Patricia A. "Pat" Harris

Patricia Harris is a land use attorney at Lerch, Early & Brewer in Bethesda, Maryland. She assists developers and property owners with securing approvals needed to develop their properties, including site plans, special exceptions, subdivision approvals, historic preservation, local map amendments, zoning text amendments, master plan recommendations and building permits in Montgomery County, Maryland. Pat is knowledgeable about transit-oriented, mixed-use development and other issues related to smart growth. Pat also has significant experience representing national retailers, including Costco, McDonald's and TD Bank.

In addition to representing national corporations and local development companies, Pat also represents churches and schools in zoning and land use matters. Pat appears before administrative boards, commissions and elected officials, including the Montgomery County Council, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission Planning Board, the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission, the Board of Appeals and the Sign Review Board. She also represents many property developers pursuing approvals in the City of Rockville, and appears frequently before the Rockville Mayor and Council and Planning Commission.

Chambers USA says the “'extremely talented’ [Pat] attracts praise from market sources for her zoning and land use expertise, particularly in Montgomery County. Clients say she is ‘very responsive and easy to work with.’” (Chambers USA 2011).

Pat is active in Montgomery County economic development issues. She has served on the boards of directors of the Bethesda Urban Partnership and the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce (where she now serves as counsel and previously served as vice president of Government Affairs and Economic Development). Pat also is very active in the Urban Land Institue. She is a member of the Washington, D.C. District Council of ULI and serves on several committees. She is listed in the Best Lawyers in America and in Chambers USA in the field of land use.

Pat received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Delaware cum laude and her Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School. Prior to joining Lerch Early, she was a partner in the Montgomery County office of a national D.C. law firm. She is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Pat serves on the board of the NonProfit Village, which provides space and services for a collection of Montgomery County nonprofits, and of The Writer’s Center in Bethesda. With two active boys, Pat and her husband love spending time outdoors. Pat rode her bicycle across the United States after graduating from college and hopes to repeat the feat someday with her boys.