Areas of Practice
Industries
Bar Admissions
- Michigan, 1989
Education
University of Michigan, J.D., cum laude
Michigan State University, B.A.
- with high honors
Ann D. Fillingham's principal areas of practice include public and structured finance, infrastructure finance, and transactional work for financial institutions. In the public finance arena, Ms. Fillingham has served as bond counsel and underwriter's counsel to numerous state and local issuers. She has built a reputation for innovative and creative lawyering, serving as an integral part of many of her client's most important financial restructurings. She has worked extensively with the State of Michigan and its various departments and authorities with respect to both taxable and tax-exempt issues. In addition, she has served as bond counsel or underwriter's counsel on many county, municipal, school and local authority bond issues and many conduit transactions for acute care and continuing care facilities, and economic development projects. Ms. Fillingham is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL), regularly speaks at NABL conferences on matters related to public finance, is a past NABL Steering Committee member and is the past Chair of the NABL's Bond Attorneys' Workshop and its Municipal Law Committee.
In the corporate and finance arena, Ms. Fillingham also works extensively with financial institutions, structuring and documenting both taxable letter of credit enhanced debt offerings and commercial finance transactions. Her areas of practice include transactional negotiation and documentation, commercial lending and federal and state regulatory compliance work for lending institutions.
Representative Matters
Representative Transactions
- Bond counsel to the Michigan Finance Authority restructuring $226 million of public debt of the School District of the City of Detroit, Michigan to match-fund new security cash flows, as part of a larger governmental restructuring.
- Underwriter’s counsel for Barclays on the City of Detroit, Michigan $606 million financing, publicly refunding prior City municipal obligations post-bankruptcy.
- Bond counsel to the Michigan State Building Authority on its 2011 $648 million, 2013 $583 million, 2015 $989 million and 2016 $665 million new money and refunding transactions, securing present value savings and allowing the Authority to consolidate all its $2.9 billion of debt in a single bond indenture.
- Bond counsel to the Michigan Finance Authority on a $11 million tender and related $16 million refunding and reoffering of the City of Allen Park, Michigan, allowing the City to restructure debt for a failed movie studio project which had been the basis for SEC investigations and cease and desist orders.
- Provider counsel in connection with an agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation for freeway lighting as a design-build-finance-operate-maintain project.
- Counsel to Detroit Water and Sewerage Department on a $5 billion voluntary open market tender solicitation and related $1.79 billion refunding transaction capturing present value savings, avoiding a bankruptcy-related cram-down and obtaining consents necessary to implement the system transfer to the regional Great Lakes Water Authority.
- Underwriter’s counsel on a $185 million financing for a Public Lighting Authority street lighting project.
- Underwriter’s counsel for Barclays on the City of Detroit, Michigan $120 million post-petition financing, together with its $275 million exit financing, consummated on date of City’s exit from bankruptcy.
- Underwriter’s counsel on a $2.9 billion Michigan Finance Authority issuance of Unemployment Obligation Assessment Revenue Bonds, which enabled the State of Michigan to utilize the public markets to achieve savings and restructure a significant federal liability.
- Counsel to the Michigan Higher Education Student Loan Authority on its $1.01 billion monetization of its student loan authority portfolio through a federally established finance conduit established following collapse of the auction rate securities market; also acted as bond counsel to the Authority in issuance of FRN and other related financings to secure long-term take-out funding of the interim facility.
- Bond Counsel to the Michigan Tobacco Securitization Finance Authority on $202 million and $523 million bond issues, securitizing Michigan tobacco related revenues to fund State projects.
Seminars & Speeches
- Deal Gone Bad, NABL Workshop: Virtual 2020September 23, 2020
- Expanding Public-Private Partnerships for Michigan Infrastructure, Joint Meeting of Municipal Advisory Council of Michigan and The Bond Club of DetroitDecember 4, 2019
- Funding and Financing the Project, NCPPP Michigan P3Showcase SymposiumDecember 3, 2019
- Issuing Bonds – The Rules, CDFA Summer School ConferenceAugust 14, 2019
- The Road Ahead: Municipal Securities Disclosure in an Evolving Market, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of Municipal SecuritiesDecember 6, 2018
- Impact of Federal Tax Reform, LeadingAge Michigan Finance & Strategy DayFebruary 20, 2018
- State and Local Governments: Pensions Lien Heavily on Bondholder Security, Citigroup Municipal High Yield Conference 2017September 19, 2017
- Municipal Bankruptcy: A Guide for Public Finance Attorneys, NABL TeleconferenceNovember 12, 2015
- NABL Keynote Session, ModeratorSeptember 9, 2015
- Statutory Liens in the Municipal Market, audio conferenceJuly 20, 2015
- Delivery of Construction Projects Through P3s, The Illinois CPA Society Construction Industry Conference, Oakbrook Terrace, IllinoisOctober 30, 2014
- Municipal Bankruptcy and the Anatomy of a Defaulted Lease, 2013 AGLF/ELFA Public Sector Finance ForumMay 9, 2013
- Hot Topics in Tax Exempt Finance, LeadingAge MichiganApril 25, 2013
- Sources of Local Financing, Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys Local Government Attorney AcademyMarch 20, 2013
- When a Bond Deal Goes Bad: Defaults, Remedies and Workouts in Municipal Finance, National Association of Bond Lawyers 11th Annual Tax & Securities Law InstituteMarch 2011, 2013
- Economic Crisis-Driven Transactions: Tools for Dealing with Financially Distressed Issues and Bond Transactions, National Association of Bond Lawyers 2010, 2011, 2012 Bond Attorneys' Workshop
- Anatomy of a Defaulted Deal, National Association of Bond Lawyers 2012 Bond Attorneys' WorkshopOctober 2012
- When a Bond Deal Goes Bad: Defaults, Remedies and Workouts in Municipal Finance, National Association of Bond Lawyers 9th Annual Tax & Securities Law InstituteMarch 2011
- Build America Bonds, National Association of Bond Lawyers 2009 Bond Attorneys' WorkshopOctober 2009
- The Realities of the Credit Markets, The Center for Charter Schools Central Michigan University Back to School 2009: Transforming Public EducationSeptember 2009
- P3s-Other Constituents and Considerations, Inaugural Michigan P3 SummitSeptember 2008
- Government and Tribal Obligations, National Association of Bond Lawyers 2008 Bond Attorneys' WorkshopSeptember 17, 2008
- Effective Financing Strategies, Charter School Board Leadership Summit 2008May 2008
- Avoiding Legal Trouble in Charter School Finance, 10th Annual Michigan Charter Public School ConferenceNovember 2007
- Government and Tribal Obligations, National Association of Bond Lawyers 2007 Bond Attorneys' WorkshopSeptember 2007
- State Policy—Changing the Way Schools are Financed Locally, Illinois Facilities Fund Financing the Future: Meeting the Needs of Charter SchoolsFebruary 2007
Publications
- "Detroit and the Bankruptcy Education of a Bond Lawyer"2015The Bond Lawyer
- "Municipal Bankruptcy: A Guide for Public Finance Attorneys (3rd Edition)" (Co-Author)2015National Association of Bond Lawyers
- "General Obligation Bonds: State Law, Bankruptcy and Disclosure Considerations"2014National Association of Bond Lawyers
- "Michigan Municipal Law"2012The Institute of Continuing Legal Education
News
- July 19, 2019
- 115 Dykema Attorneys Listed in The Best Lawyers in America© 201714 Attorneys Receive “Lawyer of the Year” HonorsAugust 15, 2016
- March 17, 2016
- November 17, 2014
- Three-Year Appointment to Leadership Position within Leading Conference of Legal Practitioners in Municipal Finance SectorJuly 23, 2013
- February 20, 2013
- December 28, 2012
- Session Will Address Challenges in Work-Outs of Financially Distressed DealsOctober 22, 2012
- Special Honor Limited to Single Attorney in Each Practice, Metropolitan AreaSeptember 12, 2012
Alerts
- May 18, 2020
- April 24, 2020
- March 25, 2020
- March 23, 2020
- January 31, 2017
Press Releases
- 18 Attorneys Earn “Lawyer of the Year” HonorsAugust 20, 2020
- August 22, 2019
- 18 Attorneys Earn “Lawyer of the Year” HonorsAugust 15, 2019
- December 21, 2018
- September 7, 2018
- 13 Attorneys Earn “Lawyer of the Year” HonorsAugust 15, 2018
- September 5, 2017
- 10 Attorneys Receive “Lawyer of the Year” HonorsAugust 15, 2017
- September 1, 2016
- 14 Attorneys Receive “Lawyer of the Year” HonorsAugust 15, 2016
- September 8, 2015
- 12 Attorneys Receive “Lawyer of the Year” HonorsAugust 18, 2015
- September 2, 2014
- Firm Receives 10 “Lawyer of the Year” HonorsAugust 18, 2014
- Nearly One in Four Dykema Practitioners Earn Distinction; Seven Merit “Lawyer of the Year” HonorsAugust 16, 2013
- Innovative Michigan Transaction Snags Public Finance HonorsDecember 27, 2012
- More Than One in Four Dykema Practitioners Earn DistinctionAugust 23, 2012
- Rankings Put Firm’s Attorneys on Top of the Pack in 25 PracticesOctober 27, 2011
- September 9, 2010
Memberships & Involvement
- Citizens Research Council
- Ingham County Bar Association
- State Bar of Michigan
- National Association of Bond Lawyers Board Member
- National Association of Bond Lawyers, Past Chair of the Annual Bond Attorneys' Workshop
- Government Finance Officers Association
Community/Civic Activities
- Michigan Women in Finance, Past President
- Michigan Bar Foundation, Fellow
Awards & Recognition
Named to the 2019 class of "Women in the Law" by Michigan Lawyer's Weekly
Named a Lansing "Lawyer of the Year" for Public Finance Law by Best Lawyers® 2013
Named a "Lawyer of the Year" for Corporate Law by Best Lawyers® 2012, 2017
Part of the Dykema team that served as lead counsel to the syndicate of 14 investment banking firms that were underwriters on the transaction named The Bond Buyer's 2012 Deal of the Year
Named by Best Lawyers in America® as Corporate Law "Lawyer of the Year," 2020
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Corporate and Public Finance Law, 2007-Present. Copyright 2015 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC
Recognized in Michigan Super Lawyers® for Bonds/Government Finance and Business/Corporate, 2008-Present
Named a Michigan Leading Lawyer in the area of Public Finance Law by the Leading Lawyers Network, 2014-2017. Law Bulletin Publishing Company