M. Elizabeth Dubeck

Dubeck focuses on complex project finance and development transactions involving transportation infrastructure assets such as seaports, airports and rail facilities. She has guided clients on some of the largest and first-ever infrastructure public-private partnerships in the country.

States and municipalities are increasingly using partnerships with the private sector to upgrade airports and other public facilities. With design, financing, construction, operations and maintenance of a project rolled into one transaction, public-private partnership deals are incredibly complex.

Since these deals are relatively new within the transportation sector, and each jurisdiction has different regulations, there's no template for these agreements, Dubeck said.

"Each deal is pretty bespoke," she said. "These deals are new enough that there's a lot of flexibility in the way to structure them. Both the challenge and the fun part of a deal is that you can come from a much more flexible and creative place."

Dubeck has guided several financing arrangements related to development projects at airports. She served as co-lead on the finance team representing American Airlines in its $1.6 billion redevelopment of two terminals at Los Angeles International Airport. The project is currently under construction and estimated to be completed in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

She also co-led the project finance team advising Citigroup Global Markets on the financial arrangements with United for the development of a new $350 million aircraft and ground service maintenance facility at LAX. The new facility is currently under construction.

She led a consortium team of Vantage Airport Group, RXR Realty and JetBlue Airways in their successful bid to build replacement terminals at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. Dubeck continues to represent the consortium in negotiating with various public and private stakeholders on the operating, financing and construction agreements related to the $3 billion project.

"Helping airline and other infrastructure clients work through the challenges of the state of the transportation industry and the COVID- 19 pandemic has been difficult and challenging work, but has felt very important in helping these longstanding clients preserve liquidity," Dubeck said.

Because these projects have so many moving parts, they involve many different disciplines - and a lot of collaboration. Dubeck often works closely with an environmental team, tax and bankruptcy colleagues, and real estate and finance attorneys.

"What I like most about my practice is how collaborative it is," she said. "Everybody is rowing in the same direction. If we get the deal done, everybody wins."

-- Jennifer Chung Klam