Matt Davis, public finance attorney at Columbia-based Pope Flynn, named Best Lawyers® 2027 Public Finance “Lawyer of the Year” in Charlotte
October 25, 2026
Matt Davis, a public finance attorney and member of Pope Flynn, has received “Lawyer of the Year” from Best Lawyers® in Public Finance Law for Charlotte. The designation is given to only a single lawyer in each practice area in each community, and is awarded to “individual lawyers who received the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region.” Davis has been listed in Best Lawyers for public finance law since 2016. Three other attorneys with Pope Flynn, a law firm concentrating in public finance and government law in South and North Carolina as well as Georgia, have received “Lawyer of the Year” in different categories over the years:
- Joe Lucas, for public finance in Charlotte for 2020 and 2015,
- Bill Musser, for public finance in Columbia for 2015 and for mergers and acquisition law in Columbia for 2022, and
- Lawrence Flynn, for public finance in Columbia for 2021 and 2024 and utilities law in Columbia in 2022 and 2024.
Best Lawyers methodology is based on peer review.
Davis regularly serves as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel and lender’s counsel, with an emphasis on public schools, higher education, student housing, local governmental and land-based transactions. He has extensive experience with the highly complicated transaction structures inherent in project finance and installment-purchase transactions. Davis is also a member of Pope Flynn’s management committee.
“We are very fortunate to have a versatile and talented attorney on our team like Matt, who works with a wide variety of clients in both South and North Carolina, as well as serves on our internal leadership team,” said Joe Lucas, managing member of Pope Flynn. “Matt has excellent technical skills, but what earns the highest marks with his peers and industry professionals are his practical skills as a deal facilitator and his even and measured approach to his work.”
Recent representative public finance transactions by Davis include serving as bond counsel for $188,000,000 of general obligation bonds for a South Carolina school district, serving as underwriter’s counsel for $67,445,000 of water and sewer system revenue bonds for a North Carolina utility authority, serving as bond counsel for a tax-exempt private secondary school financing in North Carolina, and serving as underwriter’s counsel for $106,505,000 of installment purchase refunding revenue bonds for a South Carolina county.
A member of the North Carolina and South Carolina bars, Davis received his JD from the University of Virginia in 1998 and his BA in History from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL).
Pope Flynn is headquartered in Columbia, SC, with additional offices in Charleston, Spartanburg, Charlotte, NC, and Athens, GA.
With offices in Columbia, SC, Charlotte, NC, Charleston, SC, Spartanburg, SC, and Athens, GA, Pope Flynn focuses in public finance and governmental counsel and represents cities and towns, counties, special purpose districts, school districts, state institutions, hospitals, colleges and universities, and other public entities, as well as private entities, including banks, underwriters, and nonprofit institutions. For more information on Pope Flynn, visit http://www.popeflynn.com or call Joe Lucas at 803-354-4916.
