Public and Private Partnerships

As a Connecticut-based firm, we are particularly proud of our Connecticut presence, and the firm has regularly represented many agencies and departments of state government for more than 30 years. These include the Office of the Governor, the Office of the Treasurer, the Office of Policy and Management (OPM), the Department of Construction Services, the Department of Transportation (DOT), the University of Connecticut (UConn), the Office of Legislative Management and others. The firm has also represented quasi-public agencies as either general counsel or special counsel, including the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA); the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA); Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated (CI); the Connecticut Green Bank (CGB); the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA); the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange (CHIE); and the Connecticut Port Authority (CPA).

In addition, our lawyers have served as bond counsel to the State of Connecticut and CGB, and as bond and town counsel to various Connecticut cities and towns. The firm’s Employment and Labor law practice provides services to more than 100 public entities, including municipalities, municipal boards and commissions, local and regional school boards, state agencies, and regional service districts. The firm currently represents the Connecticut Transit System on matters related to employee benefits.

The work we have done for our governmental and quasi-governmental clients has included:

• drafting legislation;
• drafting and reviewing RFQs, RFIs, RFPs and other bid solicitations;
• municipal finance including development of procedures relating to contracting, procurement, bonding, financial assistance programs and related matters;
• labor and employment counsel and the development of personnel policies, employee handbooks, etc.;
• Freedom of Information Act compliance, including public meeting requirements and public records requirements and proceedings before the Freedom of Information Commission;
• Code of Ethics compliance, including requests for informal staff advisory opinions and formal ethics opinions;
• advice regarding the applicability of, and compliance with, Executive Orders of the Governor and the State Contracting Requirements;
• compliance with statutory reporting requirements;
• consideration and advice concerning various Attorney General’s Opinions;
• counsel regarding funding, purchasing and grant administration regulations;
• advice on insurance matters;
• corporate and business matters;
• commercial real estate, finance and other transactional matters;
• environmental and land use matters, and advice pertaining to the Connecticut Transfer Act; and
• commercial litigation and defense of lawsuits in state and federal courts naming quasi-public agencies or quasi-public agency directors, officers or employees as defendants.

We have participated in numerous public/private partnership projects on behalf of both the public entities and the private parties. These have included:

• Representing the City of New Haven in the Smilow Cancer Center project;
• the development of the 40,000-seat stadium in East Hartford for UConn football and other sports;
• the leasing and refurbishment of a 17,000-seat urban sports and entertainment arena;
• the development of transit-oriented projects adjacent to major rail hubs for mixed retail, hotel, residential, office and commuter parking use;
• the redevelopment of a 9-story historic urban department store into a combination of educational, office and retail space, including the facilities for Capital Community College in Hartford;
• the largest acquisition of land for open space purposes in the history of Connecticut, covering thousands of acres in more than 15 communities;
• the acquisition of properties for the relocation of Gateway Community College in New Haven; and
• the cleanup, disposition and redevelopment of the 400-acre Preston Riverwalk site (formerly the Norwich State Hospital property).