Ballard Spahr LLP is bulking up its P3/Infrastructure Group amid a strong pipeline of deals and expected passage of a massive infrastructure bill out of Washington.
The Philadelphia-based firm hired Donna Brady and Richard A. Fineman this month, on the heels of a September hire of William Estes. Brady will work in the Los Angeles office. Fineman will be in the Philadelphia office and Estes in New York City.
“We’re busy now and we have a good deal of deal flow coming in,” said Steve T. Park, who leads the firm’s P3/Infrastructure Group. “We were really fortunate that we were presented with the opportunity to hire really smart, good people.”
The hires come as Congress gears up for a vote on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill by the end of October that features $550 million of new money for infrastructure projects across the country as well as several provisions considered friendly to the P3 sector. The bill’s fate is currently tied up with complicated negotiations on a budget reconciliation bill.
“When it all shakes out, we’ll be well-positioned to help our clients advance their and the Congress’s infrastructure policy objectives,” Park said.
Ballard Spahr sees continued opportunity in universities and the so-called social infrastructure space, such as school buildings, courthouses and mixed-use developments, said Park.
Transportation and climate change are other sectors poised to see more P3s, he said.
“Given recent transportation focus on the supply chain, now is a great time to see how alternative delivery methods might expedite port (maritime, inland, riverine) projects,” Park said. “Also, it appears that everyone is considering resiliency – particularly as to sea level rise – and if not projects, certainly parts of them will involve alternative delivery.”
Brady, hired as senior counsel on Oct. 11, has more than 30 years of P3 experience, with an emphasis on representing state and local transportation agencies in procurement projects for highways, bridges, rail, ferry and airport projects. She is also experienced in procurement and operation of interoperable electronic toll collection systems, the firm said. She will join the Los Angeles office, where she will work in the P3/Infrastructure, Energy, and Project Finance Group within the national Finance Department.
Fineman joined the firm’s Philadelphia office, where he will be a member of the national Finance and Real Estate departments and the P3, Energy and Project Finance group. He is “particularly known for his cross-disciplinary skill set in coordinately, structuring, negotiating, documenting and administering the real estate and project finance components of multi-faceted, large-scale development projects,” the firm said in a press release.
Estes joined the New York City office as a member of the P3/Infrastructure Group within the Finance Department. Prior to joining the firm, Estes was vice president and general counsel of the New York City School Construction Authority and general counsel and secretary of the New York State Thruway Authority and Canal Corporation.
“There has been an awakening at all levels of government that ‘low-bid’ is not the only way to let a construction contract,” Estes said. “However, undertaking alternative forms of contracting is daunting for many public agencies and authorities, no matter their level of sophistication. Municipalities find legal and commercial advice from attorneys with procurement and alternative projects delivery experience can save them time and ultimately money.”
The P3/Infrastructure Group now has 42 members.
The firm has more than 600 employees in 15 offices across the U.S.
