Nossaman LLP has enhanced its public infrastructure law practice with the hiring of Australian public-private partnership (P3) attorney Elizabeth (Liz) Cousins. A native of Perth who has spent the majority of her legal career in Melbourne, Cousins brings experience on transactions in a number of infrastructure sectors including road, rail, health, justice and water. Before joining Nossaman, she worked at Clayton Utz Lawyers, one of Australia’s most respected law firms, on some of that nation's largest and most significant infrastructure projects.
Nossaman seeks to leverage Cousins’ Australian P3 knowledge to enhance the work they are doing for the firm’s clients in the U.S. P3 space. The addition of Cousins comes on the heels of the recent hiring of Canadian Andrée Blais.
“We have been actively increasing the breadth and depth of our P3 practice by learning from other countries that have much longer histories than the US does on innovative P3 transactions,” said Patrick Harder, chair of Nossaman's Infrastructure Practice Group. “Australia and Canada serve as perfect examples. Those countries have robust and demonstrated experience, legal wisdom, and a tradition of exemplary legal practice in the P3 space. Liz fits in perfectly with our strategy of expanding our knowledge base by welcoming distinguished P3 practitioners from other jurisdictions.
Some of Cousins’ notable projects include the AS$6 to $8 billion East-West Link—one of the largest P3 infrastructure projects to be procured in Australia; A$5 billion Airport Link and Northern Busway project—Australia’s largest toll road at the time of procurement; the A$670 million Peninsula Link project—Australia’s first availability P3 road project; the A$232 million Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison project; the A$1.8 billion Sunshine Coast University Hospital project; and the A$5.7 billion Victorian Desalination Project—the largest Australian water P3 ever delivered.
“I had wanted to gain international experience and upon looking in the U.S., I discovered Nossaman. As the leading firm for public sector P3s and other innovative financing procurements, there really was no other choice for me. Their practice fits perfectly with my experience and I look forward to helping them expand their portfolio in the P3 domain,” Cousins said.
Cousins has relocated to California and recently became licensed to practice law in California. Admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in March 2006, Cousins earned a Bachelor of Laws from Murdoch University in Western Australia, as well as her undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree in 2004.
Source: Nossaman LLP
