Nossaman LLP has announced the hiring of Australian public-private partnership attorney Elizabeth Cousins,  a native of Perth who has spent the majority of her legal career in Melbourne.

The addition of Ms. Cousins comes on the heels of the recent hiring of Canadian Andrée Blais, demonstrating Nossaman's commitment to growing their Infrastructure practice to respond to clients' expanding needs and the increase in P3 opportunities in the US.

Ms. Cousins brings extensive experience on complex and cutting-edge transactions in an array 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.

Some of her more notable projects include the AS$6-$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.

Patrick Harder, Chair of Nossaman's Infrastructure Practice Group, stated:

While working at one of the finest firms in Australia for P3s, Liz has demonstrated superior skill and knowledge on major P3 transactions in transportation, water and social infrastructure. She has also worked for both the public and private sectors. That alone affords us great advantage. But because of her maturity and experience, we can and will place her on a major transaction at a very high level.

Ms. Cousins stated:

I had wanted to gain international experience and upon looking in the US, 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.