Patton Boggs hires DLA Piper infra team

Washington DC-based law firm Patton Boggs has hired DLA Piper’s Americas Infrastructure head Richard Ornitz as part of an effort to build out its own infrastructure team, Infrastructure Investor has learned.

Ornitz alluded to his switch to Patton Boggs at a conference today in New York City, where he participated on a panel discussion about infrastructure investment. “I’m privileged to now be, for 11 days, in the law firm that is the link between business and government,” he told delegates gathered at the CG/LA Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum.

“That is the firm’s pre-eminent stature, and the hallmark has been how do you get the government to understand the private sector side and how does the private sector get something done?” he added.

Speaking at the sidelines of the event, Ornitz said he will serve as Patton Boggs’ global head for infrastructure. He said the firm will work with clients on “all sides” of infrastructure investment, including governments and private investors. One such client is a sovereign wealth fund that has dedicated $2 billion to invest in infrastructure technology investments, he noted.

At DLA Piper, Ornitz advised clients on high-profile infrastructure deals that included the recent three-way bidding process for the Port of Virginia by Goldman Sachs, Carlyle and CenterPoint Properties as well as the Long Beach Courthouse, the US’ first social infrastructure project. DLA represented the Commonwealth of Virginia on the port deal and a group of lenders on the Long Beach Courthouse.

Ornitz arrived at Patton Boggs earlier this month, fresh after finishing the legal work on the Long Beach Courthouse deal. He was preceded by Jay Tannon, a private equity lawyer who left DLA last year and convinced Ornitz to join Patton Boggs after his departure.