Invictus

 By: Zara Wallace, Esq.*

If you are like me, you went to law school to make a difference in the lives of ordinary individuals. Whether you were inspired by the possibility of representing the indigent, finding justice for the aggrieved or serving your country in the JAG Corp, public service was the impetus that initially drew you to the law. However, like all things, life happens. Professional interests evolve, career paths diverge, and those noble ideals that drew you to the law remain unfulfilled. In their place lingers a longing desire, a feeling that somehow you have forsaken a purer version of yourself, one less tainted by the daily grind of legal practice.

Besides the stress of billable hours, an unfulfilled desire for public service is one of the most common sentiments I hear among lawyers in private practice. Although many attorneys enjoy the intricacies of their practice areas, or are intellectually and professionally fulfilled by their work, there remains a discontentment because they do not feel they are making a difference in their fellow citizens’ lives.

 Fortunately, I do not share this concern as a practitioner of public finance law. As a public finance lawyer, I am immersed in complex transactional matters, but I also see first-hand on a daily basis, the difference my practice can make in the lives of my fellow citizens. Whether it is financing low income housing developments, schools or hospitals, the benefit to the public is ever apparent. Public finance and, in particular, a tax-exempt municipal bonds practice, is unique among business law practice areas precisely because it combines the complexity of a sophisticated subject matter with the altruistic aim of benefiting the public. This has the by-product of creating a wholly rewarding experience for the practitioner. For those who practice in public finance, the concern is less about fulfilling an unmet desire for service, and more about ensuring that the public policies that enable this practice group are retained and expanded. 

    Tax-exempt bonds issued by state and local governments, or an authority created by either of those entities, enable the financing of major infrastructure projects at lower costs than market-rate financing. Infrastructure projects can be financed at lower costs because investors are willing to accept lower interest rates on tax-exempt bonds. This is because the interest earned on these bonds is exempt from gross income in accordance with Section 103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”). Whether borrowing directly by issuing bonds to finance their own infrastructure needs, or by issuing bonds and lending the proceeds to non-profit organizations to finance projects that benefit the public (private activity bonds), municipalities are afforded a robust source of private capital to fund public projects. The Code essentially incentivizes private investors to finance needed roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, and other important public facilities by giving them a tax break on the interest earned on their bonds. 

Leveraging the tax code to promote the common good is not unique to municipal bonds, as a similar approach is used in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. The LIHTC program incentivizes private investors to finance the development of affordable housing for low income individuals by providing a tax credit against the federal income tax liability of the investors. The LIHTC program has been highly successful, financing approximately 3 million apartments since its inception, while at the same time creating an estimated 140,000 jobs and generating 1.5 billion in state and local tax revenues annually. 

Although the benefits of these programs to average citizens cannot be understated, it is often difficult for the public to draw the connection. After all, the immediate benefits accrue to private investors, and are only felt by the average citizen many years after. Even more consequential, finance is just not a sexy topic. Evident by the fact that the public works progressivism of the 20^th century has been replaced by the social issues activism of today and, it seems, the issues of infrastructure that are crucially important to people of diverse backgrounds in our society are ignored in favor of more fiery topics of debate. For while everyone enjoys driving on new roads, and many appreciate the construction of a new hospital in their district, few people are ever concerned with the financing mechanism that make those projects possible. Public finance practitioners like myself have a challenge highlighting the connection between the tax code and the major infrastructure projects from which we all benefit. This task is especially important as our elected representatives debate the elimination of private activity bonds and advance refunding bonds (a refinancing instrument) as a part of tax reform. These changes fundamentally alter the nature of the tax-exempt bond market by leaving less capital to fund critically important public infrastructure projects. That is precisely why it is so important for a diverse coalition of citizens to appreciate the public benefits of these various tax-exempt programs in much the same way as we appreciate the benefits of “public interest” jobs. 

Undoubtedly, part of the solution will be changing the way in which we think of public service, expanding the definition to include practice areas that benefit the public writ large, rather than on a case-by-case basis. If we reframe the debate surrounding public service, the average citizen will realize the benefits of these programs, ensuring their survival and expansion. Maybe an expanded view of public service might even convince some of our colleagues to reclaim that part of themselves they thought long lost, by transitioning to a public finance practice. 

*The author is a Virginia licensed attorney who practices in the area of public finance and lender representation. He frequently represents banks, governmental entities and 501(c)(3) organizations in a wide variety of financing transactions. He is an associate in the Richmond office of Kaufman & Canoles, P.C.

Alfred Dewayne Brown with the author, Angelica Lao, in November 2017.

By: Angelica Lao

My favorite book growing up was The Count of Monte Cristo, a story about the young, innocent, illiterate sailor Edmond Dantès of low birth who was framed for treason by his jealous rivals and a politician and doomed to lifelong imprisonment in France’s infamous Château d’If. It is often remembered as a story of revenge. But it is a powerful reminder of how fragile the civil justice system can be—how easily it can be manipulated against those who are not privileged.

With special thanks to the Diversity Conference of the Virginia State Bar, I met Alfred Dewayne Brown in November 2017, the 154th person to be exonerated from death row. The chance to meet him is one of the greatest moments of my life. But Dewayne had changed me long before I met him.

In June 2017, I had the honor to attend the 2017 Virginia State Bar Annual Meeting as a law student mentee participant in the Diversity Conference Mentor/Mentee Initiative. By the end of the Alexandria, Virginia attorney Brian Stolarz’s retelling of his legal battle with Texas’s criminal justice system to free Dewayne in the Annual Meeting CLE program “Grace and Justice on Death Row,” I was almost in tears.

Brian Stolarz and Dewayne Brown often speak at events together and tell their story behind Mr. Stolarz’s book “Grace and Justice on Death Row”, the subject of that impactful 2017 Annual Meeting CLE program, co-sponsored by the Diversity Conference.  In November 2017, Mr. Stolarz invited the Diversity Conference law student mentees along with their mentors to a Washington, D.C. restorative justice event at which he and Dewayne were speaking, and that is where I had the unforgettable honor of meeting Alfred Dewayne Browne.

The facts were simple and coldly stacked against Dewayne, a young, illiterate African-American man who grew up poor in Houston, Texas. In 2003, a few of his acquaintances murdered a white police officer and an African-American woman. At the time, Dewayne was at his girlfriend’s house. The true murderers gave alibis that the police accepted as long as they could provide a scapegoat to blame for the murder of a white man. They picked Dewayne.

Before Mr. Stolarz represented Dewayne pro bono, Texas had already failed this innocent man and those he loves. The state’s psychologist bumped up Dewayne’s IQ score to claim Dewayne was eligible for the death penalty. His girlfriend was imprisoned for several months and her children were placed in foster care to coerce damning and completely false testimony from her to convict Dewayne.

After many years of Mr. Stolarz fighting for Dewayne, the landline phone record confirming Dewayne was at his girlfriend’s home finally surfaced from a cardboard box of old case files in a Texas homicide detective’s garage during his spring cleaning. The exonerating call record was even circled, with “Dobey” (Dewayne’s nickname) written next to it. Texas knew all along that Dewayne was innocent, but still committed him to death row. After twelve long years of imprisonment—ten of which was on Texas’s death row—Dewayne finally walked as a free man.

Fourteen years in Château d’If hardened the once optimistic Edmond, but what is most striking about Dewayne’s story is the gracefulness with which he lived his days in prison, as well as his ability to forgive those who wronged him. He truly has no hate in his heart. Dewayne’s ability to still be delighted at twenty-dollars’ worth of vending machine food while knowing he was going to be executed at any point for a crime he didn’t commit is something I will forever be learning.

When we met, I asked Dewayne about his daughter, who was just 2 years old in 2003.

“Oh, she’s doing great,” he said. “She’s in her last year, thinking where she wants to go for college.”

“A senior, already?! You must be so proud!” I said, laughing.

“Yes. We are.”

He spoke about his daughter in the same humble manner as he had all night, but I can tell he was glowing. I felt a wave of anger thinking about how all this joy was almost senselessly taken from this gentle man. But then I realized: what matters to Dewayne is not the decade he lost with his daughter, but rather the decades ahead he can spend with her and his family.

“Where else would you like to go?” I asked. Dewayne had said he likes to go on long drives because he truly feels free on the road with no walls.

“Oh, I don’t know, I’ve driven all over.” He paused. “But I think somewhere like Hawaii would be pretty cool.”

“You should totally go! I’m from Hawaii!”

“No way!”

We exchanged emails and followed each other on Instagram, which was pretty cool.

I wish I could give Dewayne more than just travel tips to my home state for the difference he has made in so many lives, including mine. I am truly grateful to Dewayne, Mr. Stolarz, and the Virginia State Bar for showing me the law as a healing profession. One day, I hope to do the same for others.

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Angelica (Wai Sam) Lao.  Ms. Lao is currently a second year law student at Antonin Scalia Law School (at George Mason University) in Arlington, Virginia. Her law school’s dean selected her to attend the Diversity Conference’s third annual Mentor/Mentee Initiative at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Virginia State Bar.  

2017 Hill Tucker Institute attendees with Justice Powell (seated) and Alicia Roberts (front row, right).

By: Latoya Asia

The Oliver Hill/Samuel L. Tucker Pre-Law Institute will once again present its annual week-long program for rising 9th through 12th graders this summer on July 8-13, 2018 at the University of Richmond.  

Each year the Institute seeks to reach future lawyers by exposing them to several elements of the legal system which include: simulated law classes, trial advocacy, mock trials, and interacting with civil and criminal attorneys.  Additionally, students are exposed to college life for an entire week while living in the dorms at the University of Richmond, as well as through college admissions seminars and mock panels. The 2017 program proved to be another success in exposing minority students across the Commonwealth and beyond to the field of law.  

The Institute features a robust week of programming. Students enjoy a guided tour of the Virginia Capitol building and state and federal courthouses in Richmond.  In 2017, the participants engaged in an exclusive question and answer experience with The Honorable Justice Cleo Powell.  The week’s programming also includes an evening networking reception at the University of Richmond Law School Atrium where the students mix and mingle with local practitioners.  Admissions representatives from several Virginia colleges and universities attend the Institute and review the college admissions process and offer helpful advice for the students with the goal of gaining admission to law school. Attorney volunteers come and discuss the array of legal practice areas and the many paths to a successful legal career during a very candid career panel. The students even complete a session on etiquette to prepare for the many business lunches and dinners to come in their future.  The week is topped off with a  closing banquet featuring renowned keynote speakers. Last year’s keynote speaker was  Dr. Dietra Trent, Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia (2017).  

While managing this robust programming schedule, the students prepare for a mock trial competition throughout the week. Daily workshops provided an introduction to basic trial advocacy skills, such as opening and closing statements, as well as direct and cross examination.  Last year, the Hon. Manuel Capsalis and the Hon. Michael Lindner of the Fairfax County General District Court reinforced the students’  knowledge base with a special session on trial advocacy from the perspective of the bench.

Above all, the Institute represents opportunity. Mssrs. Oliver Hill and Samuel Tucker labored to ensure that each participant can not only have a seat at the table, but that they are equipped and emboldened to bring their own chairs. The HTI Class of 2017 were especially fortunate to have the Honorable David Eugene Cheek, Jr. from the Richmond  General District Court share his personal reflections from working alongside Mr. Hill and Mr. Tucker and imparting upon each student the important legacy of these civil rights pioneers.  

We recognize that five days alone is insufficient to completely summarize the entire practice of law. However, we are confident that the Hill Tucker Pre-law Institute lights a fire of curiosity in each student that we think will continue to burn and grow for years to come.

To volunteer at the 2018 Hill Tucker Institute and for questions, contact this year’s HTI directors, Courtney Frazier and Wesley Allen at hilltuckerinstitute@gmail.com .  We need volunteers to serve as mock trial judges and participants, instructors, and speakers throughout the week long program.

Latoya Asia is an Assistant General Counsel at ETRADE in Arlington.  She was also Chair of the Diversity Conference in the 2016-2017 bar year.