New York, NY. Nixon Peabody is proud to announce that partner Virginia Wong, leader of the law firm’s Project Finance and Public Finance practice, will receive the 2023 Freda Johnson Award, which recognizes women working in public finance who exemplify the qualities of a trailblazer, leader, innovator, and mentor.
Each year, the not-for-profit professional organization Northeast Women in Public Finance selects one honoree in the private sector and one from the public sector. Virginia will receive the 2023 private-sector award. Johnson, the award’s namesake, is a founding board member of the organization, and the award encompasses qualities that Johnson has brought to the industry.
Virginia led the team that served as bond counsel on the restructuring of more than $33 billion in Puerto Rico’s debt, which represented the largest municipal restructuring in US history, exchanging Puerto Rico’s debt for $7.4 billion in new general obligations bonds and $8.7 billion in new general obligation contingent value instrument notes. She has served as bond counsel to some of the largest issuers in the country, including the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, the Sales Tax Securitization Corporation of Chicago, and the Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewer Authority. In addition, she serves as bond counsel to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York in financings for the State University of New York, Columbia University, Rockefeller University, St. John’s University, and Teachers College.
Virginia also represents universities and cultural institutions in tax-exempt financings, including Pace University, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., and the Whitney Museum.
Outside of the firm, Virginia is an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law, where she co-teaches a class in Public Finance Law.
The firm’s Project Finance and Public Finance practice comprises more than 50 attorneys and professional colleagues. Nixon Peabody is consistently ranked among the top bond counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriters’ counsel, and special tax counsel, in the nation by The Bond Buyer. The firm was recognized in 2023 by Chambers USA as Band 1 in Public Finance Law nationally as well as in California, New York, and Washington, DC. In addition, Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” has ranked Nixon Peabody as National Tier 1 in Public Finance Law since 2016, and Metro Tier 1 for several years in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, DC.
Johnson and Northeast Women in Public Finance will formally present the awards at The Bond Buyer’s Deal of the Year Awards Gala in New York City on December 5. Learn more about the Freda Johnson Award and Northeast Women in Public Finance.
