Since the 1920s, municipal law has been a primary focus of the firm. We regularly provide special counsel services to states, counties, cities, school districts, housing authorities, public hospital districts, and other municipal entities throughout the Northwest. Our lawyers have been actively engaged in all aspects of the law pertaining to governments in Washington State, and are the most active in affordable housing finance in the state. We view ourselves as our clients' adjunct legal department. Foster Pepper provides depth and expertise to address a time-consuming, difficult, or in some cases, politically sensitive legal issue. Our Public Finance attorneys have been nationally recognized as bond counsel for more than half a century and in fact, it is by far the largest in Washington based on volume and number of deals. Recently, we ranked first in the nation for "U.S. Municipal News Issues - Bond Counsel Competitive" for the second consecutive year by Thomson Reuters and, the firm was ranked #1 in Municipal law in Washington State by Best Lawyers® in America.

We respect the ability of our municipal clients' elected and appointed officials and staff to make good decisions. Our goal is to help our clients better analyze their own concerns and goals in light of a clear understanding of the relevant law, thereby allowing our clients to make decisions that are right for them. The negotiation and drafting of intergovernmental contracts is an increasingly significant aspect of municipal law. Our attorneys have drafted numerous inter-local contracts, joint operating agreements, and other arrangements among governmental entities on a wide range of topics and legal issues. We have prepared numerous cooperative agreements for water, sewer, and solid waste facilities. By further example, we recently facilitated the development of the 800Mhz cooperative agreement to enhance public safety communication within Snohomish County.

As participants in the civic life of the region, we are intimately familiar with the public policy context for efforts to develop infrastructure projects. Our attorneys have served on state-wide and local boards and committees charged with studying or advancing various aspects of transportation and infrastructure projects, including the Governor's Competitiveness Council, the High Speed Ground Transportation Commission, the Transportation Policy and Growth Management Boards of the Puget Sound Regional Council, various committees charged with helping Sound Transit develop and win voter approval of a Regional Transit Plan, Sound Transit's North Corridor Task Force, the King County Design Commission, and the Metro Citizens Transit Advisory Committee