Norton Rose hires P3 expert Patrick Harder from Nossaman

Norton Rose Fulbright has hired public-private partnership and infrastructure attorney Patrick Harder to co-head the firm’s U.S. and North America infrastructure groups.

Harder joins Norton Rose after 20 years at Nossaman LLP, where he was a leader in the U.S. P3 space and was partner and chair of the infrastructure group. He will co-chair Norton’s U.S. infrastructure group with Doug Fried and act as co-head of the North America Co-Head of Infrastructure with Doug Fried and Canada Head of Infrastructure Jay LeMoine, the firm said in an announcement Tuesday. The hire will “enhance the growth of the firm’s infrastructure practice in North America and globally,” the firm said.

Harder helped pioneer the availability-payment P3 model, in which the government makes periodic payments to the concessionaire based on milestones and performance targets, when he was acting as lead attorney for Florida Department of Transportation on the I-595 Corridor and the Port of Miami Tunnel P3.

He joins at a time of “great change” in the infrastructure and P3 markets, Harder told The Bond Buyer.

“There are so many things that are new and so many new challenges, and this is an opportunity for lots of creative thinking,” he said. The impact of climate change will be felt across industries and infrastructure types, Harder said, naming seaports as one type of essential asset that will likely need to be rebuilt to protect against rising sea levels.

Fast-moving technological changes like the shift toward electric and autonomous vehicles may also require infrastructure upgrades and redesigns for traditional surface infrastructure like roads and bridges, he said.

Major federal programs like the 2021 infrastructure law and the 2022 climate bill have helped build a pipeline of major infrastructure projects, Harder said.

“Big infrastructure projects have long gestation periods,” that include getting through the environmental and planning processes, Harder said. “I think a number of projects are getting to the end of those cycles and we’re going to see a flurry of activity across multiple delivery methods on big projects soon.”

Among other clients, Harder was lead counsel to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He is currently representing the University of California in a P3 proton therapy project in San Francisco.
He will remain based in Los Angeles.

“Norton Rose Fulbright is ranked as the leading North American infrastructure legal advisor by volume over the past five years,” said U.S. infrastructure group co-chair Doug Fried in a statement. “Patrick will fit right in with our team and his invaluable experience will significantly bolster our ability to meet client demand.”

Joining Harder as an associate at the new firm is Sharon Jeong, who had been at Nossaman as an associate since December 2023. Before that she was at Baker McKenzie, with its finance and projects team, based in Seoul, South Korea.

The firm has more than 3,000 lawyers across 53 global cities, and boasts one of the most extensive P3 practices in the world.