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Government Contracts & Disputes

Contacts

David B. Dixon
Partner, Northern Virginia
T: +1.703.770.7557
Matt Carter
Partner, Los Angeles
T: +1.213.488.7120
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Areas of Focus

Pillsbury’s award-winning Government Contracts & Disputes team skillfully handles all issues and challenges that arise throughout the life cycle of a government contract.

Pillsbury’s bicoastal Government Contracts & Disputes practice is deeply versed in all aspects of government contract formation and performance. Our team includes highly experienced lawyers in both the Washington, DC area and in Los Angeles. Our practitioners have served as prosecutors, and Department of Defense and civilian agency lawyers. We are seasoned in working through the complexities of competing for and winning contracts. We uniquely offer a 360-degree perspective to resolve our clients’ issues.

Our lawyers have advised clients at every stage of government contracting process, from solicitation through final audit, and have decades of experience in advising and representing local, national and international businesses at the federal and state levels. Several members of our team have security clearances and are well known in the aerospace and defense, sophisticated services, and technology industries. Partnering with lawyers throughout the firm, we deliver comprehensive service in all areas of government contracts, including supply chain management, corporate transactions and acquisitions, criminal defense, audits and investigations, litigation, export controls and international law, intellectual property, employment, and real estate.

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Our Government Contracts team also advises on matters ranging from data rights to security clearances, from M&A transactions to ethics and compliance, and from small-business issues to international contracting. We also have a dedicated task force that is closely tracking the evolution of U.S. anti-money laundering and corporate transparency regulations, including new beneficial ownership disclosure requirements. We file and defend bid protests, resolve contract disputes, negotiate government contractor transactions, evaluate government contract opportunities, provide regulatory and strategic counsel, litigate claims, defend actions under the False Claims Act, conduct internal investigations, and consult on emerging regulations and compliance strategies. We assist clients in size protests and appeals and challenges of unfair Contractor Performance Assessment Rating System (CPARS) ratings.We represent government contractors from a wide range of industries, including defense, health care, professional services, logistics, transportation and information technology. Our practice includes:

  • Teaming, joint ventures and subcontracting
  • Terminations for convenience
  • Terminations for default

Pillsbury has successfully represented companies in all major government contract forums, including the Government Accountability Office, the Court of Federal Claims and the Boards of Contract Appeals, as well as the Small Business Administration and the Department of Defense. We also have represented clients in suspension and debarment situations before the departments of the Navy, Army and Air Force, as well as before civilian agencies, in each instance helping our client establish its ongoing eligibility as a government contractor.

Representative Experience

  • Represented Battelle Memorial Institute in successful protest of $20+ million Centers for Disease Control and Prevention award resulting in corrective action.
  • Serve as lead counsel to Entergy Corporation and other industry-leading energy companies in Spent Nuclear Fuel litigation and settlement claims waged at the Court of Federal Claims and Federal Circuit. During the past decade, the aggregate recovery for our clients easily exceeds one billion dollars.
  • Serve as special counsel to Veritas Capital on government contracts and aviation matters in its multibillion-dollar sale of Standard Aero Aviation Holdings Inc. to Carlyle.

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  • Bid Protests
    • Represented CAE USA Inc. in a successful defense before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (No. 20-575 and No. 20-609C, Oct. 28, 2020) of a $97 million contract award by the U.S. Department of the Army.
    • Represented Evergreen JV in successful protest of the Air Force’s decision to remove client from competition in $2 billion Brooks Act procurement, resulting in published decision which sustains all five protest grounds and requires reimbursement of attorneys’ fees (B-418475.4, Sept. 23, 2020, 2020 CPD ¶ 301).
    • Represented Verizon Business Network Services Inc. in a successful defense before GAO (No. B-418649 et al., July 14, 2020) of $200 million+ award of a Department of Commerce procurement for telecommunications, networking services and associated support.
    • For a more detailed description of our Bid Protests team and matters, please click here.
  • Claims and Terminations
    • Represent Fortune 500 defense and manufacturing contractors in memorializing critical justification rationale for remaining open during COVID-19 and in creating a comprehensive strategy to obtain cost and schedule relief for each impacted contract, by agency.
    • Represented General Atomics System Integration, Inc. (GA-SI) in its case at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) challenging certain adverse CPARS assessments submitted by Hill Air Force Base relating to GA-SI’s performance of a contract for F-15 landing gear upgrades. Several weeks before trial was scheduled to commence at the ASBCA, the Air Force determined to remove the adverse ratings from the CPARS system, which was the relief GA-SI had sought in the case. As a result, the case settled in February 2019.
    • Serve as lead counsel to Entergy Corporation and other industry-leading energy companies in Spent Nuclear Fuel litigation and settlement claims waged at the Court of Federal Claims and Federal Circuit. During the past decade, the aggregate recovery for our clients easily exceeds one billion dollars.
    • For a more detailed description of our Claims and Litigation team and matters, please click here.
  • Financial Issues
    • Obtained grant of appeal in its entirety on behalf of Lockheed Martin in a $65 million appeal concerning the sale of six parcels of land containing old box-type buildings in the Silicon Valley.
    • Defended client against DCAA disallowances in several sequential years, totaling over $129 million. Supported the contractor’s rebuttals, resulting in a combined settlement of less than $600,000.
    • Defended client’s compensation system providing hazard pay to employees in Iraq and Afghanistan, resulting in zero disallowance where the DCAA had sought over $2 million in direct-cost disallowances.
    • For a more detailed description of our Financial Issues team and matters, please click here.
  • Suspension & Debarment
    • Successfully represented client in proposed debarment matter before U.S. Army. Action was based on public SEC findings that he violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
    • Prevailed for IXI Technology in suspension matter before U.S. Navy and negotiated administrative agreement enabling company to restore its eligibility and continue obtaining government contracts.
    • Successfully represented former president of FedBid Inc. in proposed debarment matter with the U.S. Air Force.
    • Achieved favorable resolution for AQuate Corporation and its former president in proposed debarment matter with the U.S. Army.
    • Prevailed on behalf of Kamlesh Patel, owner and former president of J&J Contractors Inc., in suspension matter before the Small Business Administration.
    • For a more detailed description of our Suspension and Debarment team and matters, please click here.
  • Government Contracts Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Represented NTT DATA International in its $3 billion acquisition of Dell Inc.’s information technology services division.
    • Represented Truven Health Analytics Inc. regarding the government contracts, export controls and health care regulations aspects of its $2.6 billion sale to IBM.
    • Special counsel to Liberty Hall Capital Partners in its $220 million acquisition of AIM Aerospace, a leading independent supplier of composite sub-structural and interiors parts for the aerospace industry.
    • For a more detailed description of our representative Mergers & Acquisitions team and matters, please click here.
  • Small Business
    • Successfully defended contract awardee IQS Solutions LLC, a joint venture approved under SBA’s All-Small Mentor Protégé Program, as an intervenor in a size appeal before the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals.
    • Counseled aerospace parts manufacturer undergoing a stock acquisition regarding possible small business size misrepresentations under set-aside contracts.
    • Successfully appealed to OHA the SBA’s erroneous size determination that client Redhorse Corporation was not an eligible Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern.
    • For a more detailed description of our Small Business team and matters, please click here.
  • Data Rights & Patents
    • Successfully counseled pharmaceutical company negotiating data rights in Army OTA for development of COVID-19 therapeutic.
    • Successfully counseled defense contractor negotiating data rights for development of ground-based mobile aircraft generators for the Navy.
    • Successfully counseled a large defense contractor negotiating data rights and deliverable requirements with the Army on a multi-year procurement of a sophisticated weapon system and related services.
    • For a more detailed description of our Data Rights & Patents team and matters, please click here.
  • Cyber Compliance In Government Contracts
    • Counseled a large prime contractor on its crisis response and reporting requirements after it suffered a ransomware attack.
    • Counseled a large public utility on its DFARS 252.204-7012 compliance and reporting requirements.
    • Counseled a design/build contractor on amending subcontractor terms and conditions to comply with cybersecurity requirements.
    • For a more detailed description of our Cyber Compliance team and matters, please click here.
  • Ethics & Compliance
    • Developed and/or enhanced the values-based Ethics & Compliance programs for scores of government contractors of all sizes including publicly traded companies, large businesses, mid-sized businesses and small businesses.
    • Draw on the experience of a former government insider who oversaw the debarment operations of the Department of Air Force’s suspension and debarment program and in that capacity evaluated the Ethics & Compliance Programs of hundreds of government contractors in making present responsibility assessments.
    • Conduct “root cause” analyses following compliance events and assisting our clients in implementing remedial measures to mitigate such events from reoccurring.
    • For a more detailed description of our Ethics & Compliance team and matters, please click here.
  • Government Contracts Investigations and Fraud
    • Serve as lead counsel to Parsons Corporation in a civil FCA lawsuit filed against it and Cochise Corporation by former employee Billy Joe Hunt that was the subject of a recent Supreme Court decision.
    • Represented a large publicly traded information technology firm in a civil FCA settlement with the DOJ, and in a related Office of Inspector General investigation and a contractor disclosure, involving alleged violations of the Trade Agreements Act.
    • Represented a software company in a defective pricing contractor disclosure under a General Services Administration (GSA) schedule contract and resultant settlement with the Office of Inspector General and contracting officer.
    • For a more detailed description of our Government Contracts Investigations and Fraud team and matters, please click here.

Practice Area Highlights

  • Our practice was named “Practice Group of the Year” in 2019, 2017, 2016 and 2010 by Law360.
  • Our practice and team members are nationally ranked in their field by Chambers USA.
  • Our practice is recognized and honored by The Legal 500 U.S., noting our team’s “expertise, focus, and efficiency” and our full-service practice group with a strong presence on both coasts.

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  • Our partners are recognized and honored by The Legal 500 U.S., BTI, The Los Angeles Business Journal, The Washington Business Journal and many other publications.
  • Our practice includes a deep bench of former government officials, including attorneys who served in the U.S. Air Force; former federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles; an attorney who served in the Office of the Legal Advisor at the U.S. Department of State; former law clerks at U.S. Court of Claims and U.S. Court of Federal Claims; and attorneys who have served on active duty in the United States military.
  • Our attorneys are actively involved in numerous organizations including the American Bar Association’s Section of Public Contract Law, the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, and the National Contract Management Association. We have a past president of the Federal Bar Association’s Section of Public Contract Law, a co-chair for the International Procurement Committee, and a past co-chair of the ABA Small Business Committee.

Resources

2022 Law360 Practice Group of the Year

Pillsbury's Government Contracts team named Practice Group of the Year by Law360

Brochure

The Life Cycle of a Government Contract

Factsheet

Government Contracts & Disputes Overview

Brochure

Litigation Highlights

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