Practice Areas
Bar Admissions
North Carolina
Education
Harvard Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 1988
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., with highest honors in Economics, 1985, Phi Beta Kappa; Morehead Scholar; Truman Scholar; Walter S. Spearman Award (outstanding man in graduating class); Undergraduate Prize in Economics
Profile
Allen Robertson has led the firm as managing partner since 2015 while maintaining an active practice. In 2020 he was re-elected to serve a second five-year term.
Allen is recognized as a public finance lawyer of regional and national distinction, and is one of only two North Carolina lawyers to have served as president of the National Association of Bond Lawyers. Over the last 25 years, Allen has become particularly known for his work with nonprofit health care providers, including leading health systems, community hospitals and senior living facilities, in tax-exempt and taxable financings and strategic transactions. He also has substantial experience in financings for nonprofit educational institutions.
Allen represents banks and broker-dealers in underwriting, placing and remarketing securities, making loans, and providing letters of credit and liquidity facilities. He has extensive experience in the senior living industry, serving as general counsel for nonprofit and for-profit providers and representing buyers and sellers in merger and acquisition transactions.
He began his career at Robinson Bradshaw as a bankruptcy lawyer and litigator representing debtors and creditors in Chapter 11 cases, and continues to provide bankruptcy structuring advice and opinions in transactions and workouts.
Honors & Awards
- Chambers USA, public finance, 2004-24; bankruptcy/restructuring, 2007-09
- The Best Lawyers in America, public finance, 2003-25; Charlotte Public Finance Lawyer of the Year, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2024
- North Carolina Super Lawyers, banking, 2008-13; government finance, 2014-24
- North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, "Managing Partners to Watch" Power List, 2023
- Business North Carolina, Power List, 2021-24
- Martindale-Hubbell, AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated
Clerkships
- Law Clerk, The Honorable James B. McMillan, U.S. District Court, Western District of North Carolina, 1988-89
Experience
Experience
Public Finance
Served as bond counsel in more than 100 North Carolina Medical Care Commission financings for health systems, hospitals and continuing care retirement communities totaling approximately $5.7 billion, including approximately $1.5 billion in tax-exempt NCMCC bond financings for Duke University Health System.
Served as bond counsel in tax-exempt financings totaling approximately $2 billion for The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority d/b/a Atrium Health (formerly Carolinas HealthCare System).
Served as underwriter’s counsel, representing Citigroup, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, BB&T (now Truist), Ziegler, and Herbert J. Sims, in more than 70 health care facilities financings totaling approximately $7.8 billion.
Served as bond counsel for more than $4.9 billion in Duke University financings.
Served as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel and/or bank counsel in student housing financings for Appalachian State University, UNC Pembroke, North Carolina Central University and North Carolina A&T University.
Served as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, bank counsel or borrower’s counsel in exempt facility and industrial development bond issues throughout the country, including bonds for multifamily housing, airports, docks and wharves, solid waste disposal facilities and manufacturing facilities.
Variable Rate Demand Bonds; Commercial Paper
Drafted or maintained variable rate demand bond forms for three different banks and assisted them in the development of new modes and products. Represented Citigroup in the development of the Window VRDB product.
Served as bond counsel and dealer’s counsel for tax-exempt commercial paper programs.
Interest Rate Swaps
Negotiated, or participated in the bidding of, more than $2 billion in notional amount of interest rate swaps.
Served as bond counsel for three health systems in connection with the novation of existing swaps to new counterparties.
Represented an educational institution in the mediation and settlement of swap liability to the Lehman bankruptcy estate.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Advised health systems and hospitals in structuring proposed merger, integration and affiliation transactions to comply with bond document requirements and related bond tax law.
Represented governmental transferors and transferees in transfers of hospital facilities pursuant to the North Carolina Municipal Hospital Act and served as counsel in financings to consummate such transfers.
Served as underwriter’s counsel in connection with the creation of a separate obligated group by a leading private university through (a) organization of a controlled affiliate, (b) conveyance of the university’s health care delivery system (including its academic medical center) to the newly-created affiliate, and (c) utilization of a replacement master indenture provision to allow the affiliate to assume the related bond debt without defeasing or redeeming any of the bonds.
Served as special counsel to a leading private university located in New York with respect to analysis and structuring of a proposed spinout of its school of medicine and health care delivery system (including its academic medical center), including corporate structure and governance issues, bond issues (e.g., creating a separate obligated group) and debtor-creditor issues.
Served as counsel to a for-profit developer and operator of retirement communities in the sale of eight communities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida for $476 million.
Served as counsel to a nonprofit operator of retirement facilities in connection with the acquisition of a for-profit continuing care retirement community.
News & Events
News
- Oct. 14, 2024
- Aug. 15, 2024
- June 24, 2024
- June 6, 2024
- May 2, 2024
- Jan. 8, 2024
- Nov. 28, 2023
- Oct. 25, 2023
- Oct. 23, 2023
- Oct. 16, 2023
- Aug. 17, 2023
- July 28, 2023
- June 22, 2023
- June 6, 2023
- May 2, 2023
- Feb. 2, 2023
- Jan. 20, 2023
- Oct. 19, 2022
- Oct. 13, 2022
- Aug. 23, 2022
- July 14, 2022
- June 2, 2022
- May 11, 2022
- May 5, 2022
- Jan. 14, 2022
- Nov. 5, 2021
- Nov. 1, 2021
- Oct. 4, 2021
- Sept. 2, 2021
- Sept. 1, 2021
- Aug. 26, 2021
- June 21, 2021
- May 21, 2021
- May 4, 2021
- April 20, 2021
- April 15, 2021
- March 12, 2021
- Feb. 8, 2021
- Jan. 15, 2021
- Sept. 29, 2020
- Sept. 25, 2020
- Sept. 21, 2020
- Sept. 14, 2020
- Aug. 20, 2020
- April 30, 2020
- Jan. 22, 2020
- Aug. 15, 2019
- May 6, 2019
- Jan. 28, 2019
- Aug. 15, 2018
- May 31, 2018
- March 2, 2018
- Feb. 1, 2018
- Jan. 30, 2018
- Dec. 15, 2017
- Eight Named “Lawyer of the Year”Aug. 16, 2017
- May 31, 2017
- Jan. 26, 2017
Events
Hilton Chicago
720 S Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60605Sept. 18, 2024Hyatt Regency Coconut Point
5001 Coconut Road
Bonita Springs, FL 34134March 7-8, 2019
Insights
- 2024National Association of Bond Lawyers
- Nov. 12, 2021ABA Business Law Today
- “Municipal Bond Opinions,” Volume 2, Chapter 5, Legal Opinions in Business Transactions, Fourth Edition, American Bar Association, 2019
Affiliations
Professional Affiliations
- National Association of Bond Lawyers
- President, 2013-14; President-Elect, 2012-13; Immediate Past President, 2014-15
- Board of Directors, 2008-09, 2010-15
- Bond Attorneys’ Workshop, Steering Committee: Chair, 2009; First Vice Chair, 2008; Second Vice Chair, 2007; Opinions Panel Chair, 2004-06
- "The Function and Professional Responsibilities of Bond Counsel" (3d ed. 2011), Co-Chair
- "Model Bond Opinion Report" (5th ed. 2024), Co-Chair
- American College of Bond Counsel, Fellow
- Working Group on Legal Opinions Foundation
- Board of Directors, 2015-21
- National Association of Bond Lawyers, Representative, 2009-Present
Community Affiliations
- Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, 2017-Present
- Historic Elmwood Pinewood, Inc., Board of Directors, 2019-Present; Chair, 2024
- Friends of Scouting Leadership Dinner, Steering Committee, 2004
- Christ Episcopal Church, Sunday School Teacher, 1996-98
- Leadership Charlotte, Class 15