Gilmore & Bell, one of the nation’s largest public finance law firms, is expanding its affordable housing and real estate finance capabilities with the addition of five attorneys from Robinson+Cole, a move that also establishes the firm’s first office in Austin, Texas.
The expansion strengthens Gilmore Bell’s position in the growing affordable housing finance sector as developers, lenders, and public agencies continue seeking financing solutions to address housing shortages across the country.
Leading the incoming team are Patrick Evatt and Robert Kearbey, who join the firm as directors. Together, they bring decades of experience structuring affordable housing, community development, and public finance transactions involving tax-exempt and taxable financing programs.
Evatt has more than 25 years of experience in affordable housing and community development finance and previously served as associate general counsel at Freddie Mac. His practice has included representing institutional lenders and credit enhancement providers in multifamily housing and community development transactions. Throughout his career, he has served in a variety of roles, including bond counsel, issuer’s counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriter’s counsel, and borrower’s counsel.
Kearbey brings more than 20 years of experience in affordable housing finance and also previously worked as in-house counsel at Freddie Mac. His background includes developing financing products and advising on complex transactions involving affordable housing, public infrastructure, and community development projects. He has represented government-sponsored enterprises, lenders, trustees, underwriters, issuers, and borrowers across a range of financing structures.
The group also includes Sana Din, who joins as counsel, and Brian Murphy and Hunter Sutterfield, who join as associates.
The additions increase Gilmore Bell’s public finance practice to 56 attorneys and mark a significant investment in a sector that continues to see strong demand amid ongoing affordability challenges and increased public-private financing activity.
The new Austin office expands the firm’s geographic footprint into Texas, one of the nation’s fastest-growing states and a major market for affordable housing development and public finance activity. With the Austin opening, Gilmore Bell now operates offices across six states.
The expansion comes as affordable housing finance remains a key area of activity for public finance attorneys, driven by growing demand for multifamily housing, tax-credit developments, and community development projects. Municipal issuers, housing authorities, lenders, and developers increasingly rely on specialized legal counsel to navigate complex financing structures involving tax-exempt bonds, low-income housing tax credits, and public-private partnerships.
Founded in 1979, Gilmore Bell focuses on public finance, economic development incentives, and public-private partnership transactions for governmental entities, quasi-governmental organizations, and nonprofit institutions. The firm has consistently ranked among the nation’s leading bond counsel firms and has remained a top-10 firm nationally by number of municipal bond counsel opinions issued for more than three decades.
The Austin expansion and addition of the affordable housing team position Gilmore Bell to pursue a larger role in one of the fastest-growing segments of public finance and community development.