Richard Sigal

Richard L. Sigal, a native of Hartford, Connecticut, joined Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP in 1964 and was elected to the partnership in 1971. His excellence in developing financing program plans, as well as his expertise in providing legal counsel and assistance once the plan has been instituted, has been demonstrated throughout his career including drafting significant financing legislation in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Montana, New Jersey, New York and Wyoming and for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. He is a graduate of Phillips Academy (Andover), Yale University, and University of Chicago Law School, where he was chairman of the Hinton Moot Court Committee. In addition to his full time partnership practice, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut Law School where he teaches a fall semester public finance seminar.

Administration and Pro Bono Assistance

Mr. Sigal has served a ten year term as a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Mr. Sigal is a member of the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association where he served a two year term as Chairman of its Municipal Law Section. He has been a long time Trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission contributing to several special committee reports and has chaired several Bond Buyer and other public finance conferences. During the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, Mr. Sigal served as an unpaid consultant to the Department of Treasury meeting every Saturday one year during the summer months regarding the establishment of the centerpiece of the President’s urban agenda, the Urban Infrastructure Bank, the predecessor concept to the various proposals currently for a National Development Bank.

Distressed State, Local and Programmatic Restructuring

Mr. Sigal has managed and structured a variety of (tax exempt, taxable, general obligation, revenue based, private activity, credit enhanced) bond and securitization issues as bond or finance counsel for various States, public authorities and local governments and as counsel for various investment banking firms, including extensive experience in working with state treasurers and budget officials, rating agencies, financial advisors and underwriters on complex and innovative new programs such as, state regulatory, financing and oversight statutes for its distressed municipalities, such as the City of Yonkers Budget Act, Municipal Assistance Corporation for the City of New York and years later for the City of Troy and the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority in New York and the Bridgeport and Waterbury State-controlled review boards in Connecticut, each of which included successfully structured finance solutions rather than recourse to, and work out under, the Federal Bankruptcy Act. Mr. Sigal was the partner in charge of the firm’s participation in the New York State Local Government Assistance Corporation financings which permanently funded (rather than relying on annual renewals of notes) the $5 billion Spring Borrowing requirements of the State of New York and multi-billion dollar tax-exempt refundings for the Municipal Assistance Corporation for the City of New York.

Mr. Sigal’s expertise in working through these structured solutions benefitted from his experiences serving as general obligation bond counsel for many municipal issuers for many years, particularly in New York such as Westchester, Rockland and Erie Counties, the Cities of Buffalo and Binghamton and many towns and villages.

Mr. Sigal also served as underwriter’s counsel in connection with the taxable $2.8 billion New Jersey Economic Development Authority, State Pension Funding Bonds, one of several efforts by the various states to address the issue of unfunded pension funds and other employee benefits.

Housing Finance

Mr. Sigal has served as bond counsel to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority since its inception in 1973 and as bond or underwriter’s counsel for the many state housing finance agencies listed below. Mr. Sigal is responsible for drafting a unique bond reserve fund credit enhancement of the State of Connecticut available upon approval of the State Treasurer by the enabling legislation of various state authorities, such as the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, upon a finding of self sufficiency from revenues generated from the facilities or loans to support the bonds issued therefor and which recently was credited with the upgrading of several Connecticut authorities’ bond ratings to the equivalent of the State's rating.