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John Utley is a shareholder and current president of Kennedy & Graven, Chartered, and practices primarily in the area of Public Finance. Public Finance is the area of law dealing with the issuance of municipal bonds and other obligations by the States of the United States and by the political subdivisions of the States. A law practice in this area requires expertise in local government laws with respect to the issuance of municipal bonds (and related subjects), federal and state tax laws as they relate to the taxation of municipal bonds, and federal and state securities laws as they relate to the offer and sale of municipal bonds.
In 1972, John earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy (cum laude ) from Bemidji State University. He then enrolled in law school at William Mitchell College of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree (cum laude ) in 1977. In 1986, he enrolled in the first class of a graduate tax program initiated at William Mitchell College of Law and graduated with a Master of Laws in Taxation degree (magna cum laude ) in 1988.
John acts as bond counsel and counsel to underwriters with respect to the issuance of municipal bonds by political subdivisions of the state of Minnesota. He typically provides his services as bond counsel or underwriter's counsel in complex revenue bond transactions but on occasion will act as bond counsel with respect to large or complex transactions financed with general obligation bonds.
John acted as bond counsel to the City of Minneapolis in its acquisition of the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis (home of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association), counsel to the underwriters with respect to the financing by the City of Saint Paul of a new hockey arena (home of the Minnesota Wild, an expansion team in the National Hockey League); and initially counsel to the underwriters and later bond counsel with regard to the financing of the public improvements undertaken by the Port Authority of the City of Bloomington, Minnesota, with respect to the Mall of America. In addition to these highly visible projects, in his twenty-two years of practice, he also has been involved in the financing and refinancing of many commercial and industrial enterprises, multifamily housing developments (including independent living and assisted living facilities for the elderly), nursing homes, and other health care facilities, educational facilities, and tax increment financing projects.
John taught a Municipal Bond Law seminar at the University of Minnesota Law School in 1982. He also taught Legal Writing for one year and Federal Income Tax for two years at William Mitchell College of Law (1993-1996).
John has this to say about his practice at Kennedy & Graven:
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