in public finance, bankruptcy, restructuring, insolvency, tax, public policy, public-private partnerships, employee benefits and labor, government contracting, government affairs and governance.  The MLA Municipal Recovery & Restructuring group advises public sector clients to achieve a consensual resolution of their financial concerns without litigation and only resorting to a Chapter 9 bankruptcy when absolutely necessary.  For more information on the group, go to http://www.mckennalong.com/practices-municipal-recovery.html.   

About McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP is an international law firm with 475 attorneys and public policy advisors. The firm provides business solutions in the areas of public policy, government contracts, environment and energy regulations, climate change, project finance, and litigation.  To learn more about the firm and its services, go to http://www.mckennalong.com.   

SOURCE McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP