William Estes Joins Ballard Spahr in NYC Office, Bringing Deep Experience With P3 and Infrastructure Projects

William Estes, an attorney whose more than 20 years of experience includes overseeing multibillion-dollar alternative and conventional infrastructure development for government authorities, has joined Ballard Spahr in the firm’s New York City office, firm Chair Mark Stewart announced today.

As a member of the firm’s P3/Infrastructure Group within Ballard Spahr’s national Finance Department, Mr. Estes focuses on advising public entities/owners, private concessionaires/ contractors, and financing parties in the procurement, negotiation, financing, and administration of alternative delivery projects—including design-build and public-private partnerships (P3/PPP). He joins a group whose work encompasses projects across sectors, including roads/bridges/tunnels/highways, mass transit, social infrastructure, ports, and energy.

Before joining Ballard Spahr, Mr. Estes served as Vice President and General Counsel of the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA), which builds and renovates facilities in the nation’s largest school district, with nearly 1,800 schools. As the SCA’s chief legal officer, he counseled executive management on all legal aspects of delivering the Authority’s $19 billion, five-year capital plan.

Mr. Estes also served as General Counsel and Secretary of the New York State Thruway Authority and Canal Corporation from 2009 to 2015, one of the nation’s longest tolled highways, which at the time also operated and maintained a 500-mile-long navigable waterway. He advised on the Authority’s procurement of the $3.9 billion contract to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge, the State’s first design-build project, which was financed through a record-setting $1.6 billion federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan. He also counseled on matters involving food and fuel concessionaires, a P3 fiber-optic contract, and renewable energy generation.

“Bill’s extensive background with alternative project delivery methods will serve our clients well during an exciting time for infrastructure development,” said Steve T. Park, co-leader of Ballard Spahr’s P3/Infrastructure Group. “He is a terrific attorney and a great fit for our practice and clients.”

Mr. Estes adds even greater depth to Ballard Spahr’s P3/Infrastructure practice, a national leader in counseling both public- and private-sector clients in alternative project delivery and P3 projects across all asset classes. He joins the firm as the federal government launches a $1 trillion infrastructure upgrade program to rebuild the nation’s deteriorating roads, bridges, and water/wastewater systems, and to fund initiatives for new construction in renewable energy, broadband, and the resiliency and hardening of infrastructure—all areas in which Mr. Estes has practiced.

“The federal government is making an unprecedented investment in infrastructure, and Ballard Spahr’s P3/Infrastructure practice is an ideal platform from which I can serve clients as they serve the public directly or with private partners in facilitating critical infrastructure development projects,” Mr. Estes said. “I’m thrilled to be joining the firm at such an important time.”