Miles & Stockbridge is pleased to announce that veteran public finance and real estate lawyer Melissa Messina has rejoined the firm’s Baltimore office as a principal.
Messina focuses on senior living and life-plan communities. She previously worked as a financial advisor and investment banker at HJ Sims, counseling nonprofit life plan communities, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. She frequently advised management and boards of communities on capital and strategic planning matters to help them grow.
“We are very happy to have Melissa return to Miles & Stockbridge,” said Andrew E. Skopp, co-leader of the firm’s Real Estate and Transactional Finance Practice Group. “Nothing makes us happier than to have one of our partners come back to the firm after taking another path. Melissa brings new experience in sophisticated matters that will benefit our clients in senior living, health care, real estate, tax increment finance, public finance and commercial finance.”
She also advises nonprofits, health care organizations and education institutions on real estate and economic development matters. In public finance, Messina is frequently involved in land-based infrastructure transactions, including tax increment financing, public-private partnerships, transit-oriented development and other tax-exempt bond financings.
“Melissa brings additional talent and capacity to our already skilled group to lead complex transactions,” said John A. Stalfort, head of the public finance team. “Her tenure as a financial advisor and investment banker at HJ Sims brings a unique perspective that we believe our clients will appreciate and value.”
Messina started as a summer associate at Miles & Stockbridge in 2004 and then spent more than a dozen years at the firm before leaving for HJ Sims in 2018. She was then in private practice before rejoining Miles & Stockbridge.
“I learned how to be a lawyer at Miles & Stockbridge, and I’m excited to return and continue to serve,” she said. “I’ve been impressed with the growth the firm has experienced while I was away, including on the health care team. Miles & Stockbridge has always emphasized excellent client service and responsiveness, and I look forward to adding to the breadth of expertise and experience offered to clients.”
Messina’s hiring comes on the heels of Miles & Stockbridge adding veteran white collar lawyers Warren T. Allen II and Ray D. McKenzie to the Washington office last month, as well as three lateral hires into new office space in Richmond since the summer and three more lawyers joining the Rockville office.
About Miles & Stockbridge
Miles & Stockbridge is an AmLaw 200 law firm with approximately 200 lawyers and seven offices across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The firm’s lawyers help global, national, local and emerging business clients preserve and create value by helping them solve their most challenging problems. For more information, please visit our website and follow Miles & Stockbridge on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
About the Public Finance Practice
Miles & Stockbridge is home to one of the leading public finance practices in the mid-Atlantic region. The team focuses on closing the deal and solving problems with innovation and flexibility, while staying within complex applicable tax laws and state law restrictions. It skillfully structures and restructures transactions that enhance value for the borrower and reduce lender risk and taxes. One of its greatest strengths is coordinating multifaceted transactions within tight timeframes to conclude in an efficient, organized closing. Read more here.
