Marc Oberdorff, senior tax counsel with Pope Flynn, elected Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel

Listen to this article

Charleston, South Carolina – Marc Oberdorff, senior tax counsel at Pope Flynn, a law firm concentrating in public finance and governmental law, was elected a Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel in the College’s class of 2023. Oberdorff was one of sixteen bond attorneys around the country who were selected for induction in the class. A total of six attorneys from South Carolina are current Fellows of the ACBC, among them two Pope Flynn public finance lawyers, Joe Lucas and Marc Oberdorff. Pope Flynn founder, Margaret Pope, was also a Fellow and past President of the College.

The American College of Bond Counsel was founded in order to recognize “lawyers who have established reputations among their peers for their skill, experience and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice of bond law.” Membership in the College is very limited, and Fellows are admitted by their peers as “a recognition of the lawyer’s accomplishments and legal expertise in the field of bond law.” An estimated 7000 plus attorneys in the US practice bond law and more than 2300 members are listed in the “Blue Book,” the directory of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL). In contrast, the ACBC lists 224 bond attorneys as Fellows.

“Marc’s vast experience in public finance tax law covers work in four different states and a variety of projects, from the financing of airports and utilities, to university facilities, to construction of a professional baseball stadium,” said Joe Lucas, managing member of Pope Flynn. “Seven years ago when Marc arrived at Pope Flynn, we knew we had gained a rare talent. Marc’s admission by his peers as a Fellow to the College is an affirmation of his credibility and work over a period of thirty-five years.”

Oberdorff began his career at the firm of Calfee, Halter & Griswold in Cleveland, Ohio, where he spent 26 years and built a practice devoted primarily to tax law and public finance, with additional experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, legislative drafting, and miscellaneous federal and state tax law issues, including international tax matters. Oberdorff spent another eight years in Chicago at the Seattle-based international law firm Perkins Coie, where he acted as senior counsel in the business practice group, specializing in public finance and federal income tax matters.

Recent engagements include several successful IRS audits of municipal bonds, organizing and qualifying new 501(c)3 non-profit organizations, as well as the tax analysis and documentation of bond issues for a number of state agencies, universities, and municipal issuers.

Oberdorff has taught tax and corporate law as an adjunct faculty member at the Cleveland Marshall College of Law, has written and lectured on the tax aspects of municipal bonds, and is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, where he has served as chair and panelist on a number of committees, and as faculty for the NABL Fundamentals Seminars. Most recently in 2023 and 2024, Oberdorff has taught at NABL’s “The Essentials” seminar for new bond lawyers.

Oberdorff graduated with a JD from Georgetown University Law Center where he was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. He received an AB in Classics, with a secondary concentration in Romance languages, from Princeton University.

With offices in Columbia, SC, Charlotte, NC, Charleston, SC, and Spartanburg, SC, Pope Flynn focuses in public finance and governmental counsel and represents cities and towns, counties, special purpose districts, school districts, state institutions, hospitals, colleges and universities, and other public entities, as well as private entities, including banks, underwriters, and nonprofit institutions. For more information on Pope Flynn, visit http://www.popeflynn.com or call Joe Lucas at 803-354-4916.