Patrick F. Brown

Pat Brown practices in the areas of public finance, commercial finance, commercial real estate and general corporate law. Pat is the lead attorney for the firms USDA Lending practice. 

He has over 30 years of experience representing corporate lenders, investment banks, borrowers, and farm credit banks and associations in structuring and negotiating complex financial transactions. His areas of concentration include:

• Representing lenders on USDA guaranteed financings for rural hospitals, schools, nursing homes and businesses throughout the United States.  
• Representing national and regional banks in commercial and corporate lending activities.
• Representing Agricultural Credit Associations and Farm Credit Banks on agribusiness financings.
• Serving as bond counsel for municipalities and universities in issuing tax-exempt bonds.
• Representing national and regional investment banking firms in general obligation and revenue bond financings. 
• Representing lenders and borrower in financings for alternative energy and biofuels facilities.

Pat regularly serves as the lead attorney for lenders on loan transactions involving guarantees issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for projects throughout the United States, including financings under the USDA's Business & Industry program, Community Facilities program, the 9003 Biorefinery program, REAP and other programs. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rural Lenders Association, which is the leading business forum in the United States for USDA lenders and associated professionals.

Pat also has significant experience in a variety of tax-exempt and taxable bond financings for municipalities, low-income housing projects and industrial facilities.  He also represents small to medium sized companies in their ongoing business activities and in mergers and acquisitions.

He has represented the EDM Council (Enterprise Data Council) since its formation in 2005. The EDM Council is a leading trade association of banks and financial institutions around the world founded to elevate the practice of data management as a business and operational priority. The Council is a leading advocate for the development and implementation of data content standards and the publication of data management best practices.

Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, he graduated from Western Colorado University, and earned his law degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. While in law school, he was an Associate Editor for the Catholic University Law Review. Prior to joining the firm, Pat was a partner with the law firm of Kutak Rock in Washington, D.C.

Community & Professional

• North Carolina Bar Association
• Maryland Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar Association
• National Association of Bond Lawyers
• Mecklenburg County Bar Association
• Former President of Matthews Little League
• Counsel to Community Link, a United Way-funded service provider for the homeless

A sample of Pat's recent activities includes:

• Developing the Rural America Bond Program for Agricultural Credit Associations and Farm Credit Banks.
• Completing the first-of-its-kind bond financing for the construction of a cellulosic ethanol plant.  The $80 million financing was the first to utilize a United States guaranty issued under the United States Department of Agriculture's Biorefinery Assistance Program (Section 9003 Program).
• Representing the lead Agricultural Credit Association in financing a 100 million gallon per year corn-based ethanol project in the Southeastern United States.
• Representing various agricultural banks and associations in the bond financing of hospitals, schools and other community facilities in rural communities throughout the United States.
• Represented the lead lender in a $198 million financing for a renewable feedstock bio-diesel facility guaranteed under the USDA's 9003 Biorefinery Program.  

• Martindale-Hubbell "AV" Preeminent Peer Review Rated
• During the summer of 2014, Pat attended the White House Rural Council's Rural Opportunity Investment (ROI) Conference.