Jon Mize is an experienced public finance lawyer who guides his clients through a broad range of transactions as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, bank counsel and borrower’s counsel. In this role, Jon has helped bring about some of the region’s biggest and most crucial public infrastructure, healthcare and education projects of the past decade. Jon’s clients rely on him for his knowledge of the complex legal issues involved in public finance transactions and his practical and accessible approach to guiding clients through a deal.
Jon works on financings for local governments, hospitals, universities, colleges, private schools, continuing care retirement communities and other authorities and organizations. Jon has experience in a wide variety of tax-exempt and taxable public finance structures, including general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, certificates of participation and limited obligation bonds.
Jon is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL), the Government and Public Sector Section of the North Carolina Bar Association, the North Carolina Government Finance Officers Association (NCGFOA) and the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) and a regular participant in conferences with the North Carolina Municipal Attorneys Association, the North Carolina County Attorneys Association and Leading Age North Carolina.
Jon also serves on the Board of Directors of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.
Presentations and Publications
- Speaker, So You Want to Hold a Bond Referendum, North Carolina Large City and County Finance Officers Committee Meeting (Big 10), 2020
- Speaker, Stories of Great Debt Management, North Carolina Local Government Budget Association Winter Conference, 2020
- Speaker, Tax Exempt Financing for Private Colleges and Universities, North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, 2011
- Fencing Off the Path of Least Resistance: Re-examining the Role of Little FTC Act Actions in the Law of False Advertising, 72 Tenn. L. Rev. 653 (Winter 2005)
Civic and Professional Activities
- Board of Directors, Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, 2015-present (Chair of Public Policy Committee)
- Member, Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP – Pro Bono Committee, 2018-present
- Pro Bono Co-Chairman, North Carolina Bar Association Government and Public Sector Section, 2020-present
- President, Leadership Raleigh Alumni Association, 2015-2016
- Board of Directors, Capital City Clauses, 2011-2014
- Board of Directors, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, 2015-2016
- CLE Chairman, North Carolina Bar Association Government and Public Sector Section, 2014-2015
- Graduate of Leadership Raleigh 25
Honors and Awards
- Chambers USA Ranked Lawyer, Public Finance, North Carolina (2022 - Present)
- Named the Best Lawyers® "Lawyer of the Year" in Public Finance Law - Raleigh (2021, 2023)
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings), Public Finance Law (2016 - Present)
- Selected to the North Carolina Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters) (2012 - 2013, 2015 - 2018)
- Triangle Business Journal, 40 Under 40 (2014)
Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Representing cities, counties and other governmental entities as bond counsel for general obligation bond referenda and issuances, water, sewer and electric revenue bonds and limited obligation bonds.
- Serving as bond or borrower’s counsel to four of the largest healthcare systems in North Carolina and other non-profit entities ranging from large universities and colleges to continuing care retirement communities across North Carolina.
- Representing investment banks as underwriter’s counsel and lenders as bank counsel for governmental, education, student loan and healthcare finance transactions.
- Working extensively with the Local Government Commission of North Carolina, the North Carolina Medical Care Commission, the North Carolina Capital Facilities Finance Agency and the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina.
