Squire Sanders Expands Public Finance Practice

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6 February 2012

Squire Sanders is expanding its West Coast and national public finance practices with the addition of Robyn L. Helmlinger as a partner in Northern California, resident in its San Francisco office.  Ms. Helmlinger is a health care and school finance lawyer with extensive bond, disclosure and underwriter counsel experience.  Her work involves many of the largest, most active and prominent West Coast health care systems, most of the national, and several regional, investment banking firms, and several notable public education clients.  She joins Squire Sanders from Sidley Austin LLP.

Ms. Helmlinger has worked on financing transactions involving Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West), Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Children’s Hospital and Research Center at Oakland, Children’s Hospital of Central California, Grossmont Healthcare District, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Queen’s Health System, Scripps Health and Swedish Health, all based on the West Coast, as well as Trinity Health, a Michigan-based Midwestern health system.  She also has worked with the California Health Facilities Financing Authority and completed financings for the benefit of the Asian Art Museum, the Walt Disney Family Museum and the Santa Barbara Performing Arts Center.  In the public education area, Ms. Helmlinger has both bond and special counsel experience, including work for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Gatos Union School District, San Francisco Unified School District and San Francisco Community College.

Bruce Gabriel, Practice Group Leader for Squire Sanders’ Public and Infrastructure Finance Practice Group, observed that “Robyn is an extraordinary addition to our 60-lawyer group, reflecting Squire Sanders’ commitment to maintain a leading public finance practice and our plan to pursue strategic growth in California and elsewhere.”  Mr. Gabriel also observed that Robyn will be joining a national public finance practice that “is fully integrated--our lawyers constantly share experience and expertise, and collaborate to help each firm client achieve its particular financing needs and objectives, both cost-effectively and responsively.”

Ms. Helmlinger said that she was impressed by the reputation and strength of Squire Sanders’ public finance platform and attracted by the opportunity to participate in the expansion of that practice in California and nationally, as well as the opportunity to expand the services she could make available to health care systems.  She observed that, “I have met many of the firm’s lawyers, from many different practice specialties, and I am confident that the collegial culture I have found will be very attractive to others as we take steps to grow our practice.”

“Robyn is an energetic, thoughtful and highly impressive lawyer who will be a great addition to our national and Northern California practices.” said Nicholas Unkovic, Northern California managing partner.

About Squire Sanders-- With one of the strongest national public finance practices and our longstanding “one-firm firm” philosophy, Squire Sanders provides seamless legal counsel to all types of participants in the public finance market.

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