ALBANY, N.Y. -- A. Joseph Scott, Esq., a partner in Hodgson Russ LLP's Real Estate & Finance Practice Group, has been named managing partner of Hodgson Russ's Albany office. Mr. Scott assumes the position from Deborah L. Kelly, a member of Hodgson Russ's Bankruptcy & Commercial Litigation Practice Group, who has completed a five-year term as managing partner of the office.

Mr. Scott practices exclusively in the areas of industrial development agency finance, public authority finance, and municipal and school district finance. He acts as issuer's counsel, bond counsel, and underwriter's counsel on a variety of industrial development-agency and public-authority projects. Mr. Scott handles a variety of development projects for various industries, including commercial, solid waste, manufacturing, co-generation, nonprofit, and recreational. He also handles public authority projects, including housing, electrical distribution, hydro-electric, parking, water and sewer system, airport, and residential mortgage projects. Mr. Scott earned a B.A. with honors from Hamilton College and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

With approximately 200 attorneys practicing in all major areas of law, Hodgson Russ is the 206th largest law firm headquartered in the United States, as reported by the National Law Journal. It is one of approximately 100 firms in the country listed in America's Greatest Places to Work With a Law Degree. In addition, Hodgson Russ was named one of the country's most admired employers for 2003 by American Employer Digest. The Firm, which was established in 1817 and is among the oldest law firms in the U.S., is the only law firm that can count two former U.S. presidents, Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland, among its alumni. The eight offices of Hodgson Russ are located in Albany, Buffalo, JFK International Airport, Johnstown, and New York City, New York; Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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