Seema Ganatra Patel

About Seema Ganatra Patel

Seema Ganatra Patel is Senior Counsel in the Public Finance practice at Chapman and Cutler LLP. Seema serves as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriter’s counsel, purchaser’s counsel, and placement agent’s counsel in a variety of public financings in Illinois and around the country. Her experience includes financings related to general obligation debt, specific revenue pledges, utilities, exempt facilities, and tax increment financing. She routinely advises municipal issuers, investment banks, commercial banks, investors, and municipal advisors on state law, federal tax law, and securities law matters related to the structure and sale of governmental obligations. Seema counsels clients by identifying legal and monetary risks, analyzing and formulating financing options, and ensuring regulatory compliance. She also devotes a significant amount of her practice to new and developing areas of finance, including broadband finance and property assessed clean energy (PACE) finance.She is a frequent panelist and speaker on public finance and regulatory topics, including broadband, PACE, state law matters relevant to local governments, particularly municipalities, and disclosure matters such as post-issuance compliance.Seema is passionate about the firm’s pro bono program and has assisted clients in attaining asylum, applying for employment authorization documents and maintaining DACA status. Additionally, Seema represents the firm at a variety of recruiting, client, industry, and diversity events and participates heavily in the firm’s diversity, recruiting, and mentoring programs, both formal and informal. She is also a member of the Chapman Diversity Scholarship Committee.Seema is admitted to the State of Illinois bar. She earned her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was membership and comment editor for the Journal of International Human Rights and president of the South Asian Law Students Association. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Rice University.As an avid world traveler, from February 2012 to February 2013, Seema took a sabbatical to travel to 17 countries in Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia.

Experience

1. Senior Counsel

   Chapman and Cutler LLP

   Apr 2017 — Present

Education

• Rice University

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Political Science and Government

  2001 — 2004

• Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

  Doctor of Law (J.D.)

  2005 — 2008