Mr John O'Neill > Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP > Richmond, United States > Lawyer Profile

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
RIVERFRONT PLAZA, EAST TOWER
951 EAST BYRD STREET
RICHMOND, VA 23219
VIRGINIA
United States

Work Department

EIT - Infrastructure: Public Private Partnerships

Position

Partner and head of the firm’s P3 and Infrastructure practice

Career

As head of the firm’s P3 and Infrastructure practice, John’s practice focuses on public-private infrastructure development, public finance, capital finance and complex commercial lending. John is among the very few lawyers in the United States with substantial experience on both the project development and the public finance sides of structuring transactions for a broad range of complex public and public-private infrastructure projects. His transactional experience includes service as counsel to governmental owners, equity sponsors, concessionaires and financing parties for projects such as roads and highways, passenger rail and transit assets, airports, convention and conference centers, educational facilities, government administrative facilities, and water, wastewater and storm water management facilities.

John is active in the firm’s management and currently serves as co-head of the firm’s Business Practice Group. He previously served as the first Managing Partner of the firm’s Richmond office and as head of the firm’s Public Finance practice group, a practice area in which he is nationally recognized as a Fellow in the American College of Bond Counsel.

Memberships

  • Chair (2016-2019), Transportation Infrastructure and PPP Committee, Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section, American Bar Association
  • Member, Virginia Bar Association
  • Member, Richmond Bar Association
  • Member, National Association of Bond Lawyers
  • Member, Past President, The Bond Club of Virginia
  • Fellow, Virginia Law Foundation
  • Leadership Metro Richmond, Class of 2006

Education

  • JD, Pepperdine University School of Law, 1983
  • BA, University of Richmond, 1977

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Finance > Project finance

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP provides a top PPP offering, adopting a multi-sector approach for a wide array of lenders, equity sponsors, procuring authorities and sub-contractors. Over the past twelve months the firm has been instructed on landmark digital infrastructure projects, interstate and intercity railway ventures, major city subway redevelopment programs, and sports and entertainment venue builds, as well as demonstrating continued excellence on highway and toll road P3s which remain a cornerstone feature of the practice. On the energy front, the team has pivoted heavily towards solar and battery storage mandates where they are increasingly utilized for their stellar tax equity financing expertise, and retains its position as a key advisor to government agencies, state-owned energy companies, and industry players engaging with nuclear assets, with the firm active on both domestic and international matters. John O’Neill leads the practice on the infrastructure P3 front from Richmond and presides on both the project development and public finance side of transactions, while Jeffrey Schroeder  is the head of the energy team and represents clients across tax equity investments and tax credit transactions from Washington D.C. Also based in Washington DC, David Horner  advises at the forefront of the P3 space and is a go-to figure for lenders, developers and public bodies for their most consequential projects. Richmond’s Laura Jones and Washington DC’s Geoffrey Lorenz are highlighted for the breadth of their financing expertise, with the duo consistently handling complex project financings and tax equity transactions, chiefly focusing on renewables work, whereas George Borovas is the key figure for nuclear work and operates from the firm’s New York office. Robert McNamara, previously an oil and gas specialist, now lends federal income tax counsel to renewable energy players from Houston. Andrej Micovic is based in Miami and oversees a number of infrastructure ventures on the East Coast, often working closely with associate Forrest Murphy, while Richmond’s Ryan Pedraza has been a key supporting presence across an array of practice mandates, particularly in the transport sector. New York’s Jean Liang, who was promoted to counsel in August 2023, has a practice that encompasses conventional and energy transition sources of power.