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PRACTICE AREAS

Government Contracts

Federal Prime and Subcontracts, Teaming Agreements, Small Business Contracting, Other Transactions Authority (OTA) Agreements

For over 35 years, my practice has focused on all aspects of government contracts law, including counseling on federal government prime and subcontract compliance under the FAR and agency regulations such as the DFARS.  I advise on cost, accounting, and pricing issues, including major business systems adequacy and compliance.  My goal is and always has been to provide business-focused advice on how to comply with the often arcane legal and regulatory requirements of government contracting.

 

As outside counsel with large firms and as in house counsel I have conducted, managed, and directed all manner of government contracts related litigation, including bid protests, claims and contract disputes, audits, and civil and criminal investigations.  With my background as both in-house counsel and outside counsel, I have the experience to align and leverage internal and external legal resources to address litigation matters with the greatest impact but at the lowest possible cost.

Ethics and Compliance

Organizational and Business Ethics and Compliance, Risk Assessment, and Monitoring

In my experience, two other major areas of focus are essential for providing effective legal services to large and small companies: establishing and maintaining strong organizational ethics, and risk assessment including “lessons learned.” 

 

An emphasis on ethics and values-based organizational behaviors gives company personnel the tools to do what is right, and not just what is “legal,” and improves the quality of all decisions that carry a legal implication for the client.   Businesses as a whole can face organizational conflicts of interests (OCIs), which require proper identification, mitigation, and monitoring of compliance to ensure that OCIs do not preclude that award or retention of prime and subcontracts under federal government contracting.

 

An enterprise inevitably faces a broad range of legal, regulatory, and business risks, and it is essential to identify and address those risks proactively through a thorough but practical risk assessment process that prioritizes the cost of risk avoidance to key strategic and operational concerns.  Such an approach, as with an ethics and compliance program, demonstrates the company’s commitment to compliance. 

"Outside"

General

Counsel

Legal and Management Advice for Mergers & Acquisitions, Due Diligence and Integration, Contract and Procurement Management, Export Controls 

I can assist smaller companies that have no or limited in-house legal resources as an "outside" general counsel, providing the skills and experience of a seasoned chief legal officer to help manage legal matters as part of the overall business.  As general counsel of a major aerospace and defense company for 19 years, I led a team of legal, contracts, ethics and compliance, and export control professionals, located in seven states, supporting a complex business model.  In managing all of the legal affairs of an operating company, I have advised on:

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  • mergers and acquisitions, including post-acquisition integration

  • intellectual property issues and strategies

  • real estate

  • environmental compliance

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I also oversaw and managed the company’s extensive litigation portfolio and outside counsel in matters involving:

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  • complex environmental and toxic tort cases

  • commercial litigation

  • labor and employment and worker’s compensation

  • patent and data rights IP matters

  • contract disputes with customers, vendors, and suppliers. 

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As a member of the senior management team, I was involved in company-wide and departmental:

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  • strategic and budgetary planning

  • personnel management

  • coordination with the corporate office and Board of Directors on legal, ethics, export and compliance operations

  • worked with executive management to develop strategies and implement plans and transactions for non-routine or innovative transactions, such as major joint ventures, teaming agreements, and international business ventures including establishing foreign subsidiaries. 

 

The cost of managing legal matters is always less when they are considered as a whole, and within the parameters of the business's operations, goals, and strategies. 

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