NAPPA's 2025 Legal Education Conference
Thomas Dover, Ashley Dunning and Doug Schwartz spoke during the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys’ (NAPPA) Legal Education Conference that took place June 24 – 27, 2025, in Denver, CO.
Established in 1987, the National Association of Public Pensions Attorneys (NAPPA) is a leading educational association dedicated exclusively to attorneys working directly for or serving public pension plans. Nossaman attorneys are very involved with the organization. Yuliya Oryol is current chair of the Investment Section of NAPPA, Michelle Mellon-Werch serves as co-chair of the Cybersecurity Education Committee and is a member of the Benefits Section Committee and Michelle McCarthy is a member of the Tax Section.
On June 26th, Thomas moderated a panel on “Privacy. Does it Exist? What You Should Know.” With a new data breach seemingly making headlines every day, it may seem that data privacy is only a mirage. It is not. Attendees learned the privacy requirements to be aware of and how to successfully chart a course forward.
On June 26th, Doug moderated a panel on “Navigating Tax Implications for Private Funds.” As institutional investors increasingly allocate capital to private funds, understanding the complex tax consideration is more critical than ever. This panel shared their insights into the tax aspects of these investments, with an emphasis on dealing with issues in a proactive, practical, cost-effective manner. This discussion covered early considerations, structure, negotiation and navigating those often-perplexing subscription documents. They answered: How do I apply for U.S. residency certificates and Canadian and other exemption letters? What vehicle do I choose and do I really want a Cayman blocker? What makes a good side letter template and what should you fight for? What is a Luxembourg hybrid anyway?
On June 27th, Ashley joined a panel on “Public Pension & Related Litigation of National Importance.” This panel presented, reviewed and discussed current state and federal pension litigation and the opinions and decisions made by those courts on issues of particular significance to public pension plans and their attorneys.
In addition to the above-mentioned Nossaman attorneys, other members of Nossaman’s Pensions, Benefits & Investments Group, Emily Smith, Alex Westerfield, Alex Chuang and Brian Wilson, also attended the conference.
