Robert Nichols

Robert Nichols helps government contractors solve complex legal problems and achieve their desired business solutions. Robert has led several of the highest-profile matters in the industry, from a $10.5 billion bid protest at the Court of Federal Claims, to lawsuits arising from the Cuban government’s imprisonment of a contractor for espionage, to managing parallel investigations by two Agency Offices of Inspector General, two Suspension and Debarment Officials, the Department of Justice, and a Congressional oversight committee.

Prior to founding Nichols Liu, Robert was a partner and co-chair of the Government Contracts group at Covington & Burling, where he helped lead and grow the practice to over fifty attorneys. He also has been a partner at Crowell & Moring and served both at the White House and as a Judge Advocate General at the Army Corps of Engineers.

Robert has been recognized as a top lawyer by Chambers USA, Law360, Legal 500, and Super Lawyers.

Mary Karen Wills

Mary Karen Wills leads the Government Contracting practice area for BRG. Mary Karen is an expert in the field of government contract accounting, administration, and compliance, with over 30 years of experience providing consulting and financial advisory services, and in-depth knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Cost Accounting Standards, 2 CFR 200, and other federal government procurement regulations.

Mary Karen has experience with all forms of government contract acquisition matters, from competitive procurements to commercial item exemptions, as well as General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule and other government-wide acquisition vehicles. She has extensive experience working with companies that have been suspended or debarred from federal government contracting activities. Her work entails advising companies in designing compliance programs and corporate integrity agreements to mitigate identified government contracting issues.

She also has directed special investigations, fraud investigations, qui tam/whistleblower allegation investigations, and other litigation consulting assignments. She has assisted companies as they prepare and present voluntary disclosures, whereby results and findings were presented in connection with settlement negotiations. She has testified as an expert witness on varied matters. In her work, Mary Karen has been admitted under protective orders before the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims for bid protest matters.

Rich Rector

Rich Rector chairs DLA Piper’s Government Contracts practice. Rich litigates contract actions and bid protests before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Court of Federal Claims, federal district courts, state and federal boards of contract appeals and the US Government Accountability Office. He also represents prime contractors and subcontractors in breach-of-contract and protest actions in state and federal courts, and he advises contractors on the preparation and avoidance of contract claims and disputes.

Rich also counsels clients on a broad range of federal and state procurement matters, including IT contracts and transactions, audits and investigations, False Claims Act issues and potential disclosures, state procurement issues, commercial-item contracting, terminations for convenience, US Postal Service procurement, and compliance with procurement integrity and ethics laws.

Kevin P. Mullen

Kevin P. Mullen is a Co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Government Contracts & Public Procurement practice. Kevin has broad experience in numerous facets of government contracts matters including agency procurements, subcontracting, teaming and joint venture relationships, contract performance issues, intellectual property, compliance matters, due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, and procurement fraud matters. He represents clients in the preparation and litigation of contract adjustment claims and terminations for both government contracts and construction projects, and has handled more than 250 bid protest cases, representing both protesters and contract awardees before the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, federal district courts, and state protest forums.

Kevin is a Council member for the Public Contract Law Section of the American Bar Association, and he has served as a Co-Chair of the Contract Claims and Disputes Resolution Committee and the Bid Protest Committee, and as a Vice-Chair of the Acquisition Reform and Emerging Issues Committee. He also served on the Board of Governors of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims Bar Association.

Kevin has been recognized by Chambers & Partners USA and Legal 500 US as one of the leading lawyers nationwide in the area of Government Contracts and has been named a “Top Washington Lawyer” in Government Contracts Law by Washingtonian magazine. He was named to the BTI Consulting Group’s “Client Service All-Stars 2015” list, a registry of 354 of the legal profession’s client service elite.

Kate M. Growley

Kate M. Growley (CIPP/US, CIPP/G) is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Crowell & Moring. She is a member of the Steering Committee for the firm’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Group, while working closely with the firm’s Government Contracts and Litigation Groups. Her practice covers a wide range of information security counseling and litigation engagements, with a particular emphasis on the government contracting community. Kate’s work regularly includes cybersecurity and supply chain compliance, digital transformation, incident response, regulatory assessments and investigations, and disputes surrounding data breaches and trade secrets.

Kate is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) for both the U.S. private and government sectors by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). She has been nationally recognized by Chambers USA (2020) and named a “Rising Star” by both Law360 (2018) and the American Bar Association’s Science & Technology Section (2016). Kate serves as co-chair for both the ABA Public Contract Law Section’s Cybersecurity, Privacy, & Data Protection Committee; and the Science & Technology Section’s Homeland Security Committee. Kate is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and former co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s Women’s Leadership Initiative.

Daniel Abrahams

Daniel Abrahams is a founding partner of Abrahams Wolf-Rodda, LLC, a boutique government contracts and wage & hour law firm in the Washington DC metropolitan area. The practice includes traditional government contracts work (bid protests, claims, compliance advice, prime-sub disputes, etc.) and a wage & hour practice (spanning the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Service Contract Act, the Davis-Bacon Act, various Executive Orders, and state wage laws).

Dan was formerly a partner at Brown Rudnick LLP for almost 10 years and was at Epstein Becker & Green, PC for almost 25 years. He is the former Chairman of the American Bar Association, Public Contract Law Section, Employment Safety & Labor Committee. Dan is the co-author of multiple books in the fields of government contracts and wage and hour law. He a former adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School. And currently teaches for Federal Publications Seminars on the Service Contract Act and the Davis-Bacon Act.

Aron C. Beezley

Aron C. Beezley is a partner with Bradley, Arant, Boult, Cummings LLP, where his practice is focused primarily on government contracts law. Aron was named one of the “Top Attorneys Under 40” nationwide and a “Rising Star” in Government Contracts Law by Law360 in 2016-2017, and listed in Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” in Government Contracts Law in 2014-2018. His practice has brought him before U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Boards of Contract Appeals.

Aron currently serves as a vice chair of the ABA Bid Protest Committee, and he also serves on the PubKLaw Advisory Board. Additionally, Aron is a prolific author of articles on legal issues affecting government contractors. He is also a frequent speaker on – and regularly is quoted by news outlets about – legal issues impacting government contractors.

Aron received his LL.M in Government Contracts Law from The George Washington University Law School. Aron also served as a judicial extern to the Hon. Susan G. Braden, the former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, where he assisted in handling a variety of cases in the government contracts context.

David Z. Bodenheimer

David Z. Bodenheimer is a partner and litigator at Nichols Liu, LLP. Nationally ranked by Chambers USA in Government Contracts and described as “an impressive government contracts practitioner” and “a fabulous writer,” David authored what the Nash & Cibinic Report called “the definitive text on TINA” – the Defective Pricing Handbook (Thomson Reuters), as well as leading Briefing Papers and articles on defective pricing and the False Claims Act. He also has taught Federal Publications Inc.’s leading course on defective pricing and the False Claims Act for over a decade, as well as many private TINA courses for major defense and aerospace contractors.

David has litigated and defended more than 60 protests in every forum (GAO, COFC, ODRA, GSBCA, and federal district courts), with some of the best being successfully resolved without a decision. He also has spent more than 100 days in the courtroom litigating False Claims Act suits, default terminations, prime/sub disputes, and other actions involving complex military and aerospace systems, information technology, damages calculations and methodologies, and other government contracts disputes. David also has been recognized by Chambers USA as a leading lawyer within the cybersecurity space and been honored as a Thomson Reuters DC Super Lawyer in Government Contracts and with the American Bar Association Science & Technology Law Section Award for Increasing Diversity.

W. Jay DeVecchio

W. Jay DeVecchio is a litigator and former Co-Chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Government Contracts and Public Procurement practice. He is recognized a leader in the field of intellectual property rights in government contracts, and represents clients in all facets of government procurement law, from bid protests to complex claims and disputes through suspension and debarment. He also represents clients in related issues such as criminal and civil fraud, qui tam actions, and internal investigations.

Since 2005, Jay has been named a leading national practitioner in Government Contract Law by Chambers USA. He similarly has been named a Top Washington Lawyer in Government Contracts by both The Washington Business Journal (2008) and The Washingtonian, most recently for 2017. He has been a guest instructor at the University of Virginia, the George Washington University Law School Government Contracts Program, and the American University Washington College of Law. He also conducts seminars on diverse subjects including claims, disputes, terminations, and data rights.

Peter J. Eyre

Peter J. Eyre is a partner and co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group, and a member of the firm’s Management Board. Peter was named to BTI Consulting Group’s list of “Client Service All-Stars” in 2016 and 2017 and has been nationally ranked by Chambers USA in Government Contracts since 2014. Peter was also named to the National Law Journal’s list of “40 Under 40 Rising Stars” in 2014.

Peter’s practice includes a wide range of litigation, counseling, crisis management, and transactional capabilities, including: compliance reviews; enhancing and implementing compliance programs; due diligence in the transactional context; structuring transactions; dispute resolution; bid protests; complex investigations relating to the civil False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Act, the Procurement Integrity Act, and other civil and criminal matters at the federal, state, and local levels; grants and related requirements; GSA Schedule contracting; contract negotiation and administration; suspension and debarment proceedings; and mandatory disclosures.

Since 2000, Peter has worked in a senior capacity for the Commission on Presidential Debates, the non-partisan entity responsible for producing the general election presidential and vice presidential debates. Peter also serves as the coordinator of the Construction Industry Ethics and Compliance Initiative.

Craig A. Holman

Craig A. Holman chairs Arnold & Porter’s Government Contracts and National Security practices. He litigates claims, default terminations, and protests (pre-award, post-award, and size) involving federal, state, and local government contracts. Craig also defends False Claims Act cases and litigates commercial business disputes, including complex breach of contract and construction cases.

He has litigated in various forums including the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the US Court of Federal Claims, numerous federal district and state courts, the US Government Accountability Office, boards of contract appeals, and the American Arbitration Association.

Ty Hughes

Ty Hughes founded Hughes Law PLC to help clients solve problems and successfully navigate the increasingly complex world of federal procurement. With 35 years of federal procurement experience, Ty has represented government and private sector clients in numerous government contract matters. He has seen procurement issues and disputes from both sides and finds that experience invaluable in solving problems.

Paul Khoury

Paul Khoury is a partner with Wiley Rein, where counsels and represents government contractors in solicitation review, multiple award schedule contracting, state and local procurements, subcontracting, teaming agreements, corporate transactions, bid protests, terminations, contract disputes litigation, compliance reviews, mandatory disclosures, inspector general investigations, and False Claims Act actions. Paul is regularly rated as one of the country’s “Leading Lawyers” in his field by Chambers USA, which commends him as “a fantastic bid protest attorney.” Paul was also chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee from 1998 to 2014.

Fernand Lavallee

Fernand Lavallee is a partner at Jones Day, where his practice focuses on public procurement, and he is a recognized leader in intellectual property rights in government contracts. Fern advises on contract and subcontract formation, administration, compliance, cybersecurity, SAFETY Act, suspension and debarment, due diligence, internal investigations, rights in patents (Bayh-Dole Act), technical data and computer software, and dispute matters to clients in the aerospace, high-technology, information technology, and life sciences sectors. He litigates government contracts cases and Prime Contractor/Subcontractor disputes before federal and state courts and brings, or intervenes and defends against bid protests before federal agencies, the Government Accountability Office, and the Court of Federal Claims. Fern also brings claims before the Civilian and Defense Boards of Contract Appeals and COFC and size protests before the Small Business Administration.

Fern has taught, written, and spoken extensively on government contracts topics including Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence issues and due diligence in M&As involving government contractors. He presented a paper on socio-economic programs in U.S. federal procurements at the 1st Interdisciplinary Symposium on Public Procurement held in Italy and co-sponsored by the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the Faculty of Law of the University of Copenhagen. He is a vice chair of the ABA’s Public Contract Law Section’s IP Committee.

Andy Liu

Andy Liu focuses on the representation of corporate and individual clients in all phases of criminal and civil matters including internal investigations, compliance counseling, federal grand jury investigations, False Claims Act litigation (including retaliation allegations) and other complex civil litigation and criminal proceedings. He has represented individuals and corporations in matters involving government procurement fraud, health care fraud, price fixing, kickbacks, bribery, public corruption, conflict of interest laws, and other areas. He has written and presented extensively on the False Claims Act and other issues.

Prior to co-founding Nichols Liu, Andy was General Counsel of the Social Security Administration, a Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP, and a Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice.  He was twice awarded the Department of Justice’s Special Achievement Award. Andy is active in Bar activities, having served as a board member of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the Greater Washington, D.C. Area and as vice-chair of the Committee for Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity for the ABA’s Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and on the Board of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, and has also served as a member and chair of the Board of the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center.

Scott McCaleb

Scott McCaleb is a partner at Wiley Rein, where he represents clients on all aspects of federal, state, and local procurement matters, including bid protests, contract disputes and termination litigation, appellate litigation, audits and cost allowability issues, government investigations, suspension and debarment matters, False Claims Act actions, mergers and acquisitions, teaming agreements and subcontracts, and small business matters. His experience extends across virtually all government contracting industries, including aerospace and weapon systems integration, information technology and network solutions, and architect-engineering and construction matters.

Scott is currently co-chair of the Advisory Council, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and serves on the Advisory Council for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. He also sits on the Federal Circuit Bar Association’s Amicus Curiae Committee. Scott has repeatedly been named among “America’s Leading Business Lawyers” in Government Contracts by Chambers USA.

Dave Nadler

Dave Nadler is a partner and co-chair of the Government Contracts Practice Group at Blank Rome, where he focuses on bid protests; government audits and investigations; the False Claims Act; contract claims, terminations and disputes; government cost, accounting, and pricing issues; suspension and debarment cases; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and government compliance matters, including mandatory disclosure issues.

Dave is consistently rated by Chambers USA as one of the leading government contracts attorneys in the country. Dave was selected by Law360 as a Government Contracts MVP for 2017, and is also a recipient of the Federal 100 award, which recognizes top executives from the government, academia, and the private sector for their contributions to the government contracts community. Dave was selected as a Top Lawyer, Government Contracts, by Washingtonian Magazine in 2018.

Dave co-authored the chapter “Threshold Defenses” in The False Claims Act and Government Contracts: The Intersection of Federal Government Contracts, Administrative Law, and Civil Fraud (ABA Book Publishing, 2017). He also co-authored a Briefing Paper on the Mandatory Disclosure Regulation (Thomson West, 2018).

Michael J. Schaengold

Michael J. Schaengold is the Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Government Contracts & Projects Practice. Mike focuses his practice on government contracts litigation and counseling, and on litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. His substantial government contracts dispute and bid protest experience includes litigation of major cases before the Government Accountability Office, the Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Boards of Contract Appeals. He also has substantial experience in due diligence reviews and other issues related to the acquisition, merger, spin-off or sale of government contractors.

Mike regularly represents clients in patent/government contracts litigation in the Court of Federal Claims and in patent appeals to the Federal Circuit, and has represented clients in some of the largest Federal Circuit appeals. He has been appointed by four Federal Circuit Chief Judges to that Court’s Advisory Council and/or Rules Advisory Committee, and has been appointed by three Court of Federal Claims Chief Judges to that Court’s Advisory Council. He currently serves on both Councils and, from 2004-2010, was Co-Chair of the Federal Circuit Advisory Council.

Mike is a frequent lecturer on government contracts, Federal Circuit and Court of Federal Claims topics. He has lectured at West Government Contracts Year in Review Conferences, PubKLaw Year in Review Conferences, Federal Circuit Judicial Conferences, Federal Circuit Bar Association Conferences, ABA Public Contract Law Section seminars, the Association of Board of Contract Appeals Judges seminars, the Board of Contract Appeals Bar Association Conferences, Court of Federal Claims Bar Association Conferences, the George Washington University Law School’s Government Procurement Law Program, the University of Virginia School of Law, University of Maryland School of Law and George Mason University School of Law programs. He has published more than 50 articles on Government Contracts, Federal Circuit and Court of Federal Claims topics.

Steven L. Schooner

Steven L. Schooner is the Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law and Co-Director of the Government Procurement Law Program at George Washington University. Before joining the law school faculty in 1998, Steve was the associate administrator for procurement law and legislation at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget. He previously served as a trial and appellate attorney in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Department of Justice. He also practiced with private law firms and, as an active duty Army judge advocate, served as a commissioner at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals. Until his retirement as an Army Reserve officer, he was an adjunct professor in the Contract and Fiscal Law Department of the Judge Advocate General’s School of the Army, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Steve’s scholarship focuses primarily upon federal government contract law and public procurement policy. His dispute resolution experience includes service as an arbitrator, mediator, neutral, and ombudsman. Outside of the United States, he has taught and advised hundreds of government officials on public procurement issues, either directly or through multi-government programs, in more than 30 countries.

Steve is a fellow of the National Contract Management Association, a certified professional contracts manager, and recipient of the Charles A. Dana Distinguished Service Award. He is the faculty adviser to the ABA’s Public Contract Law Journal and also serves on the Procurement Round Table and the advisory board of the Government Contractor. He served as senior associate dean for academic affairs of the Law School from 2006 to 2008.

Christopher R. Yukins

Christopher R. Yukins is the Lynn David Research Professor in Government Procurement Law and Co-Director of the Government Procurement Law Program at George Washington University, where he teaches on government contract formations and performance issues, bid protests, Contract Disputes Act litigation, and comparative issues in public procurement, and focuses especially on emerging public policy questions in U.S. procurement. He is a faculty advisor to the Public Contract Law Journal, and has contributed pieces on procurement reform, international procurement, electronic commerce and information technology to a broad range of journals, including Washington Technology, Government Contractor, Legal Times, and Federal Computer Week. He has published on procurement reform in scholarly journals, including the Public Contract Law Journal, Georgetown Journal of International Law, and Public Procurement Law Review (United Kingdom).

Previously, Chris served as a trial attorney with the Department of Justice, where he handled trials and appeals involving bid protests and contract claims against the U.S. government. In private practice, Chris has been an associate, partner, and of counsel at leading national firms; he is currently of counsel to the firm of Arnold & Porter LLP. He is an advisor to the U.S. delegation to the working group on reform of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Model Procurement Law, and he teaches and speaks often on issues of comparative and international procurement law.

He is an active member of the Public Contract Law Section of the American Bar Association, serves on the steering committee to the International Procurement Committee of the ABA International Law Section, and previously served as the president of the Tysons Corner Chapter of the National Contract Management Association. Together with Professor Steven Schooner, he runs a popular colloquium series on procurement reform at The George Washington University Law School.