Heavy hitter infrastructure lawyer Patrick Harder joins Norton Rose Fulbright in Los Angeles

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright announced today that preeminent infrastructure and public-private partnerships (P3) lawyer Patrick Harder has joined its Los Angeles office. Patrick joins as US Co-Head of Infrastructure alongside Doug Fried. He will also be North America Co-Head of Infrastructure with Doug Fried and Canada Head of Infrastructure Jay LeMoine.

Patrick is a leader in the field of innovative procurement and project delivery and has worked in the US P3 sector since its inception. Ranked in Band 1 (2020-2023) in Chambers USA and Chambers Global and listed in The Legal 500 United States, Project Finance – Advice to Sponsors (2019-2023), he helped create the US "availability" P3 model while acting as lead attorney to the Florida Department of Transportation on the seminal I-595 Corridor and Port of Miami Tunnel P3s. He has led legal teams on many of the largest and most important P3s to close in the US market, including the Automated People Mover and Consolidated Rent-A-Car projects at Los Angeles International Airport and the University of California’s 2020 Campus Expansion project at its Merced campus.

Patrick’s appointment will enhance the growth of the firm’s infrastructure practice in North America and globally. He will continue to deliver traditional and innovative procurement models to public authorities, while offering a valuable perspective to our deal teams working for project developers. An additional area of focus will be Patrick’s Japan-related practice developed while working in-house with major Japanese construction and engineering companies in Tokyo over a 10-year period. Patrick came to the P3 sector as a seasoned construction and engineering attorney, having worked as a legal and business advisor on dozens of public and private construction and infrastructure projects worldwide, including the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which once held the distinction of being the tallest buildings in the world.

Patrick will be joined by associate Sharon Jeong, who has considerable infrastructure experience. Sharon worked in the finance and legal departments of a global construction and engineering company in Korea for seven years before joining a global law firm’s Seoul office for three years prior to relocating her practice to California.

Jeff Cody, Norton Rose Fulbright’s US Managing Partner, said:

“Patrick is a respected veteran infrastructure attorney with decades of experience advising public agencies in complex and high-profile transactions. His arrival reinforces our commitment to a market-leading offering across traditional infrastructure and energy transition investments.”

Doug Fried commented:

“Norton Rose Fulbright is ranked as the leading North American infrastructure legal advisor by volume over the past five years. Patrick will fit right in with our team and his invaluable experience will significantly bolster our ability to meet client demand. I am excited to work closely with him to co-lead the firm’s busy infrastructure practice.”

Patrick Harder said:

“The infrastructure sector is evolving at a rapid rate with new and progressive approaches to project delivery across numerous new asset classes. What drew me to Norton Rose Fulbright was its global platform and network of leading infrastructure lawyers, and its commitment to creating meaningful contributions to address the global infrastructure deficit. Infrastructure is my passion and I am committed to helping clients with diverse interests as the sector evolves.”

Along with Chambers and Legal 500 recognition, Patrick is the recipient of many accolades, including the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Minority “Leaders of Influence” award in both 2019 and 2021 and the Daily Journal’s “California Lawyer of the Year” in 2019 for his work on public infrastructure in California. In addition, Patrick serves as a member of the Board of Advisors for Cornell University’s Program in Infrastructure Policy and as an Adjunct Professor at USC’s Viterbi School of Civil Engineering and Price School of Public Policy. Licensed in California and Florida, he received his law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University.

Norton Rose Fulbright has more than 3000 lawyers across 53 global cities and has one of the most extensive P3 practices in the world. Lawyers on the Norton Rose Fulbright’s North American infrastructure team have been, and are, at the heart of some of the largest and most complex P3 deals in both the primary development and secondary M&A markets across North America. Members of the infrastructure team have advised on over 150 P3 projects across the complete spectrum of asset classes, many of which were award winning and a number of which were first-in-jurisdiction transactions.