Patrick Harder

US and North America Co-Head of Infrastructure
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

Los Angeles
United States
T:+1 213 892 9264
Los Angeles
United States
T:+1 213 892 9264
Patrick Harder

Patrick Harder

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Biography

Patrick Harder is the US and North America Co-Head of Infrastructure. He is widely known for his work in the public-private partnerships (P3s) space and the deployment of other innovative project delivery methods such as design-build and construction manager at-risk.

Public agencies actively seek his guidance in procuring some of the largest, most important projects in the country. Clients have confidence that Patrick can mitigate risks, solve problems and advance their projects smoothly and successfully – often through cutting-edge approaches.

Patrick's deep private sector background broadens his perspective in assisting public clients. Earlier in his career, he served as general counsel and executive manager for two of the world's largest construction and engineering firms, both based in Japan. He also worked as a legal and business advisor on dozens of public and private construction and infrastructure projects around the world, including the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – two of the world's tallest buildings.


Professional experience

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JD, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, 1986

BA, Loyola Marymount University, 1983

  • California State Bar
  • Florida State Bar

·       University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) – Proton Therapy Facility. Currently advising the University of California, San Francisco on a P3 transaction involving a lease/lease-back arrangement using a 501(c )(3) non-profit entity to develop a 190,000-gsf clinical building adjacent to the UCSF Mission Bay Hospitals campus site, including a state-of-the-art oncology treatment facility with next-generation proton beam therapy, incubator laboratories to facilitate innovations in life sciences, and multi-specialty clinical space.

 ·       City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports (“LAWA”) – Automated People Mover (APM). Advised on a US$4.9 billion APM train system to ease access in and out of the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It will also connect travelers to a light rail, intermodal transportation facility and a rental car center. Now under construction, it is the first APM system procured through an availability payment public-private partnership delivery model and earned several national and international awards.

 ·       City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports (“LAWA”) – Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility (ConRAC). Advised Los Angeles World Airports on the ConRAC project at LAX; the facility will relocate and centralize car rental facilities away from the Central Terminal Area and provide direct access to major freeways. The US$2 billion project, delivered using an availability payment P3, is the largest such facility in the world and is designed to accommodate 22,00 vehicles and handle up to 25,000 transactions per day.

 ·       The Regents of the University of California – UC Merced 2020 Campus Expansion. Advised the University of California on a US$1.3 billion P3 project that doubled the size of its Merced campus with the addition of new facilities, including student housing, classrooms, recreational facilities and associated infrastructure. The first university availability payment P3 to close in the US, the completed project has made UC Merced the first public research university to be certified as carbon neutral and one of the only universities in the world designed to achieve triple net zero (energy, waste and greenhouse gas emissions).

 ·       Florida Department of Transportation – I-4 Ultimate. Advised on the development and negotiation of contract and procurement documents for a US$2.3 billion highway development across Orange and Seminole Counties. The availability payment P3 project will rebuild 15 major interchanges, add or replace 127 bridges, and build four tolled express lanes partially funded through a US$949 million TIFIA loan.

 ·       Port of Long Beach – Long Beach International Gateway Bridge. Advised on the development of a new 1.5-mile cable-stayed bridge to serve one of the world’s largest and busiest container ports. Advice included assisting with the US$957.5 million procurement and with contract administration, including claims resolution and project acceptance. The project opened to traffic in 2020.

 ·       Florida Department of Transportation – I-595 Corridor Improvements. Advised on the procurement and delivery of this US$1.8 billion public-private partnership aimed at alleviating congestion on the main east-west traffic corridor in Fort Lauderdale. Advised on procurement and contract documents and the financing structure, and addressed issues that arose throughout design and construction. The project, the first US transportation project with an availability payment scheme, won numerous honors and opened for operation in March 2014.

 ·       Washington State Department of Transportation – Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement.  Advised the State Attorney General’s Office on the US$1.35 billion design-build contract to replace the 60-year-old Alaskan Way Viaduct with SR 99, which at the time was the world’s largest-diameter bored tunnel. The two-mile waterfront tunnel through downtown Seattle opened in February 2019. It incorporates a double-decked roadway with incoming and outgoing traffic on different levels.

 ·       Florida Department of Transportation – PortMiami Tunnel. Advised on procurement, financing and delivery of the public-private partnership, which greatly reduced traffic in the Miami region. The US$800 million availability payment project, which opened in August 2014, included construction of twin 42-foot tunnels under Biscayne Bay, linking Port facilities on Dodge Island, MacArthur Causeway and I-395. The project, which captured many honors, opened on schedule and on budget in August 2014.

 ·       Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) – BART Silicon Valley Extension Phase II. Advised the VTA in connection with the development of procurement and design-build contract documents for Contract Packages 1, 3 and 4 of the BART Silicon Valley Phase 2 Program. This US$6.8 billion program will extend BART service six miles from the Berryessa Transit Center into downtown San Jose and terminating in Santa Clara. The program, consisting of four separate contract packages, will include an approximately five-mile-long, 48-foot exterior diameter single-bore tunnel, with three underground stations, one at-grade station and a maintenance and storage yard.

 ·       Port Authority of New York and New Jersey – LaGuardia AirTrain Development Project. Served as lead counsel to the Port Authority on real estate, procurement and design-build contracting matters for the proposed AirTrain LGA project; a 1.5 mile automated people mover system that was intended to provide a convenient, easy-to-use rail connection that offers travelers and employees reliable, predictable travel times to LaGuardia Airport.

  • Chambers Global, Projects, PPP – Nationwide, Chambers and Partners, 2012-2023 (Band 1 for 2020-2023)
  • Chambers USA, Nationwide, Projects: PPP, Chambers and Partners, 2011-2024 (Band 1 for 2020-2024)
  • Named a Top 100 Lawyer, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2023
  • Recipient of the California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award - Infrastructure, Daily Journal, 2019
  • Named a Top 100 Lawyer, Daily Journal, 2018, 2020
  • Named to the Minority Leaders of Influence: Attorneys list, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2021 and 2019
  • Recognized as one of the 2021 Visionaries in Banking and Finance, Los Angeles Times, 2021
  • The Legal 500 United States, Industry Focus: Finance/Project Finance - Advice to Sponsors, 2019-2023
  • Recognized as a California Trailblazer, Recorder, 2019
  • Recognized as a Leader in Law for Real Estate, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2018
  • Project Finance MVP, Law360, 2014, and 2016
  • AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, 2025
  • Co-Author, "US Infra Faces New Stresses," Project Finance International, January 13, 2021
  • Co-Author, "Lessons Learned from Progressive Design-Build Implementation on Airport Projects," Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, November 1, 2019
  • Co-Author, "I-4: The Ultimate Project," Project Finance International, January 1, 2015
  • Co-Author, "Florida's Forward Thinking," World Highways, October 2014
  • Author, "I-4 Ultimate Financial Close A P3 Benchmark," Public Works Financing, September 1, 2014
  • Moderator, "Using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Help Universities Have More Community Engagement," 2023 Public-Private Partnership Higher Education Summit, San Diego, CA, November 2023
  • Discussion Leader, "Building a Safer, Resilient California," 2023 Mobility 21 Southern California Transportation Summit, Anaheim, CA, September 29, 2023
  • Speaker, "The Meritocracy Myth: Pipeline Development and Advancement for Diverse Candidates," Driving Diversity in Law and Leadership Summit, Los Angeles, CA, September 21, 2023
  • Moderator, "California Electric Vehicles & Charging Infrastructure," 4th Infraday California, Los Angeles, CA, April 18, 2023
  • Speaker, "Risk Allocation for Alternative Delivery Projects: Legal Issues," Private Client Presentation, January 25, 2023
  • Speaker, "Resiliency in Transportation Planning," Cornell University Breakfast Briefing, October 2, 2020
  • Speaker, "Resiliency Matters," 2020 Mobility 21 Southern California Transportation Summit: Generation Transportation, September 17, 2020
  • Speaker, "The Influence of the Interstate Commerce Clause on Transportation," 2020 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, January 12, 2020
  • Panelist, "US Infrastructure Trends and Policy for Federal, State and Local Government," 2019 American Bar Association (ABA) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, August 9, 2019
  • Panelist, "Assessing the Impact of State-Level P3 Laws on Development," US P3 Forum 2019, New York City. June 13, 2019
  • Moderator, "P3 Showcase Session – LAWA’s Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility (ConRAC) Project," 2019 Public-Private Partnership Conference and Expo, Dallas, TX, March 5, 2019
  • Speaker, "History of and Improvements in P3 Legislation," Transportation Research Board 2019 Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, January 14, 2019
  • Speaker, "Lessons Learned from Progressive Design-Build Implementation on Airport Projects," Transportation Research Board's 98th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, January 13, 2019
  • Panelist, "Looking to the Future: Puerto Rico’s Student Life and Public Safety Training Center Projects," 2018 P3 Higher Education Summit, San Diego, CA, September 12, 2018
  • Panelist, "Is There Value in Long-term Partnerships through P3’s For Small and Medium Sized Projects?," P3C Public- Private Partnership Conference and Expo, Dallas, TX, February 27, 2018
  • Panelist, "Implementing Higher Education P3s: The UC Merced, Ohio State University and University of Massachusetts Experience," 2017 P3 Higher Education Summit, San Diego, CA, October 2, 2017
  • Panelist, "Comparison of Alternative Delivery Models," The Public-Private Partnership Airport Summit, San Diego, CA, July 25, 2017
  • Panelist, "The New World of Public-Private Partnerships," USC Gould School of Law 2017 Real Estate Law and Business Forum, Los Angeles, CA, March 9, 2017
  • Speaker, "UC Merced 2020 Project – A Path Breaking Social Infrastructure P3 Project," P3C Public-Private Partnership Conference and Expo, Dallas, TX, February 27, 2017
  • USC Viterbi School of Engineering and USC Price School of Public Policy, Adjunct Instructor
  • Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy, Advisory Board
  • American Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Construction Lawyers Society of America, Fellow