Mr. 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. See www.awrcounsel.com. 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). In the latter, Mr. Abrahams represents mostly employers in class and collective actions, individual lawsuits, federal and state wage investigations, and self-audit compliance. At his new boutique law firm, Mr. Abrahams is now available to represent workers in their personal wage claims, including collective and class actions. Mr. Abrahams also has been retained to be an exemption classification consultant and expert witness in wage and hour disputes.

Mr. Abrahams 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. He is also a former adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School where he taught a course called “Federal Labor Standards.”

Starting in 1985, Mr. Abrahams co-authored more than nine books in the fields of government contracts and wage and hour law. His wage & hour publications include the: Fair Labor Standards Handbook for State, Local Governments and Schools; Employer's Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act; FLSA Employer Exemption Handbook; and Public Employer's Guide to Payroll Administration. In 2011, Mr. Abrahams also co-authored three booklets: Smart Guide to FLSA Exemptions; Do I have to pay My Employees for This? FLSA Working Time Essentials; and FLSA Overtime Basics. In the government contracts field, Mr. Abrahams co-authored the: Government Contracts Compliance Guide; Public Official’s Guide to e-Government; and Government Contractor’s Guide to Employment Law Compliance. Overlapping the government contracts and wage & hour field, Mr. Abrahams co-authored two Federal Publications (now West) Briefing Papers: The Service Contract Act; and The Davis-Bacon Act.

Mr. Abrahams teaches regularly for Federal Publications Seminars on the Service Contract Act and the Davis-Bacon Act. He has been a continuous speaker at ThomsonReuter’s Year in Review Conference and its predecessors since the late 1980s.

“Rick A to Z” leads CORTAC’s Business Expansion Team supporting clients in establishing and achieving their Business Objectives through Market Analysis, Pipeline Development, Business Development, Capture, and Proposal Leadership, Negotiations, and Program Start-up & Execution within Government and Private sectors.

“A to Z” has over 45 years of Government and Industry experience in operations and acquisition across R&D and operational program development, complex program management, systems development engineering, Information Assurance, Information Operations/Cyber Development & Special Technical Operations, and business capture.

During his preceding 30-year career with the U.S. Air Force, he held positions from B-52 operational squadron level up to that of Director at the Air Force Information Warfare Center. He has spent 15+ years as an industry senior executive working with over 50 clients with winning and executing programs across 42 Federal Agencies and 17 State & Local Governments. He has worked in defense, homeland security, intelligence, energy, health and human services, biotechnology & life sciences, and IT/telecommunications.

Larry Allen has over 20 years' experience in government acquisition. Larry has written or contributed to three books on government contracting, including Multiple Award Schedule Contracting (contributing author), The Secret of Schedules Sales Success> (primary author), and Business to Government (contributing author). He has written numerous articles on the state of federal acquisition in periodicals such as "Federal Computer Week" and "The Federal Times". He regularly teaches classes on government acquisition and has been a guest of the governments of South Korea, Canada, and Great Britain speaking on the topic of how foreign companies can do business in the US government marketplace.

Larry is an expert in GSA and VA Multiple Award/Federal Supply Schedule contracting, as well as GWAC and IDIQ contracts. He served as a member of the Multiple Award Schedule Advisory Panel and the "Federal Contracts Report" Board of Advisors. He has testified often before committees of the US Senate, House of Representatives, and several state legislatures. He hosts his own radio show on government procurement, "Off the Shelf" on Federal News Radio in Washington, DC.

Lori Allen, CPA, is a director in CohnReznick’s Government Contracting Practice. She has more than 20 years of audit and industry experience. She is a former DCAA Supervisory Auditor who worked with DOD, DOE and FEMA to advise on cost allowability, allocability, reasonableness, and compliance. She is an expert in Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS), Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). Lori is currently the audit manager for a variety of pre-award and post-award contract audits being conducted on behalf of several government agencies. In her current role, she also provides a wide-range of regulatory, business system and process improvement consultative advice to government contractors.

Edmund Amorosi represents clients in the government contracts and construction industries. He has appeared on behalf of clients in federal and state courts, before administrative agencies and boards, and in alternative dispute resolution settings including mediation and arbitration, both domestic and international.

Edmund’s government contracts practice includes procurement, regulatory, and litigation matters for government contractors in a variety of industries. Edmund has served as an interim in-house counsel for a leading private security firm working for the United States Government in a contingency contracting environment. Edmund has experience in bid protests, audits, investigations into whistleblower allegations, overseas construction contracting, preparation of requests for equitable adjustments and contract claims and disputes, small business issues (including size protests and appeals), resolution of prime-subcontract disputes, contract appeals before Boards of Contract Appeals, alternative dispute resolution, review of prime contracts and subcontracts, False Claims Act matters, contractor responsibility and integrity issues, terminations for default and terminations for convenience, debarment and suspension, task order contracting, commercial products, and schedule contracts. Edmund has represented contractors in bid protests and contract disputes before the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and various federal and state courts. Edmund has also served as an expert witness in government contract law.

Edmund’s construction practice includes the representation of owners, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers in litigation matters on public and private projects, including acceleration, delay and disruption claims; payment and performance bond disputes including Miller Act claims; and contract formation, negotiation and administration. Edmund has prepared requests for equitable adjustments and claims, reviewed prime contracts and subcontracts, and litigated prime-subcontract disputes in court and through alternative dispute resolution.

His practice also includes commercial litigation and counseling relating to the government contracts and construction industries, including disputes between prime contractors and subcontractors, teaming and confidentiality agreements, joint ventures, and non-compete and non-disclosure agreements.

Sean Andrews is a Lead Consultant at Forvis Mazars. He is an ethical hacker and AI enthusiast on the IT Risk and Compliance Cybersecurity Technical Team and performs penetration testing on a variety of systems, focusing on Web Applications, Internal Networks, and Azure Cloud Environments. He strives to help clients understand the findings and risks that are identified from this testing, and how to fix them moving forward. With the popularization of AI, Sean aims to help leaders in the business world understand what it is, where it can used, where it should be avoided, and how to securely implement these complex systems in a secure, transparent, and ethical manner. Sean has helped create the Forvis Mazars team that develops AI Governance strategy for clients and assists them in understanding how it will affect operations.

Giacomo is the National Leader of RSM’s Government Contract Consulting team which serves clients who operate in the Federal contracting and grantee market spaces on matters related to cost accounting, regulatory compliance, subcontract management, USG contract due diligence, ERP implementation design, and litigation/audit support. His clients span across multiple business sectors, including aerospace and defense, manufacturing, construction, architecture & engineering, IT services, bio-tech, CROs, nonprofits, ANCs, FFRDCs, National Labs, and INGOs.

Specifically, Giacomo specializes in all aspects of the government contracting lifecycle and assists clients to establish cost accounting practices and indirect cost rate strategies as a means to meet the Organization’s strategic goals (e.g., maximize cost recovery, minimize administrative burden, reduce risk). Additionally, he consults clients on best practices for mitigating compliance risks; as well as, aiding in the design and implementation of internal controls - including those required to obtain government approved business systems (e.g., Accounting/billing, estimating, purchasing). Giacomo routinely works with executive teams to successfully integrate acquisitions or design Federal segments to recognize operational and cost efficiencies in a manner compliant with Federal regulations.

Giacomo supports companies in the strategic resolution of contract audit issues stemming from Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA)/Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA)/Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits - including addressing complex Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Cost Accounting Standard (CAS), Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) compliance matters and other Federal contract administration matters.

Giacomo leads pricing teams to prepare responses to Government request for proposals - including strategic pricing considerations, drafting complete cost volumes, preparing CAS Board Disclosure Statements (CASB DS-1) for submission and successful negotiation.

Teddie Arnold is an Partner in the Government Contracts group in the Washington, D.C. office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

Mr. Arnold focuses his practice in all areas of government procurement, including bid protests, contract claims, procurement fraud, ethics & regulatory compliance, suspension & debarment, internal investigations, small business regulations, and contract drafting. Mr. Arnold regularly represents clients prime contractors and subcontractors in litigation before the Government Accountability Office, the Boards of Contract Appeals, the Court of Federal Claims, and state and federal courts across the country. Mr. Arnold also has expertise in the False Claims Act, suspension & debarment proceedings, and other matters related to procurement fraud. He also routinely represents federal construction contractors in the defense and prosecution of claims against the Government.

Mr. Arnold is designated as a Next Generation Partner by Legal500®. He is currently pursuing is LLM in Government Procurement from George Washington University Law School.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Arnold served as law clerk to the Honorable Glen M. Williams in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia during the 2008-2009 term.

Paul Bailey is a Partner for Capital Edge Consulting. Mr. Bailey has broad experience with federal procurement rules and regulation through combined industry and public accounting experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. Over the course of his 30-year career, Paul has provided expert advice and testimony for government contractors and their counsel, government agencies including Inspector General and the Department of Justice on the administration of contracts and resolution of complex government accounting and compliance disputes. While in public accounting, Paul was responsible for the Department of Energy’s outsourced contractor audits to KPMG, including Incurred Cost and Price Proposals, CAS compliance and Business System adequacy. Paul has conducted audits for and on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice and Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General.

Paul joined Capital Edge Consulting from Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Florida where he was Vice President of Government Accounting and Compliance. In the accounting and compliance role, Paul was responsible for the oversight and approvals of the Business Systems to satisfy DCAA/DCMA surveillance and adequacy determinations. Paul orchestrated and directed an External Restructuring of CAS segments to align cost allocations and synergies following a major acquisition. Paul has been an industry leader in settlement of indirect rates based on past company experience foregoing the DCAA Incurred Cost Audit process. In addition to extensive accounting and compliance experience, he has held Vice President roles leading Contracts, Subcontract Administration, and Procurement functions.

Liz is a senior manager in Baker Tilly US, LLP’s Government Contractor Solutions practice and has ten years of experience working with government contractors and their counsel to identify, quantity, and manage risk through regulatory and compliance consulting. She has worked with leading Department of Defense contractors helping them to navigate the complexities of flexibly priced contract administration. She has experience supporting clients in contract closeout efforts, developing plans to clear the backlog and use innovative tools to generate invoices. She has extensive experience helping contractors through the M&A process writing compliant disclosure statements and accompanying indirect rate structures. Liz also works with commercial item contractors assisting them with VA and GSA proposals, contract modifications, disclosures and False Claims Act investigation support.

Jonathan M. Baker is a partner in Crowell & Moring's Washington, D.C. office. He practices in the Government Contracts Group.

Jon advises clients on a wide array of government contracts legal issues, including both federal and state bid protests, prime-sub disputes, government contracts due diligence and transactions, regulatory compliance, and contract terminations. Jon's practice has a notable emphasis on technology-related issues, including counseling clients in the areas of patent and data rights, responding to government challenges to technical data and computer software rights assertions, and litigating cases involving complex and cutting edge technologies. Jon also provides guidance on national security matters, such as National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual compliance and facility and security clearance matters. In addition, Jon has advised clients on local government contract negotiation, internal and government investigations regarding potential False Claims Act issues, and export violations. Jon is also actively involved in the firm's pro bono program, having litigated prisoner neglect, parental rights termination, and landlord-tenant matters.

Katy has worked as a Subcontract Administrator for over 7 year. Majority of Katy’s career has been spent supporting the DoD. She now provides guidance to companies who are in the process of setting up a federally compliant Business Systems. She also conducts review on company’s current Business Systems and provide insight on how to improve their current systems. She has extensive knowledge on Federal Acquisition Regulations and supporting both DCMA and DCAA audits. Katy went to college at Marymount University where she obtained her MBA.

Mr. Bassett is a senior Cyber Security and Risk Management subject matter expert with over 32 years of experience in all aspects of security and privacy program architecture, design, management, and operations. His experience spans Government, Health Care, Financial Services and other industries and includes risk management, program planning, application and software security, security assessments and audits, and security operations.

He built and led a global security consulting practice specializing in security strategy, assessment and testing, and managed security services. He has been the principal advisor to many Fortune 500 and government clients on information systems security, responsible for securing their critical information assets for e-commerce transactions, sensitive health records, and classified military communication. Ed is a U.S. Army veteran and a graduate of Clarkson University where he earned a degree in computer science.

Jon is a Director in the CohnReznick’s Government Contracting Industry practice. He has over 15 years of experience in Government Regulatory Compliance with a demonstrated history supporting the government services industry. He provides a range of advisory services for government contractors including FAR/CAS compliance, DFARS business systems, infrastructure and indirect cost rate structuring, and incurred cost proposals and forward pricing rate proposals. He also has extensive international experience including serving as an industry segment compliance manager in Seoul, South Korea and assisting clients onsite in the Middle East and South America.

Jon's areas of expertise are DFARS-Compliant Business System gap/readiness assessments and implementations, FAR & CAS compliance, Cost allowability, allocability and reasonableness, Incurred cost proposals, Cost estimating, Complex indirect rate structures, Requests for Equitable Adjustments, Accounting & Compliance Government Contracts Training.

Ryan Berry co-founded Ward & Berry with Dan Ward in 2017. Although Ryan is active in all of the firm’s practice areas, his current client work comprises investigations, corporate compliance, and general counsel representation of government contractors.

Before co-founding Ward & Berry, Ryan was an equity partner in one of the largest global law firms. He has successfully handled significant commercial litigation matters through trial for national security, technology, and sports and entertainment clients.

Ryan is experienced in handling international disputes and investigations for government contractors and multi-national corporations. His work in this area has been particularly focused on the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Ryan has skillfully guided clients through investigations brought by the Inspector General (IG) of federal agencies, Congressional investigations, suspensions and proposed debarments.

Mr. Berteau became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Professional Services Council (PSC) on March 28, 2016. Prior to PSC, Mr. Berteau was confirmed in December 2014 as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness. He oversaw the management of the $170 billion in Department of Defense logistics funding.

Previously, Mr. Berteau served as Senior Vice President and Director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). His research and analysis covered federal budgets, national security, management, contracting, logistics, acquisition, and industrial base issues.

Mr. Berteau is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and has also served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, a Director of the Procurement Round Table, and an Associate at the Robert S. Strauss Center at the University of Texas.

Laura is a project manager by profession, focused on implementing PM best practices, and deploying practical solutions that help get teams humming. She is judicious in selecting and implementing PMI advocated and Agile processes. She has twenty years consulting experience with 11 of those in Earned Value Management. She sets up and helps administer performance management and performance measurement processes using industry tools such as Atlassian Jira, Confluence, MS Project, Deltek Cobra, and others. She has a proven track record in helping businesses transform their project management approach to win work, identify process efficiencies and generate cost savings.

David S. Black is co-chair of the National Government Contracts Practice. He practices in the area of government contracts counseling and dispute resolution. His practice includes representing contractors in protests, claims under the Contract Disputes Act, responding to government investigations and audits, False Claims Act investigations and litigation, terminations for default and convenience, prime-subcontractor disputes, compliance programs, and counseling on a variety of contract administration and procurement issues.

After law school, he served as judicial clerk to Judge Larry G. Elder of the Court of Appeals of Virginia in Richmond.

Honors & Awards
Chambers USA – America's Leading Business Lawyers guide, Government: Government Contracts, 2011-2018
Legal Elite, Washington SmartCEO magazine, 2011
Rising Star, Virginia Super Lawyers magazine, 2007

Ms. Stacy Bostjanick is a member of the Senior Executive Service and serves as the Chief Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity, Deputy Chief Information Officer for Cybersecurity (DCIO(CS)), Office of the Chief Information Officer. In this position, she serves as the focal point within the DoD CIO to implement the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program across the Defense Industrial Base (DIB).

As the CMMC Director, Ms. Bostjanick is responsible for shepherding this critical program though the Code of Federal Regulation System rulemaking process for both the CFR 32 and 48 and ultimately implementing the program across the more than 220,000 companies that make up the DIB. This includes collaborating across the Federal Government with partners such as the Department of Homeland Security and the other members of the Federal Acquisition Security Council, to standardize this process and truly federalize it. In this role, she also directs the Department’s efforts to educate DIB partners on programatic requirements and ensures that DoD implements risk information sharing though the program’s execution. Additionally, Ms. Bostjanick is responsible for ensuring the Defense Acquisition community is trained and capable of including these requirements in their Programs and Acquisitions.

Townsend Bourne is a partner in the Governmental Practice at the Washington, D.C. office and leads the firm’s Government Business Group. She represents companies engaging with the Federal Government, including aerospace, defense, commercial, and cloud service providers. Townsend specializes in cybersecurity and data protection for government contractors, guiding clients through DoD and civilian agency security requirements, and handling subcontractor agreements and incident response. She also has extensive experience in complex litigation related to the Contract Disputes Act and False Claims Act, bid protests, claims litigation, internal investigations, and issues involving multiple award contract vehicles and procurement integrity.

Derek Boyd is a partner in the government contractor advisory services practice of Baker Tilly.

Derek has more than 15 years of experience working with and for government contractors in a variety of industries, including technology, professional services, aerospace and healthcare. Derek assists government contractors on a wide range of business issues and regulatory compliance matters. Prior to joining Baker Tilly, Derek was the director of government compliance for a major government contractor.

Jamie Brabston is a Senior Legal Consultant and Director with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. (Redstone GCI), specializing in Labor and Employment Law, with an emphasis on government contract law and compliance. Prior to joining Redstone GCI, Jamie was Senior Counsel with Lehr Middlebrooks Vreeland & Thompson, P.C., a boutique labor and employment law firm based in Birmingham, AL. Jamie assists employers with compliance, problem prevention, the analysis of complex employment law and contract related issues, and in conducting investigations to address employee complaints.

In addition, Jamie advises federal government contractors with contract specific requirements such as affirmative action compliance, Service Contract Act issues, CoBEC, the Drug Free Workplace Act, record keeping, and in performing mock compliance assessments and other issues specific to employers working with the federal government. Jamie is a proficient trainer and speaker and is a primary instructor for Federal Publications Seminars course, “HR for Government Contractors.” Additionally, Jamie regularly conducts training and education for individual employers and their employees on non-discrimination and anti-harassment, as well as training sessions for executive and non-executive management on a wide variety of overall management leadership skills, and government contract specific topics. Jamie also specializes and advises clients on a wide range of employee benefits issues including ERISA welfare benefit plans, HIPAA, wellness plans, COBRA, the Affordable Care Act, and other federal and state laws, including related reporting requirements. In addition, Jamie works with employers in responding to complaints filed with external agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor and the Department of Industrial Relations and provides litigation support as needed.

Chad Braley is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Capital Edge Consulting, Inc. Since its inception, Capital Edge has grown into the country’s leading firm, focusing solely on serving both foreign and domestic contractors who do business with the US Government.

Chad’s areas of expertise include the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), agency supplement regulations, Contractor Accounting, Purchasing, Estimating, MMAS, and EVM Business Systems, Truth in Negotiations Act, government accounting requirements Incurred Cost Submissions (ICS), DCAA Audits support and preparation, other regulatory non-compliance support, Terminations, Requests for Equitable Adjustment (REA), ERP systems and risk mitigation.

Terry concentrates his practice in the areas of construction law and surety law. Terry is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers (past member of the Board of Governors). His practice includes contract review and negotiation, contract preparation, risk management, litigation, claims avoidance and general construction advice to all participants in the construction industry.

Terry is a frequent speaker for construction and commercial groups and has lectured and written numerous articles for several industry groups and professional organizations in the construction industry. Terry is also a mediator and arbitrator of construction cases.

Sheri Buchanan is a Managing Human Resources Consultant with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc., a premier consulting firm with the most senior industry veterans which provides a comprehensive suite of services for large and small government contractors including evaluation, education and training, monitoring and audit preparation. Through our consulting and training programs, government contractors develop and learn to maintain compliance processes that help them succeed by mitigating risk and maximizing profitability.
Sheri provides human resources consulting with expertise in the compliance requirements specific to government contractors. Sheri has a breadth of experience with focus on compliance with Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (EO 11246, Section 503, VEVRAA), Service Contract Act, contract transition/onboarding, labor category mapping and benchmarking, compensation planning and reasonable assessments and training. She spends much of her time “in the weeds” with clients in the development and implementation of compliant practices and policies. She assists clients with Department of Labor Wage and Hour and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. She stays abreast of the various requirements of the Department of Labor and, of great importance to government contractors, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, as well as other federal and state regulations impacting human resources.

Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, Inc., Sheri served in various roles in the HR arena in diverse industries, from government contracting to healthcare. Throughout her career, she has been involved in recruiting, affirmative action planning, contract proposal development, investigations and allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge and employee disputes, new employee orientation and training.

Mr. Callahan represents government contractors on a broad range of litigation matters, including false claims investigations and actions in the defense, construction, and medical industries; bid protests and contract claims at the federal, state and local levels; and prime/subcontractor disputes in state and federal court, arbitration and mediation. Mr. Callahan also counsels government contractors and grantees regarding their compliance with contract and legal requirements, accounting standards and audit practices.

Mr. Callahan has significant experience in the government contracts and construction industries. He has prosecuted and defended bid protests of contract awards involving major civil and facilities construction projects. He has investigated, prepared, and litigated requests for equitable adjustment, termination settlement proposals, and other claims involving billions of dollars of costs whose cause is disputed. In these matters, Mr. Callahan often works closely with forensic accounting firms, and he counsels client leadership on the timing, framing, and tone of the submissions and legal filings, and on negotiation and litigation strategy.

Mr. Callahan frequently contributes to bar publications and scholarly journals. Among other publications, his articles have appeared in the Procurement Lawyer, A.B.A. false claims acts and construction books, William & Mary Law Review, Cardozo Law Review, The Government Contractor, Legal Times (Washington), New York Law Journal, and The Federal Lawyer.

As Co-Leader of the Government Contracts team and Law360 MVP in Government Contracts law, Todd Canni is entrusted by government contractors to resolve their most important “bet-the-company” government contracts matters and unexpected “crisis” events. He advises contractors throughout the life cycle of a government contract from award through closeout and everything in between, including bid protests, debarment matters, civil False Claims Act investigations, civil investigative demands, government disclosures, complex contract disputes and building and enhancing ethics and compliance programs. Todd is widely known as one of the nation’s preeminent suspension and debarment lawyers and one of only a few debarment lawyers who previously served as a Department of Defense debarring official.

Among his accomplishments: in 2022, Todd served as lead trial counsel in successfully challenging a DoD debarment in federal court, thus saving the client’s business – an outcome that contributed to his former firm receiving “Government Contracts Group of Year” honors by Law360. Due to Todd’s nearly two decades of experience in the government contracts and debarment spaces, including as a debarring official and as defense counsel, and his involvement in several dozen administrative agreements involving monitoring, he is well positioned to serve as an Independent Monitor under agency Administrative Agreements. Indeed, Todd authored the chapter on Administrative Agreements set forth in the ABA’s Practitioner’s Guide to Suspension and Debarment. In 2023, Todd was named a Law360 MVP for Government Contracts for his exemplary work in the field.

Tara Cannon is a Product Marketing Manager at Deltek for the Costpoint Product Line, Deltek’s flagship Enterprise Resource Planning tool for Government Contractors. She brings her 18 years of experience working for both small and large firms in the Aerospace and Defense Industry to Deltek’s Product Strategy organization. Tara works to further Costpoint’s mission of helping businesses navigate and succeed in the complex compliance landscape that is Government Contracting. She considers her work a success if she can help move the needle to ensure that customer and market needs continue to be met by Deltek’s Government Contracting software products.

Mr. Fredrick E. Carr assumed the position of Assistant Director, Operations, Defense Contract
Audit Agency (DCAA) in April 2023. He strategically leads a workforce of 150 personnel who provide
management information system and data analytics support, investigative support services,financial
liaison advisory services, and quantitative methods policy to over 4000 auditors and support
personnel dispersed throughout 300 offices worldwide. He oversees and manages an annual
operating budget of approximately $30 million.

Prior to coming to DCAA, Mr. Carr was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial
Operations, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Management and Comptroller, Arlington,
Virginia. Mr. Carr served as the principal adviser to the Assistant Secretary and the Air Force senior
staff on all issues involving the amended Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 and related financial
management reforms. He was responsible at the executive level for ensuring the Air Force complies
with legislative and executive financial management mandates leading to the effective and efficient
use of the Air Force resources. Additional responsibilities included the management of human
resources and technology solutions for Air Force financial management.

Matt Carter is the co-leader of Pillsbury’ s Government Contracts & Disputes practice. His practice includes litigating bid protests, conducting internal investigations, representing companies and individuals in suspension and debarment proceedings, and providing regulatory and compliance advice.

Matt, the leader of Pillsbury’s Bid Protests team, has achieved successful results for his clients in more than 50 bid protests at the Government Accountability Office, the Court of Federal Claims, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Matt also is a leading suspension and debarment lawyer. He has successfully represented corporations and individuals before numerous civilian and defense suspension and debarment officials, including the Air Force, the Army, DLA, the EPA, and the Navy, to ensure their continued eligibility to participate in federal programs. Matt is active in the ABA’s Public Contracts section and has served as a vice-chair of that section’s Suspension and Debarment Committee. He has also successfully defended numerous defense contractors in False Claims Act litigation.

A former Division One athlete, Matt was named a 2022 “ Rising Star” in the government contracts field by Law360and was recognized as a 2023 “ Rising Star” in Government Contracts by Bloomberg Law. He has also been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star for Government Contracts in 2016 – 2018 and 2023 – 2024.

Michael is a Director at Capital Edge Consulting, Inc. and a member of the firm’s CPSR Compliance Practice. He is an expert in the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR) process.

Michael’s areas of expertise include contractor business systems compliance, with an emphasis in DCMA CPSR readiness, execution, and compliance. He is also versed in FAR and DFAR regulations, DCMA processes and procedures pertaining to purchasing system reviews and contract administration, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS), proposal analysis and evaluation, cost modeling and estimating, forward pricing rate recommendations (FPRR) and agreements (FPRA), and he is fluent in Spanish. Michael has experience conducting CPSR-related training to DCMA CPSR Group procurement analysts as well as to dozens of Federal contractors.
As a DCMA CPSR Procurement Analyst, Michael was the “Team lead” for nearly 15 DCMA CPSRs in the last 3 years and served as the procurement analyst in nearly 15 additional reviews during the same time period. Michael was one of the few procurement analysts with experience in reviewing small business concerns and Ability One contractors. His experience covers a complete spectrum of contractors from A&E service providers to foreign manufacturing firms.

During his tenure as a DCMA CPSR Group Procurement Analyst, Michael developed a tool for use by all CPSR Group procurement analysts (for all four CPSR Teams) in performing CPSRs. Also, Michael developed a tool that all DCMA Administrative Contracting Officers (ACO) are currently required to use in their annual surveillance of contractor purchasing systems responsibilities. Michael was personally selected by the DCMA CPSR Director to represent the Phoenix CPSR Team at the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) World Congress (2015).

Prior to his time with the DCMA CPSR Group (Phoenix), he was a DCMA ACO and managed all activities related to Base Life Support on three US Military and US State Department installations in Iraq. Michael was responsible for approving or denying all work requests in accordance with US Government contracts, and managed all aspects of Government Prime Contract Administration with contracts in excess of $3.1 billion. He assisted DCMA Cost/Price Analysts in proposal analysis and evaluation cost modeling and estimating, forward pricing rate recommendations (FPRR) and agreements (FPRA), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) allocation of allowable and accounting for unallowable costs, and administered contracts for DCMA with the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world.

Ms. Debbra M. Caw, a member of the Senior Executive Service since June 2015, assumed the position of Deputy Director, Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) in January 2023. She is responsible for assisting the Director, DCAA in leading the Agency’s over 4,000 personnel as they execute the Agency’s worldwide operations and managing an annual operating budget of approximately $650 million.

Ms. Caw was formerly the Assistant Director of Operations. In this role, she strategically led a workforce of 150 personnel providing data analytics support, investigative support services, financial liaison advisory services, and support to Agency Information Systems. A catalyst for change, she moved the Agency toward becoming a data centric organization by transforming existing data into dashboards to better manage the audit workload. She also championed the use of data analytic techniques to improve the efficiency of the audit process across the entire Agency.

Justin Chiarodo is Partner at BlankRome and is the Chair of the Government Contracts Practice Group. Justin focuses his practice on all aspects of federal, state, and local procurement law. He has spent his entire career helping leading and emerging government contractors successfully navigate high-stakes litigation, compliance, and regulatory matters. Recent engagements include the successful defense of a $300 million sole-source award under a requirements contract for a major tactical wheeled vehicle program, managing the government contracts aspects of the $380 million sale of a defense electronic systems manufacturer, and defeating a $10 million False Claims Act suit based on the public disclosure bar.

Jeffery M. Chiow represents clients in litigation and government investigations related to government contracts, including federal and state bid protests and claims. Many of the bid protests that he litigates involve enterprise critical matters with billions of dollars at stake. Jeff has deep experience in the aerospace and defense sectors, as well as cybersecurity, technology services contracting, and schedule contracting. Prior to entering private practice, he was a U.S. Marine Corps weapons and sensors officer in the F/A-18D Hornet. This experience informs Jeff’s work with cutting-edge technology in the areas of space systems, cloud computing, weapons platforms and IT systems. Jeff also advises businesses on compliance matters, working with government contractors to develop tailored strategies for addressing complex business, legal, and regulatory issues. In particular, he is a recognized leader in the constantly-evolving area of cybersecurity, including compliance with DoD’s cyber and supply chain requirements and the CMMC initiative and related investigations and disclosures.

Jeff’s False Claims Act experience includes advising on alleged fraud involving federal grants, DOJ Civil Fraud investigations, and qui tam suits alleging hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. He conducts sensitive internal compliance investigations and counsels defense, health care, construction, and technology clients about potential civil and criminal liability as well as potential disclosure obligations.

Ms. Amanda Cline is the Small Business Program Manager at DCAA Headquarters in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In this capacity, she serves as the program manager and audit expert for the small business program with responsibility of providing assistance and consultation with regard to audit requirements and their application to small business.

Ryan Connell is Director, DCMA.

Bob’s clients benefit from his thirty-plus years of experience working with government contractors leading Accounting, IT, and Contract Management departments. All the situations he navigated and problems he solved have uniquely qualified him to help his clients solve technical accounting and regulatory reporting issues.

Bob is a leader in the Consulting practice at Saggar & Rosenberg and focuses on helping clients with government contracting regulatory topics and issues. Bob’s clients appreciate his practical approach when analyzing problems and proposing solutions. His clients rely on him to articulate complex topics in a simple and straightforward manner.

Bob’s clients include small, medium, and large businesses contracting with the U.S. Federal Government in a wide range of industries including aerospace and defense, pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, manufacturing, and professional services. He has also worked with numerous departments within the Federal government, including the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and many others.

Bob regularly teaches classes about Federal Acquisition Regulations, Cost Accounting Standards, and current industry trends such as cost estimating and indirect rate structures. He is known for adding levity and humor to complicated rules and regulations.

You’ll likely find Bob on a golf course outside the office. He also enjoys time with his wife and three dogs, Woodford, Tinka, and Leo. His two bucket list trips include fly fishing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and exploring Machu Picchu & the Sacred Valley of the Inca in Peru.

Eric, a Partner at Holland & Knight specializing in Government Contracts, Internet/Technology Law, and representing businesses of all shapes and sizes, was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star. This honor is only given to the top 2.5% of attorneys who meet certain criteria. Eric has appeared as a guest on Fox News, Government Matters, NPR, Federal News Radio and has been quoted in numerous publications including Newsweek, Washington Lawyer and the Washington Business Journal.

Eric is a proven trial attorney in state and federal court.

Aside from his recent accomplishments, Eric has extensive experience in litigating all stages of complex multi-million dollar matters in various state and federal courts from commencement through trial and verdict. In addition, Eric has successfully represented contractors before the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the United States Court of Federal Claims (COFC), the Department of Labor and various governmental boards. Eric has also briefed and argued appeals in state and federal court.

Eric frequently speaks to industry groups regarding government contract, business, and technology issues and related litigation and intellectual property issues.

Focus Areas: Government contracts litigation (including bid protests, subcontractor/prime contractor disputes, DOL litigation including Service Contract Act (SCA) & FLSA investigations), technology and Internet law, complex commercial litigation, intellectual property litigation, employment litigation, and appellate law.

Mr. Darst specializes in legal matters involving Government construction and service contract law and has extensive experience in the areas of contract formation and administration issues, bid protests, claims preparation and litigation, internal investigations, voluntary disclosures, procurement fraud investigations, various suspension and debarment proceedings, matters related to Small Business Administration, and other issues involving the award and administration of federal and state government contracts. Mr. Darst has represented clients in various matters before the Government Accountability Office, the Postal Service, Armed Services, and General Services Administration Boards of Contract Appeals, the Court of Federal Claims, the Small Business Office of Hearing and Appeals, and various agency-level proceedings. Mr. Darst's practice includes assisting clients with matters related to the sale and acquisition of firms involved in Government contracting, software licensing issues, other corporate governance matters, and civil litigation in Virginia and District of Columbia.

Mr. Darst is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and West Virginia. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of West Virginia.

Mr. Darst earned his B.A. from Marshall University and a J.D. from West Virginia University. After graduating from law school, Mr. Darst worked as an attorney with the United States Navy's Office of General Counsel and represented the Navy in matters involving the acquisition and administration of service and supply contracts for the Naval Sea Systems Command.

As the DIBCAC Director for the Defense Contract Management Agency, Nicholas (Nick) DelRosso Jr. oversees DCMA's cybersecurity assessments of the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) based upon DFARS 252.204-7012. Prior to this position, he served as a Team Chief for the DIBCAC. In this capacity, he supervised a team which conducted cybersecurity assessments of the DIB. DelRosso has also served as Software Surveillance Specialist, Computer Engineer, and Support Program Integrator within DCMA. He has software development experience with a defense contractor and program experience as part of a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC).

CMMC Pro

An experienced leader and workforce developer, specializing in risk assessments, mitigation development, compliance, and security. I build bridges between information technology and business functions to identify and address risk while enabling critical business functions . With over 25 years managing teams and projects across three continents, I help leaders make informed risk decisions and ensure stake holders equity is protected.

(FedRAMP, CMMC, SOC, ISO 27001, PCI/DSS/ HIPAA, NISFT CSF, CIS, FTC Safeguards, Cyber Insurance)
C Safeguards, Cyber Insurance)

Jay is a litigator and former Co-Chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Government Contracts and Public Procurement practice, with 46 years’ experience in the field. Clients from the aerospace, technology, and healthcare sectors seek his representation in all facets of government procurement law—from bid protests to complex claims and disputes through suspension and debarment. He also has an extensive practice in related issues, such as civil fraud and qui tam False Claims Act (“FCA”) actions. Quoting from a source, Chambers USA called Jay: “The best litigator in the country on government contracts and related matters.”

Mr. DeVecchio’s litigation successes include a defendant’s jury verdict in a $480 million FCA case in which he was trial counsel; prevailing in one of the largest defective pricing appeals tried to date; enjoining the Department of Defense for an improper debarment; winning the leading case on latent defects in government contracts; and achieving victory in the Eleventh Circuit's decision on false claims immunity for Medicare contractors. He has more than 50 reported decisions.

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 and The Washingtonian. Jay 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 conducts seminars on diverse subjects including claims, disputes, terminations, and data rights and has written extensively on all these topics.

Linda Diaz is a CMMC Registered Practitioner with 20+ years Functional and Technical hands-on experience in both GovCon and Commercial shared Accounting and IT Services which includes approximately 10+ years as a technical lead in Application Hosting and Cloud Services.

Cyndi currently serves her clients in the federal contracting and grantee spaces providing consulting on a vast range of issues including accounting systems design and compliance, contract management, Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR), FAR, CAS compliance, Service Contract Act (SCA) compliance and DCAA audit issues.

She has 30 years of experience in the government contracting industry, which includes executive management, internal audit and public accounting/consulting. Her clients span across multiple business sectors, including aerospace and defense, manufacturing, bio-tech, large Pharma, professional services, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) and International NGOs).

Prior to joining, RSM, Cyndi was a Division Vice President/Controller for large Government contractors where she was responsible for managing the accounting (G/L, A/R, A/P, payroll and financial reporting), contracts, purchasing, human resources and compliance functions (DCAA and Sarbanes-Oxley). Cyndi also spent four years as the manager of Internal Audit for a large government contractor and six years as an auditor in public accounting.

Aaron Dyer, Pillsbury’s Corporate Investigations & White Collar Defense Practice Group Co-Leader, is a former federal prosecutor and experienced trial attorney focusing on complex criminal and civil litigation and regulatory enforcement actions. In addition, Aaron represents individuals and corporations in internal investigations and intellectual property litigation, emphasizing securities, health care, the False Claims Act, and intellectual property theft and piracy. He also advises clients on corporate governance issues and the implementation of corporate compliance programs. Aaron spent almost seven years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. While in the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, he tried numerous complex fraud cases, including securities, bank, tax, investment, and insurance fraud. In addition, he spearheaded the Internet and computer crime prosecutions for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, serving as the Computer and Telecommunications Crimes Coordinator. He also served as the acting chief and deputy chief of the Major Frauds Section. During that time, he handled numerous oral arguments in the Ninth Circuit.

Since 1989, Joseph has been practicing primarily in the areas of government contracts, export controls, and international law. Joseph has participated in litigation before the federal courts, the Boards of Contract Appeals, and other administrative tribunals and agencies. Joseph was one of 15 recipients nationwide of the Burton Legal Foundation Award for Legal Achievement for 2000 and is also an NCMA Fellow.

Prior to joining Seyfarth, Joseph held a variety of legal and managerial positions with a major defense company.

Robert Eason has over 20 years of experience with the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) and has held a wide variety of positions in DCAA. He is currently the Division Chief for the Policy Accounting and Cost Principles (PAC) Division at DCAA Headquarters, and is responsible for audit policy for a number of program areas including contractor business systems and Cost Accounting Standards.

Susan is a thought leader in public contracting. Businesses, nonprofits and consortiums seek Susan’s sage advice and counsel on complex and emerging issues in government contracts, grants and agreements, compliance, audits, investigations and litigation.

Susan has vast experience advising and representing clients in government contracting matters. She has extensive experience handling bid protests, small business size protests and appeals, contract administration and compliance program issues, strategic alliances, security, audits and investigations, requests for equitable adjustment, claims and formal and informal dispute resolution. Clients seek her advice when confronted with difficult, unique or emerging issues, such as emerging cyber and supply chain risk compliance rules; non-standard federal research and development-related matters, including other transaction agreements, technology investment agreements, cooperative agreements, Small Business Innovation Research and grants; USAID/Host Nation, battlefield and contingencycontracting; state and local government contracts; grants and agreements.

Susan is the Immediate Past Chair of the American Bar Association Public Contract Law Section. She is also an ABA PCLS Fellow, Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and serves on the ABA Board of Governors Finance Committee-Investment Subcommittee. She also serves as Co-Chair of the National Defense Industrial Association’s Cyber Legal Regulatory Policy Committee and is an elected Director of The Procurement Round Table. Previously, she held positions as President of the Boards of Contract Appeals Bar Association, National President of Women In Defense, member of the Board of Directors of the National Defense Industrial Association, Chair of the D.C. Bar Government Contracts and Litigation Section, and member of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims Advisory Council.

Courtney has extensive experience with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliance, evaluation and preparation of Cost Presentations, cost accounting systems setup and reviews, and policy and procedure preparation. Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, Courtney served as a financial statement auditor for large and mid-tier government contractors.

Courtney works with small and large contractors in pro-actively preparing contractors for government contracts challenges as well as resolving complex DCAA and government procurement issues. Courtney’s expertise includes establishing and/or evaluating job cost accounting structures; management and preparation of complex incurred cost and forward pricing rate proposals; evaluation of internal controls most often evaluated by DCAA to include billing and estimating systems; preparation/evaluation of policies and procedures; development of cost allowability evaluation programs, and; preparation of corrective action plans for overcoming DCAA audit findings.

Courtney is a lead instructor for the Federal Publication Seminars course, “Government Contractor Accounting System Compliance”, and provides class instruction for other compliance courses and webinars such as “Preparation of Incurred Cost Submissions”, “Cost Accounting Standards”, and “Cost and Price Analysis”.

John A. Ellis is currently the Director for DCMA’s Software Division, responsible for the Policy, Training, and Tools used by the Agency’s software professionals in the conduct of their software surveillance activities, including the application of cybersecurity contract requirements and policies.

Mr. Ellis, a retired Army Colonel, served on active duty for more than 30 years. Commissioned a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery in May 1985 and becoming a member of the Army Acquisition Corps in 1995, he served in a variety of assignments until his retirement 1 June 2015.

John held assignments both stateside and abroad. Mr. Ellis’ DCMA experience began as the Commander of the Future Combat Systems (FCS)/Army Modernization Programs (AMP) contract management office in St. Louis, MO and he culminated his active duty career as DCMA’s Central Region Commander.

Peter J. Eyre is a partner and co-chair of Crowell & Moring's Government Contracts Group. He is also a member of the firm's Management Board. Peter was named to BTI Consulting Group’s list of "Client Service All-Stars" in 2016, 2017, and 2019 and has been named an Acritas Star, Acritas Stars Independently Rated Lawyers (2016, 2017, 2019). He is 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.

Government contract clients comply with a myriad of complex statutory and regulatory requirements at the federal, state, and local levels of public procurement. Many also have to comply with complex cost requirements unique to government contracts. They also need training in a myriad of contractual programs required by both federal and state agencies.

Don helps clients at every step of the procurement process. He prepares proposals, negotiates contracts, files or defends protests, and advises and trains clients. Don also supports claim preparation, negotiation, and litigation at both the prime contract and subcontract level. He helps with terminations for convenience or default, and eventually contract close-out. Additionally, he assists on the numerous audits that the government conducts.
For more than 40 years, Don has practiced government contract law. He started at the Office of General Counsel, Department of the Navy where he handled litigation for the Navy at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in 1979. Don then went into private practice at a well-recognized government contract firm, where he worked on major claims for the top government contract companies for 13 years. He joined Seyfarth in San Francisco in 1995 and has been with the firm since that time. Throughout his career, Don has represented aerospace, construction, service, and information technology companies in major claims and litigation with either the government or other contractors. He has also helped prepare proposals on major procurements, negotiate the contract, and handle the audits and close-out procedures. Furthermore, he has advised government contractors on virtually all areas of government contract law, such as intellectual property, export control, mandatory disclosure requirements, cost-accounting matters, audits, bid protests, and training programs.

Throughout his practice, Don has committed himself to a wide range of matters and reached successful outcomes. He supported a client for 13 years in dispute with the DCMA over the proper charging of IR+D and capital costs on the development of a new radar system for the F/A-18 aircraft. The amounts in dispute cover more than a decade of indirect costs, the total of which was in excess of $700 million. Eventually, based on arguments he helped to develop, the government dropped the case with zero recovery. Besides litigation, he has counseled small, medium, and large contractors in multiple industries. For example, he helped a small, $20 million-a-year training contractor prepare its proposal on a six-month $100 million training contract for baggage handlers on bomb detection equipment. He also helped to negotiate the contract, helped to ensure proper performance, and supported audits and close-out efforts.

Don relies on Seyfarth's team of attorneys and professionals, as well as the firm's technology, to enhance his service and cut costs. He sold one of the first SeyfarthLean representations to a large client, an arrangement that has continued for more than 12 years. Don has used SeyfarthLean concepts to evaluate a contractor's export control processes between its headquarters in the US and subsidiaries in Canada. He has also used SeyfarthLean to evaluate a food manufacturer's government contract risks and helped to develop a training program for them, based on the risks identified. In addition, Don once teamed with the in-house counsel of a missile to try a case at the ASBCA. The in-house counsel served as associates to minimize costs and worked well with outside counsel throughout the trial.
Don enjoys having a fast-paced practice at Seyfarth with clients in different parts of the country, because he never knows what's coming in the door each day. He has always enjoyed the practice of government contract law, because it frequently involves complex technology, large procurements, and large-dollar disputes.

Pat Fitzgerald is a member of Baker Tilly’s government contractor advisory services group. He joined the firm in 2015, bringing with him over 35 years of experience in government auditing and acquisition, including expertise in enhancing the cost effectiveness of business operations, resolving compliance challenges, improving business system effectiveness, conducting internal investigations, preparing for negotiations, and improving relationships between contractors, auditors and contracting officers.

Pat is the former director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) for the Department of Defense (DoD). There, he oversaw the agency’s $600 million budget and the 5,000 professionals providing contract audit and advisory services. His background also includes advising soldiers on effective and efficient mission completion practices, making recommendations to army leaders for resolving varied issues and directing the internal audit function as the U.S. Army’s auditor general reporting directly to the secretary of the Army. Pat possesses extensive knowledge of government contracting processes, including cost accounting standards. His experience includes serving on the five-person OMB Cost Accounting Standards Board representing the DoD. An exceptional communicator, having testified before members of congress on several occasions, Pat often advises clients on how to employ effective communication strategies to help resolve issues.

David (Dave) Fix is a Director with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. He provides Government Contract Consulting services to our Government contractors primarily related to compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulations and Cost Accounting Standards, equitable adjustment claims, and business systems. Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, Dave served in a number of capacities with DCAA for over 35 years. Upon his retirement, Dave was a Regional Audit Manager with DCAA.

Dave began his DCAA career in 1986 as an auditor-trainee with the General Electric Suboffice in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He progressed from auditor to DCAA management ranks serving in DCAA offices in Upstate New York, Columbus, Ohio and Greensboro, North Carolina in audits of major and non-major contractors. Dave served DCAA in three overseas tours, all as Branch Manager, in Kuwait/Iraq (2007), Afghanistan (2010-2012) and Kuwait (2014). Dave was promoted to Regional Special Programs Manager (RSPM) in 2015 before ultimately becoming a Regional Audit Manager (RAM) in October 2019. While a RSPM, Dave worked with DCAA’s other three RSPMs with updating the Agency-wide audit planning process including assigning priorities and determining funded/unfunded audits that is currently being used by DCAA. While a RAM, Dave had overall management responsibility for audits performed by approximately 140 employees including one of DCAA’s largest shipyards. During his career, he served as guest instructor at DCAA’s Defense Contract Audit Institute (DCAI) bringing field perspective to “Advance Auditing Issues” and “Supervisors’ Course” as well as served as a DCAI adjunct instructor over DCAA auditors’ initial two-week training course prior to his retirement.

Dave served 36 years in the Air Force Reserve/Air National Guard in both enlisted and officer positions retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His last duty station was Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) Headquarters, Robins Air Force Base, Inspector General Office serving as the Chief, Contracting Inspections leading inspections of AFRC’s 10 contracting offices as well as assisting in inspections of AFRC
finance offices.

Dave currently specializes in preparing clients for more complex DCAA audits, providing advice on FAR cost principles and contracts regulatory provisions and in assisting clients in anticipating and addressing audit.

Mr. John Foley has been with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) since 2008. He has been with the Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR) Group since 2012. He has worked as Procurement Analyst, Team Supervisor and is currently in the role of Group Director at Hanscom AFB in Bedford, Massachusetts.

Dan's practice focuses on a wide variety of government procurement law, including bid protests, False Claims Act and qui tam litigation, investigations of potential civil and criminal matters, ethics and compliance, contract claims and disputes, GSA schedule contracting, and small disadvantaged business contracting. Dan is also experienced in negotiating and drafting teaming agreements and subcontracts, as well as providing counseling on the interpretation of FAR clauses and solicitations. Dan's practice also focuses on state and local procurement matters, including State False Claims Act issues, lobbying and contingency payment compliance. He has been involved in bid protest litigation in six states and the District of Columbia. Dan is ranked as a Band 1 ranked attorney by Chambers USA, listed as a two-time Law360 MVP (2015, 2020), was named to Legal 500’s “Hall of Fame” for Government Contracts in their 2020 Guide, is an Acritas Star and was previously named to BTI’s list of “Client Service All-Stars.

Kirk A. Foster is an Assistant General Counsel and the Director of Compliance and Privacy for Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Mission
Technologies. In this capacity, he advises the President and senior leaders of HII Mission Technologies on compliance and legal matters,
and supports the HII Mission Technologies business operations counsel and compliance managers on legal, regulatory, and strategic issues. He also supports the HII Mission Technologies Chief Information Officer on cyber and technology matters.

Prior to joining the HII Law Department in 2019, Kirk served a 28-year career with the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where he served in a variety of senior legal advisor and leadership positions in the Pentagon, and at various Navy and Joint commands, including two sea deployments and deployments to Iraq and Pakistan.

Calvin Freeman is VP, Enterprise Procurement and Supply Chain Management at ManTech. He is a Senior Manager with over 25 years of broad-based experience in Subcontracts Administration, General Procurement, and Supply Chain Management in the public and private sectors. Proven ability to engage cross-functionally and achieve results through collaboration with program business partners.

Mr. David (Dave) Freeman is recently retired, closing out a what proved to be a three-track professional career. He served 23 years as an Army officer, initially starting out as a Signal Corps officer supporting the operational testing of new weapons platforms. Following his acceptance of an Army scholarship in the Funded Legal Education Program and the completion of his legal studies, Mr. Freeman completed his military career as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, working assignments both in the field and in buying commands, primarily as a Contract and Fiscal Law Attorney. He also served in a legal branch chief in the 1st Infantry Division during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and later as a Deputy General Counsel in a DoD agency in Crystal City, Virginia. From the military, Mr. Freeman spent a number of years as an in-house counsel for several defense industry companies, lastly as the Deputy General Counsel for General Dynamics Land Systems. Finally, Mr. Freeman worked several years as a Department of the Army civilian supporting the National Training Center and Fort Irwin, California, where he had once served as a Major.

Nicholas Galbraith advises domestic and international clients on a wide range of complex trade law issues. No matter how rapidly changing the regulatory environment, Nick remains focused on identifying what is important and relevant to his clients and creating a legal strategy that realizes their objectives.

Nick has a wide range of international trade experience. He counsels clients on U.S. export controls and sanctions laws, including drafting compliance policies and procedures; export classifications; licensing requirements under the International Traffic and Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and U.S. sanctions maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC); and the disclosure of potential violations to relevant authorities.

Brian Gallagher has over 15 years of experience providing professional services to government contractors in the areas of regulatory compliance, finance, accounting, and training. His experience includes support of Federal contractors ranging from small business to Fortune 500 companies across a wide variety of industries serving a multitude of Government agencies.

Brian’s expertise includes the design and implementation of processes, policies, and procedures for Contractor Business Systems with a primary focus in Accounting and Estimating. Utilizing expertise with the FAR, DFARS, CAS, and Truthful Cost or Pricing Data, his extensive experience includes the development of incurred cost submissions, CAS Disclosure Statements, related cost impact models, certified cost or pricing proposal data, Forward Pricing Rates, and support of DCAA audits.

Matt is a principal in Baker Tilly's risk advisory practice. Matt joined Baker Tilly in 2020 . He leads our Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) and Government Contractor IT Risk suite of services. He has led IT audits and cybersecurity assessments for large primes down to smaller 8A contractors. Matt’s expertise includes internal auditing, SOX compliance, information technology controls, business process controls, and ERP risk and controls. Examples of these engagements include CMMC Readiness assessments, 800-171 implementation projects, 800-53 based ATO readiness reviews, IT Risk assessments, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, internal audit, pre- and post-implementation assessments, and privacy assessments for clients.

Matt is actively engaged in supporting government contractors, grant recipients, state and local governments and federal agencies navigate the CMMC requirements but has extensive experience supporting NIST 800-171 and 800-53 related assessments. Matt has also run fully co-sourced internal audit engagements for large clients (multi-billion dollars in revenues) in the government contracting industry.

Asa is a Director with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. and provides contract compliance services to small and large companies contracting with the U.S. Government. Asa has assisted contractors all over the U.S., as well as worked with clients in Europe, Australia and the Middle East and specializes in DCAA audit compliance and accounting information systems. He frequently serves as a compliance resource to 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, tribally-owned and other small business designation clients and has served as the technical lead in proposal cost-volume preparation, responses to DCAA audit issues and crafting of corrective action plans in response to government issues, and development of complex cost accounting structures.

Nick, a partner in our Tysons, Virginia office, has been with Baker Tilly since 2006. Nick specializes in financial statement attest and financial advisory engagements. He works with clients in numerous industries, including government contracting, assisting in matters pertaining to corporate financial accounting issues, U.S. GAAP reporting matters, key business processes and strategies to improve the design and effectiveness of internal controls.

Michael Greenman has worked in government and technology for over 20 years. At Deltek, Michael works in the Product Strategy team and is the evangelist for cybersecurity compliance and cloud. Prior to joining Deltek, he worked as a consultant for a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) conducting cybersecurity risk assessments for local government and advising government contractors on CMMC preparation.

Zlatko “Zack” Hadzismajlovic is a partner at McCarter & English. Zack’s practice focuses on international trade, export controls and customs matters as well as global mobility issues. Zack represents clients in a wide spectrum of controlled defense, dual-use (ITAR, EAR, OFAC) and purely commercial trade matters. In addition, Zack counsels client in navigating deals through the newly reformed review and submission requirements related to foreign direct investments (CFIUS, FOCI, BEA) as well as in the pre-transaction planning and diligence and post-transaction implementation of mitigation instruments.

J. Chris Haile is a partner at Crowell & Moring with extensive experience in government procurement law. Mr. Haile litigates disputes and counsels clients in a broad range of government contract matters, with particular emphasis on the resolution of contract disputes. For example, Mr. Haile has represented clients in matters involving the government's breach of contract, claims for contract changes, termination for default, termination for convenience, Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA) compliance and defective pricing, commercial-item procurement, contract negotiations, and bid protests. He also represents clients in other related matters, such as investigations and audits by government agencies or inspectors general (IGs), False Claims Act / qui tam relator suits, and disclosures to the U.S. Government.

Mr. Haile represents clients from many different industries, including aerospace, defense, health care, construction, telecommunications, information technology, and professional services. He also has experience involving agencies such as the Department of Defense (DOD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Agency for International Development (USAID), Department of State, U.S. Postal Service, and the General Services Administration (GSA).

Mr. Haile has represented clients in litigation before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. District Courts, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the District of Columbia Contract Appeals Board. He also represents clients in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in a variety of forms, including arbitration, mediation, and other binding and non-binding ADR proceedings.

D.J. is a manager in the government contractor solutions practice of Baker Tilly. He has been working in government compliance and contracting for 12 years with expertise in monitoring contractor business systems, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), final incurred costs and forward pricing rate agreements. He has extensive experience as a warranted corporate and divisional administrative contracting officer and has developed numerous policies and procedures related to government compliance. Additionally, he works with federal auditors to resolve findings for all types of audits and has experience reviewing policies and procedures for government contractors of all sizes.

Matthew Haws is a partner in the Government Contracts Practice. He represents clients ranging from defense manufacturers to IT systems integrators on government contract and grant law issues, including claims, compliance, and investigations.

Mr. Haws guides contractors through complicated issues in their relationship with the government, including significant bid protests, Inspector General investigations, mandatory disclosures, False Claims Act (FCA) litigation, suspension/debarment proceedings, DCAA audits, and claims against the government. He conducts internal investigations, develops requests for equitable adjustment and claims, and provides guidance to contractors on their most complicated problems.

Eric Hayman has over 15 years of experience providing professional support to government contractors and government agencies in the areas of compliance, accounting and training. He specializes in the Federal Acquisitions Regulations, Cost Accounting Standards, Government Audits and Contract’s Finance Management. He has worked closely with Chief Financial Officers, Controllers, Vice Presidents, and General Counsels among others, and brings experience from a wide range of engagements.

Eric has provided Government Contracting Services to a wide range of Industries, including Aerospace and Defense, Pharmaceuticals and Biotech Sectors, Manufacturing and Professional Services. His clients range from small start-ups to large, publicly-held, multi-national organizations.

Ryan Heidorn is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Steel Root, where he leads the firm’s cybersecurity compliance practice. Ryan’s expertise includes helping government contractors implement and operationalize cybersecurity requirements under DFARS 252.204-7012 and NIST SP 800-171.

Ryan teaches cybersecurity at Endicott College and serves on the board of directors of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) New England chapter.

Kim Herrington is Vice President, Government Finance at L3Harris Technologies. In this role, Kim is responsible for providing strategic leadership to L3Harris business segments to optimize financial performance within the U.S. government contracting environment. This role enables enterprise performance by leveraging best-in-class defense government finance principles to improve organizational effectiveness and minimize risk. Areas of focus include wrap rate management, government compliance, strategic rate pool structure reviews, and integration of financial plans into the strategic plan.

John is seasoned government contracting expert who assists contractors with regulatory compliance requirements throughout the government contract lifecycle. John works with government contract and grant recipients of all shapes and sizes and provides strategic advisory services to some of the largest US Federal Government contractors in the world. He works with contractors serving a wide-ranging customer base including Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Energy (DOE), Health & Human Services (HHS), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), various intelligence agencies, and many others. John brings a thoughtful and strategic approach to solving complex compliance challenges while keeping his clients’ unique business interests and needs at the forefront. John has an in-depth understanding of the federal compliance environment, procurement process, and implications to contractors. He has extensive, practical knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS), other agency FAR supplements, and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS).

Jen is supporting OUSD(A&S)/AAP (EVM-CR Deputy Program Manager) for Tecolote Research.

Jerald S. Howe, Jr. is a Leidos executive vice president and the company’s general counsel. Howe has responsibility for legal, contracts, corporate governance, environmental health and safety, and administrative oversight of the ethics and compliance and internal audit functions. He joined Leidos in July 2017 after serving as partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP (Fried Frank) where he was a member of the firm’s government contracts, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and aerospace and defense practices.

Howe is an accomplished leader with nearly 35 years of experience advising and representing clients in government contracts litigation, investigations, and bid protests as well as in M&A and private equity transactions. His experience includes the aerospace, defense, intelligence, and government services sectors.

Alex Iftimie is co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Global Risk and Crisis Management group and routinely advises Fortune 500 and high-growth clients on all aspects of breach preparedness and response, including counseling executives on cybersecurity governance and risk management, and responding to cyber incidents ranging from ransomware attacks to nation-state sponsored economic espionage. Drawing on his experience at the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Alex also advises global entities on legal obligations related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); foreign investment transactions before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS); and laws related to material support to terrorism, sanctions, and export controls.

Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Alex held multiple senior positions at the DOJ, including Counselor to the Attorney General, Deputy Chief of Staff and Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. Throughout his time at DOJ, he advised the Department leadership on national security, intelligence and cyber matters, including policy and legal issues arising in the National Security Council process, CFIUS matters, complex issues involving FARA, and engagements with non-U.S. officials. He also represented the Department on the Export Control Reform Initiative that sought to strengthen national security and the competitiveness of key U.S. manufacturing and technology sectors, and before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on issues involving novel questions at the intersection of law and technology. Most recently, as a prosecutor in the National Security and Cybercrime Units of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alex brought the Department’s charges against Russian efforts to interfere in the 2018 midterm elections. During his time at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he also investigated, and/or prosecuted, federal crimes ranging from espionage, trade secret theft, and national security cyber matters, to fraud, firearm, and drug offenses.

As Vice President of CMMC and FedRAMP Assurance at Coalfire Federal, Stuart Itkin has responsibility and oversight of the company’s CMMC RPO Advisory Services and C3PAO Assessment Services, and for its FedRAMP 3PAO Assessment Services for Federal. Stuart previously served as Vice President of Product Management at Exostar, a Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce formed joint venture company, where he had responsibility over the company’s compliance management, supply chain risk management, and secure collaboration platforms, and for establishing its CMMC practice area. Stuart has served in leadership roles with cybersecurity companies PivotPoint Risk Analytics, SAIFE, and ThreatTrack Security, as lead mentor at the Virginia State Government funded MACH37 cybersecurity product accelerator, and as an advisor and board member to several early and growth stage cybersecurity companies. Stuart was recruited to the Washington DC area by the Corporate Executive Board, now a subsidiary of Gartner, where he served as Global Chief Marketing Officer. Stuart earned a BA and an MA and is an ABD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Coalfire Federal has 20 years’ experience providing cybersecurity services to a wide range of government and commercial organizations enabling and protecting their mission-specific cyber objectives. As the leading FedRAMP 3PAO, one the first authorized CMMC C3PAOs and a CMMC RPO, the company is able to perform CMMC Assessments for OSCs and provide advisory services to organizations preparing for CMMC Certification. The company, in addition, also offers a full spectrum of cybersecurity services including cyber program management and operations, technical security assessments, cyber automation, engineering and orchestration, and security compliance and advisory services. For more information, visit: www.coalfirefederal.com.

Will B. Jeffers is a Senior Manager with Capital Edge Consulting, Inc. He provides expert-level support in the areas of strategic sourcing, Price-to-Win strategies, Mentor-Protégé formulation and strategy, Indian Incentive Program utilization and small business strategic partnering.

Will was previously the Director of Procurement Governance & Control for Leidos which was the highest procurement position within their corporate offices located in Reston, Virginia. In this role, he was responsible across the entire enterprise for the Strategic Sourcing Department, the Strategic Proposal Team, compliance, training and the Small Business Liaison Office. Will was responsible for the overall structured and programmatic approach to managing all third-party spend ($2.6 billion annually) within Leidos to ensure the full economic benefit of that spend. Prior to this role, Will was the Sector Procurement Director for the National Security Sector at Leidos for over 15 years. With 11,000 employees, this Sector was the fastest growing line organization within Leidos (previously known as SAIC) and one of the largest support organizations in the intelligence community. He was responsible for all procurement-related activities within this organization and managed over 120 procurement professionals including five Vice Presidents with annual expenditures that exceeded $1 billion.

Will has an in-depth understanding of the interplay between contracts, procurement, pricing and finance. He was recognized at Leidos as one of the best proposal practitioners as well as one of the most effective negotiators within the corporation, and as such was usually afforded the opportunity of leading many of the largest, most complex and critical proposals within the company. During his 28 years at Leidos/SAIC Will displayed an intense ability to rapidly comprehend complex problems and instantly create solutions to allow for strategic and tactical decisions to be applied in the most effective and expeditious manner. Before joining SAIC, Will spent 7 years at M/A-Com Government Systems and Racal Communications. Will previously held a Top Secret (TS/SCI) clearance.

Mark Jones is CPRC Pricing Division Director at the DCMA.

Mr. Katz is a Counsel in Brown Rudnick’s Washington, DC office where he is a member of the Wage and Hour Group, a practice spanning the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Service Contract Act, the Davis-Bacon Act, and state wage laws. He represents mostly employers in class and collective actions, individual lawsuits, federal and state wage investigations, and self-audit compliance. Mr. Katz also has been retained to be an exemption classification consultant.

Mr. Katz is fluent in Hebrew.

Perry Keating is the Managing Director and President of Protiviti Government Services (Pro Gov), with over 30 years of experience in business and service with the government and the Defense Industrial Base (DIB).

Perry’s technical expertise includes protecting government data, systems, and networks from cybersecurity assessments, policy development, and remediation through incident response for compliance with a variety of frameworks (FAR 52.204-21, DFARS 252.204-7012, FISMA, FedRAMP, NIST RMF, NIST 800-53; NIST 800-171, CMMC).

His experience gives him unique industry insight into the Aerospace & Defense (A&D), Government Contractors (GovCon), Defense Industrial Base (DIB), and Public Sector (US Federal, State & Local) as well as the Telecommunications and High-Tech industries.

Perry earned his MBA from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Tulane University. He proudly served as a Commissioned Officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers.

He is a member of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM); the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association (AFCEA); the Army Engineer Association (AEA); the Association of the United States Army (AUSA); the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA); and the Reserve Officers Association (ROA)

As a Manager in CohnReznick’s Government Contracting and Technology Group, Ms. Kehoe has more than 30 years of experience addressing compliance issues for government contractors. She consults with small and medium-sized businesses providing all aspects of federal contract compliance, including implementation and audit of Purchasing, Estimating and Property Business Systems, Conflicts of Interest audits, Service Contract Act Labor Audits, and Contract/Subcontract administration reviews.

Her background as legal counsel for the General Services Administration provides insight into what the federal government regulations require and what the federal contractor can expect from an outside review of its compliance programs. Ms. Kehoe also teaches several classes from our GovCon Academy which provides practical business training on financial and compliance requirements for federal government contracts.

Richard leads artificial intelligence governance and risk management at Protiviti. During his three-decade career, he’s advised clients on technology strategy, cyber security strategy and governance, data and information governance, Infonomics, eDiscovery, and operational risk management. Rich has designed, implemented, and run global governance functions for large financial services institutions, working closely with business leaders as well as risk management, compliance, and audit to develop and execute enterprise-wide programs, policies, guidelines, and standards covering data and information risk.

Michael A. Killham is a California attorney specializing in U.S. Government procurement and subcontracting support. He provides legal advice, training, and assistance concerning all aspects of federal and commercial contracting and fiscal law, including but not limited to subjects relating to Contract Formation and Administration, Legal Compliance, Subcontracting, Negotiations, Bid Protests, Contract Disputes, Commercial Item Contracting, Contract Terminations, Export/Import Compliance, and Source Selection.

Mr. Killham served as corporate counsel for major U.S. government contractors following his military career as a U.S. Army Judge Advocate. These assignments included Director, Legal Operations, for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Advanced Development Programs (a.k.a. “Skunkworks”) in Palmdale, California; General Counsel for a U.S./French joint venture - Thales-Raytheon Systems Company, LLC - and MD Helicopters, Inc., in Fullerton, California and Mesa, Arizona, respectively; Senior Business Counsel for Raytheon Space & Airborne Systems in El Segundo, California; and Division Counsel for two operating divisions of Litton Industries, Inc. While in these positions, he was responsible for identifying, advising on, and resolving a wide variety of legal and business-related issues, including those relating to government and commercial contracting and subcontracting, export/import compliance, corporate governance, labor/employment law, government cost accounting, intellectual property rights, litigation management, and more.

Anthony Kim has more than 20 years of experience in various cost accounting and compliance issues related to government contracts. Specifically, he is knowledgeable in the areas of government contract procurement regulations, Cost Accounting Standards, OMB Uniform Guidance, Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards and Generally Accepted Auditing Standards.

Anthony’s industry experience includes architecture and engineering, aerospace and defense, construction, manufacturing, information technology, not-for-profits, and higher education. He has assisted clients with complex cost accounting matters, cost representations, business system implementations, expert testimonials, proposal assistance, audit support, and other regulatory compliance matters.

Prior to joining CACI International, Mr. Kim was a director at BDO USA, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, Navigant Consulting and Partner at Capital Edge Consulting. He has also worked for KPMG as a manager for over seven years. Recently, he assisted in developing an annual DCAA conference seminar, conducted numerous training for Federal Publication Seminars, held webinars with clients and prospects on various government contract compliance matters, and served as a member of the National Defense Industry Association Contract Finance Committee in charge of regulatory and legislative updates.

He has assisted contractors and their outside counsel to resolve disputes arising under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Cost Accounting Standards, Truth in Negotiations Act, and other accounting-related rules and regulations, and conducted independent forensic accounting investigations to evaluate allegations of fraud, accounting errors and irregularities, cost mischarging and defective pricing.

In addition, Anthony is a nationally recognized speaker who teaches classes through Federal Publication Seminars, National Contract Management Association, Virginia Society of CPAs. He has lectured on a number of topics, including Government Contract Accounting, Federal Acquisition Regulations, Cost Accounting Standards, Cost & Price Analysis, Incurred Cost Submissions, Introduction to Government Contracting, and Government Contractor Business Systems Compliance. He is a member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) and the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).

Stephen Knight has practiced government contract law for more than 40 years, counseling and litigating on behalf of clients in all aspects of that practice. He has significant experience in claims and disputes, with special emphasis on costing and pricing issues involving cost allocability and allowability, Cost Accounting Standards, defective pricing under the Truth in Negotiations Act, and government audits. Stephen has substantial experience in compliance issues pertaining to government contractors and frequently assists clients in evaluating the requirement and manner of making disclosures to the government. He has conducted compliance reviews for clients, assisting in reviewing and evaluating internal controls, conducting training and evaluating specific compliance issues such as business systems and socio-economic requirements in government contracts. Stephen represents prime contractors as well as subcontractors in the manufacturing and services sectors and is experienced in ascertaining the necessary government contract requirements for inclusion in subcontracts.

Ryan Koenitzer, CPA, leads RKI, a U.S. Government Contracts practice and CPA firm dedicated to assisting U.S. Government contractors with their accounting and compliance needs. Mr. Koenitzer has over 14 years experience in government contract cost accounting, pricing, interpretation and application of federal contract regulatory compliance requirements including the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), USG business system design and implementation, and internal audit services. He advises clients on a wide range of financial and compliance risks and other regulatory requirements related to U. S. government contracts. He has served clients in the aerospace and defense, architectural and engineering, construction, manufacturing, energy, transportation and technology industries across various Government agencies (e.g., DoD, DOE, etc.).

Jonathan H. Kosarin, Associate Counsel, Special Projects Division, is assigned to the Department of Defense Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate. He has over 42 years’ experience in acquisition, government contracting, and fiscal law. Mr. Kosarin previously served as Assistant General Counsel at the National Reconnaissance Office; Deputy Counsel, Special Projects Division; and, Associate Counsel, Naval Supply Systems Command. While on active duty as a JAG with the Army, he served as European Trial Attorney and Attorney Advisor at the U.S. Army Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, and as Trial Attorney, U.S. Army Contract Appeals Division.

As an Army Reserve JAG, Mr. Kosarin served as Adjunct Professor of Contract Law/Chairman Contract and Fiscal Law Department at the Army Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, VA; Acting Chief, Contract Law Division, U.S. Army Headquarters in Heidelberg Germany, and as Deputy General Counsel, Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office. He retired from the Army Reserve as a Colonel.

Mr. Kosarin is an Adjunct Instructor of Procurement and Contracting at the University of Virginia and also teaches at the joint UVA/Virginia State Police’s National Criminal Justice Command College. He is an instructor with Federal Publication Seminars teaching courses in contracting, procurement and negotiations.

Kim is currently the VP of Industry Marketing for Unanet. She concentrates on thought leadership and market positioning specifically in the areas of project management, accounting and government contracting. She started her career working for Raytheon where she held multiple management positions such as the Javelin Joint Venture Controller and Product Line Business Manager. Her love of Earned Value Management (EVM) developed in the early years of her career and today still enjoys talking about it and providing direction on best practices. After 17 years at Raytheon she joined ATK where she held the positions of Director of Business Systems, EVM Focal Point, and Finance Director.

Over the years Kim led multiple large ERP system implementations. She has been a trainer in her organizations and has provided guidance to many project and executive teams.

Stephanie Kostro is Executive Vice President for Policy at the Professional Services Council, where she leads a strong policy team that is committed to advocating for and supporting productive collaboration between the federal government and services industry. As a recognized executive, on-air commentator, and policy expert with more than 20 years of experience in the U.S. Government and industry, she brings a wealth of knowledge in federal procurement policy and acquisition regulations, government processes and programs, and public-private partnerships.

Prior to joining PSC in 2021, Kostro was a Principal at a government relations and consulting firm where she developed and implemented policy, funding, and business development strategies for a global client base. She worked extensively with civilian, defense, diplomatic, and intelligence officials, as well as with federal departments’ oversight committees in Congress.

From 2010-2015, she was a senior fellow and director of the Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a prominent national security think tank. Kostro served as a State Department contractor at U.S. Embassy Baghdad for one year, and from 2005-2008, she was a senior professional staff member and policy director on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. At the Pentagon from 1998-2005, she worked in a variety of offices within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, on the Joint Staff, and in embassies and missions overseas.

Stephen “Chase” Kunk is a Managing Partner Capital Edge Consulting, Inc. Chase specializes in U.S. Government contract and subcontract negotiations, administration, management and purchasing system compliance. His expertise stems from his legal education, former certification as a National Football League contract advisor to professional athletes, and in-depth experience as a contracts and procurement administration manager for an international contractor serving Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community (IC) and civilian agency customers. Chase’s support to Capital Edge Consulting clients is predominantly in the areas of contract and subcontract administration, purchasing system compliance and Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR) readiness and risk mitigation. He also leads all contract and subcontract negotiation and administration for Capital Edge Consulting’s internal business operations.

Lindy Kyzer is the director of content of ClearanceJobs.com, the largest career site for individuals with an active federal security clearance. ClearanceJobs has registered more than 1 million candidates with an active federal security clearance and has been helping government contractors find cleared talent since 2002. As senior editor Lindy covers the defense industry, intelligence community, government and contracting trends for the ClearanceJobs news site, newsletters and media partners. She also manages ClearanceJobs’ social media. Prior to working for ClearanceJobs, Lindy was a Department of Army employee at the Pentagon and the U.S. Army’s first social media manager (she credits teaching hundreds of Army senior leaders to Facebook and Tweet as one of her claims to fame).

Paul Lalonde is a partner and lead of the Regulatory practice group. He focuses on government contracting law, international trade, anti-corruption and international arbitration. Mr. Lalonde is a recognized expert on government procurement and international trade law, with deep experience in anti-dumping and countervail investigations, customs, appeals, import and export controls, international sanctions, anti-corruption compliance and investigations, and international business. He regularly advises clients on Canada’s international investment treaty commitments and has played a key role in some of Canada’s highest profile trade disputes and negotiations including those on softwood lumber, steel and agricultural products.

His government procurement practice encompasses all aspects of the procurement lifecycle, from pre-tender activities, the bidding process and contract award, through contract administration and termination and the inevitable disputes that occasionally arise. His track record of appearances in bid protest procedures before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal and the courts is second to none in Canada.

Mr. Lalonde has received numerous accolades for his expertise in international trade and government procurement law including from Lexpert, Chambers Global (Band 1 for government procurement, Band 2 for trade law), the Legal 500, Who’s Who, the Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers (Legal Media Group / Euromoney Institutional Investor) and The Best Lawyers in Canada (Woodward/White). The Who’s Who Legal Government Contracts recognized Mr. Lalonde as a Global Thought Leader for North America. He also received in 2020 a global Client Choice Award in Government Contracts for Canada.

Mr. Lalonde has been involved in the area of anti-corruption law since Canada adopted the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act in the 90’s and was counsel on the first court-approved Remediation Agreement on charges under the CFPOA. He has assisted clients with respect to anti-corruption compliance through the entire spectrum of issues in this area, including developing compliance policies and programs, advising on business conduct issues, anti-corruption due diligence in transactions, internal investigations related to employee and third party conduct, RCMP and other enforcement authority investigations, dawn raids and negotiations. He has been involved in extensive thought leadership in this area including on topics such as whistle blower protections, victim reparations, deferred prosecution agreements, beneficial ownership transparency, money laundering, failure to prevent offences and facilitation payments.

Mr. Lalonde was appointed panelist on the fourth and fifth dispute resolution panels created under the Agreement on Internal Trade (now the Canadian Free Trade Agreement). He is also a listed arbitrator on the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) Canada Panel of Arbitrators and has been involved in several arbitrations, both as counsel and party-appointed arbitration.

Mr. Lalonde has held numerous leadership positions in the Bar, including as chair of various committees of the International Bar Association, the Canadian Bar Association, Ontario Bar Association, and the American Bar Association International Law Section. Mr. Lalonde is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, has been named a Trustee of the International Bar Association Foundation and is former Chair and President of Transparency International - Canada. Mr. Lalonde has been nominated to a number of industry advisory committees and corporate boards, including TVOntario, TFO, la télévision éducative et culturelle de l’Ontario français, and was former Secretary and Legal Counsel of I.E. Canada, the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters.

Fernand Lavallee's practice focuses on litigation of, and counseling on, public procurements, and he is a recognized leader in intellectual property rights in government contracts. Fern is a trusted advisor on the public procurement of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI enhanced or augmented products and services, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, contract and subcontract formation, administration, compliance, cybersecurity, suspension and debarment, due diligence, internal investigations, rights in patents (Bayh-Dole Act), rights in 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 (GAO), and the Court of Federal Claims (COFC). Fern also brings claims before the Civilian and Defense Boards of Contract Appeals and COFC and size protests before the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Fern's clients engage in R&D and provide products and services to federal civilian and defense agencies, including the intelligence community, under contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA), and Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements.

Fern has taught, written, and spoken on government contracts topics including Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) 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.

LoraLee LeFleur is the Principal Director, Supply Chain, at The Aerospace Corporation.

Noah Leiden has been with Baker Tilly since 2010. He has worked in government contracting consulting since 1991 serving manufacturing, engineering, professional services, information and communications, healthcare, higher education, and not-for-profit organizations. Noah has extensive experience providing a range of government contract accounting, pricing, business system and internal control oversight, and regulatory and contract compliance to his clients.

Jake Leishman is an experienced government contracts attorney who develops and delivers instruction, legal consultation on legal, contract administration, acquisitions, policy implementation, and compliance issues.

Jake began as a social worker then moved to education, serving as the Director of Continuing Education at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Community Planning. In addition to continuing education, Jake taught graduate and undergraduate courses in social policy and social administration.

After receiving her Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland, Jake spent a few years in private practice but made the decision that corporate law, focusing on government contracts was her preferred arena. She worked at Federal Data Corporation as Corporate Counsel and at Electronic Data Systems (now HP Enterprise Services) as Senior Counsel for EDS’ Contracts with the United States Government. In addition Jake developed and delivered training to all EDS contract professionals who handled federal procurement, subcontracts under the FAR, and state and local contracts.

Jake's instructional approach focuses on two elements; the need for common sense and a good sense of humor when addressing problem solving, policy analysis and implementation, all aspects of contracting, and working in the Federal arena.

Anthony Lewis is co-head of S&C’s National Security practice, a member of the Firm’s Criminal Defense and Investigations Group, and co-head of the Firm’s Cybersecurity practice. His practice focuses on international and government investigations and on cybersecurity incident response and advice. A former supervisor in the National Security Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Mr. Lewis has particular expertise with matters involving economic and financial crime, sanctions, technology transfer, and export controls, cryptocurrencies, cybercrime, counterintelligence and other areas that implicate national security concerns for corporate clients and financial institutions.

Mr. Lewis has represented clients in internal investigations and regulatory enforcement proceedings, including with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and financial regulators. He has advised clients in various sectors, including technology, industrials, financial services, and consumer goods.

Drew is a director in Baker Tilly’s Government Contractor Solutions practice. He has been with the firm since early 2012 and began his career with the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) working primarily with a multibillion-dollar contractor and providing various types of audit functions throughout the contracting lifecycle. He also has broad knowledge of rules and regulations surrounding the FAR, DFARS, CAS, and TINA. Drew is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a licensed Certified Fraud Examiner through the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Andrea Little Limbago is a computational social scientist specializing in the intersection of emerging technology, national security, and information security. As the Vice President of Research and Analysis at Interos, Andrea leads the company’s computational modeling and methodology regarding global supply chain risk. Andrea is also a Co-Program Director for the Emerging Tech and Cybersecurity Program at the National Security Institute at George Mason, an industry advisory board member for the data science program at George Washington University, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center, and a board member for the Washington, DC chapter of Women in Security and Privacy (WISP). She has presented extensively at a range of academic, government, and industry conferences such as Black Hat, RSA, SXSW, SOCOM’s Global Synch, BSidesLV, and Enigma.

Her writing has been featured in numerous outlets, including Politico, the Hill, Business Insider, War on the Rocks, and Forbes. Prior to Interos, Andrea was the Chief Social Scientist at Virtru, Endgame, and Berico Technologies. She also taught in academia and was a technical lead at the Joint Warfare Analysis Center, where she earned the Command’s top award for technical excellence.

Christine Livingston is a Managing Director and global leader of Protiviti’s Artificial Intelligence practice. She has spent over 18 years in technology consulting and applies her engineering background with advances in technology to unlock enterprise innovation. With over a decade of experience in AI-ML deployment, she has delivered hundreds of successful AI solutions, including numerous first-in-class AI-enabled applications. She has helped many Fortune 500 clients develop practical strategies for enterprise adoption of AI, and has won several awards for AI solutions delivered for clients.

Dismas (Diz) Locaria is a member of the firm's Government Contracts Group. Mr. Locaria's practice focuses on assisting government contractors in all aspects of working with the Federal government. Mr. Locaria has extensive experience assisting clients with regulatory and contract/grant term counseling, compliance (including ethics and integrity compliance), responsibility matters, such as suspension, debarment and other contracting/grant exclusions, small business matters and GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracting. Mr. Locaria also represents and counsel’s clients with the peculiarities of the Homeland Security Act, including obtaining and maintaining SAFETY Act protections. Government Contract and Grant Counseling and Compliance: Mr. Locaria has a wealth of knowledge regarding applicable contract (e.g., the Federal Acquisition Regulation) and grant (e.g., OMB Circular A-110 and A-122) regulations, including the application of these regulations to both prime contractors/grant recipients and subcontractors/subgrantees.

Kris leads EY’s Global Cybersecurity practice in Advisory.

Kris has over 20 years of experience serving large, diversified organizations implementing managed and professional security services. She is leading EY’s work with clients in corporate security and risk management. In previous roles, Kris was responsible for development and delivery of managed professional security services and for managing, monitoring and testing corporate resiliency functions globally at a global information technology company.

Kris is a recognized expert in the field on security, risk, compliance and governance with appearances at RSA, InfoSec, InterOp, CyberTech, the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), SecTor, and Hack-in-the-Box as well as appearances in Fortune, the Christian Science Monitor, and USA Today. Within the past few years, she has been recognized by Washington Business Journal as a Top 25 Woman in Business, EWF as Entrepreneur of the Year, SC Magazine as one of Top 5 Managers in the Security Industry (Reboot 25 quarter century retrospective) and Top Woman in Security, as CSO Compass award in reflection of demonstrated excellence, achievement and leadership in the security field, as a Top 25 CTO by InfoWorld, Top 25 Most Influential Security Executive by Security Magazine, and as Top Woman in Security by eWeek. Kris holds U.S. and EU patents for Object Oriented Risk Management Models and Methods.

Mary is a Manager in Baker Tilly US, LLP’s Government Contractor Solutions practice. Mary brings more than 7 years of experience to the practice and assists clients with a broad range of government contract matters, including cost accounting and compliance issues. She has worked extensively in indirect cost rate structuring and modeling, Incurred Cost Proposal preparation and audit support, price proposal support, contract closeout, policy and procedure review, and reviewing contractor business systems for compliance with regulatory criteria. Prior to joining Baker Tilly, Mary worked for a major government contractor, primarily supporting their regulatory compliance and indirect rates organizations.

Based in our Washington, DC office, Lenee is a Principal in the firm’s Government Contractors group. She has over 18 years of experience in Accounting. She services clients across a broad range of industries such as Government Contracting, Banking and Financial Services, and Manufacturing industries.

Lenee’s role includes Internal Audit, SOX Compliance, FAR/DFARS Compliance, General Ledger Accounting, and SEC Financial Reporting responsibilities. She has implemented ERP and Financial Systems using SDLC best practices which included documenting business and data requirements, system integration testing, and user acceptance testing.

Mr. Major is a partner and co-leader of the firm’s Government Contracts & Export Controls Practice Group. Mr. Major focuses his practice on federal procurement, cybersecurity liability and risk management, and litigation. A prolific author and thought leader in the area of cybersecurity, his professional experience involves a wide variety of litigation and counseling matters dealing with procurement laws and federal regulations and standards . His diverse experience includes complex litigation in federal court under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act and bid protest actions. He counsels all sizes of companies on issues relating to compliance with government regulations including, among other things, cybersecurity (NIST, FIPS, FedRAMP, and DFARS) requirements, multiple award schedule compliance, Section 508 issues, country of origin requirements under the Buy American and Trade Agreements Acts, cost accounting, and small business requirements. He also regularly conducts internal investigations to assist companies ensure that they are in full compliance with the law.

Mr. Major is a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and remains a U.S. Air Force Academy Admissions Liaison Officer for the state of Maryland.

Rex Marks is an accomplished, professional law enforcement leader with over 30 years’ experience in public sector leadership, having served in municipalities across the country at various ranks including Chief of Police. Prior to his most recent appointment as Chief of Police in Texas, Chief Marks also served as Director of Norwich University’s Leadership & Change Institute as well as Program Director and Professor for the Master of Science in Leadership programs. His specialties include leadership development and team building, effective problem- solving and decision-making processes, project/fiscal management, emergency management and disaster preparedness, strategic communications, and organizational development. In addition, Mr. Marks provides consultant services for national and international organizations to extend opportunities for lifelong learning and progressive change management practices.

He began his career in government contracting in 1973 as a government auditor performing regulatory compliance and operational audits. He transitioned into the private sector in 1980 as a member of negotiation teams representing major government contractors such as United Technologies, Ford Motor Company, and other Fortune 500 companies. He has spent 24 years as a government contract negotiator working on major weapon systems and negotiating multi-million dollar contracts. He retired from government service in 2003 as the Reserve Deputy Director of Contracting at Ogden Air Logistics Center. Mr. Mason has also been in private practice providing consulting services to small to medium size government contractors in the areas of contract compliance, proposal estimation, and contract pricing and negotiations.

Mr. Mason’s 39-year career includes positions as an Adjunct Professor of Government Procurement and Negotiations at Webster University where he instructs contract pricing and negotiation courses and as an Associate Professor of management, ethics, and critical thinking courses with University of Phoenix. He is currently a member of the National Contracts Management Association (NCMA) and is a retired Certified Internal Auditor (CIA). He holds a current Certified information Systems Auditor (CISA) from the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA)

Joseph is a partner in the government contractor advisory services practice of Baker Tilly. Joseph has more than 15 years of experience advising and supporting government contractors. Joseph has advised clients in the aerospace, healthcare, construction, security services, manufacturing, technology and professional services industries on a wide range of business issues and regulatory compliance matters, specializing in contract accounting & pricing, claims, internal controls & business systems and other regulatory compliance matters.

Gary McDonald has more than 30 years of experience working in government contracting in the aerospace and defense (A&D), manufacturing, construction and professional services industries. He provided advisory services to clients at two of the Big Four accounting firms for more than 20 years. Gary’s experience includes managing government contracting and compliance operations for a large professional services firm, including proposal development and pricing, contract management, finance and contract compliance and risk management. Additionally, he has more than 12 years of experience in the A&D industry as a flight hardware development engineer and program manager on NASA scientific missions.

Gary has worked extensively in providing practical guidance and assistance to manage and improve his clients’ government contracting compliance and operations. He helps clients comply with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), business system requirements, including the complex Material Management and Accounting System (MMAS), and other government contract regulations and requirements. Gary successfully helps clients mitigate compliance risks, develop competitive rate structures, recover costs and develop or enhance compliance capabilities.

Gary is a leading industry resource in government contractor mergers and acquisitions. He provides sell-side preparation and diligence support, acquisition target contract and compliance risk analysis/due diligence, post-close integration, value capture and contract cost recovery support to his clients, having supported nearly 100 transactions over the last several years.

John is EVM-CR Program Manager, at Tecolote Research, Inc.

Matthew McKelvey has over twenty-five years’ experience in Finance/Accounting, Government Contracting, Business Valuations, Process Optimization, and Training. Matt is President and CEO of The McKelvey Group and is widely respected as a subject matter expert in both commercial and Federal marketplaces. He brings his extensive experience working with large, medium, and small companies to help his clients achieve the growth objectives of their owners.

As a consultant and CFO, he is well known for his expertise in working with organizations as they seek to create or improve their relationships with the Federal Government through price and proposal strategies, compliance, accounting, and training. In addition to direct client consulting in these areas, Matt demonstrates his comprehensive expertise through various speaking engagements and the Government contracting courses he instructs, including Cost/Price Proposal Workshops, DCAA Audit Preparation, Earned Value Management Systems, and Incurred Cost Submissions. Matt teaches his courses through several venues including training companies, conferences, and for individual clients. The McKelvey Group is a National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) recognized Continuing Professional Education (CPE) program sponsor providing CPE credits in accordance with nationally recognized standards.

Lieutenant Commander Michael McLaughlin is the former Senior Counterintelligence Advisor for United States Cyber Command, where he managed all counterintelligence activities and support to DoD cyberspace operations worldwide. He presently serves as a Research Affiliate for the University of Maryland Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security. His work focuses on the intersection of military and intelligence cyberspace operations, domestic and international law, and defense industrial base security. LCDR McLaughlin routinely advises senior Department of Defense officials on cyberspace and counterintelligence operations and policy.

Bobby is a former Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) attorney where specialized in federal procurement law and contract litigation. After leaving the military, he served as General Counsel, Chief Operating Officer, and Senior Vice President for several small businesses in Texas and Virginia. He enjoys working with start-ups and entrepreneurs – helping them realize commercial success in both the commercial and government sector. He has a unique understanding of the practical aspects of federal procurement, having helped build and successfully operate three software companies, two DoD manufacturing, and technical services companies, a research company, and an internet-based logis¬tics/supply company – all centered around new technology arising out of public and/or private research pro¬grams. His extensive background in federal and commercial contracting (both domestic and international), regulatory compliance, and IP portfolio management enables him to present complex concepts in an easy-to-understand manner. He currently resides in College Station, Texas where he continues to assist entrepreneurs and researchers to build technology-based companies.

As Deltek's Information Security Officer (CISO), Caleb Merriman is responsible for leading Deltek's global information security team in support of providing the best software and solutions for project-focused businesses around the world.

Caleb is an accomplished security professional with an extensive background in the software industry. He joins Deltek from Guidewire Software, where he managed the company's enterprise security program. Prior to Guidewire, Caleb held leadership positions at various companies, including BBVA Compass, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Target, serving as CISO at several. In addition to Caleb's security experience, he spent over 20 years as a pilot in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Geoff Merritt is a Principal in the Industry Specialty Services Group at BDO with a focus on Government Contracts. This group of more than 100 professionals provides unique business solutions to organizations across a wide array of industries including government contracting, life sciences, not-for-profit, manufacturing, technology, and construction, among others.

He has over 16 years of professional finance experience with focus on Government Finance & Compliance in the Aerospace & Defense sectors. Geoff has held management positions with small and mid-sized divisions of large corporations, bringing extensive hands-on experience with compliance matters relating to Federal Acquisition Regulations, Cost Accounting Standards, TINA, and Government Business System controls.
Geoff has extensive experience in corporate restructuring focusing on government contracting aspects, including disclosure statement development, cost accounting changes, and external restructuring proposal development. Additionally, Geoff has developed and delivered training programs for small operations entering into new compliance requirements to FAR and CAS.

He has also led various government contracting business processes including development of direct and indirect rate structures, forward pricing rate proposals, proposal cost volumes, DFARS business system descriptions, Estimate at Complete (EACs), and cost-type and progress payment invoicing.

Kathryn (Katie) Griffin represents contractors across a range of industries on federal, state, and private projects involving construction, government contracts, and white collar issues. She has experience in representing construction, engineering, and technology firms in resolving contract claims and disputes with the federal government and prime-subcontractor disputes on federal and federally-funded projects.

Katie works with national and international construction and engineering firms on major contracting issues including defective specifications, differing site conditions, constructive changes, contractor performance evaluations, and liquidated damages. Clients rely on her depth of experience in claim analysis and presentation and effectiveness in working with technical experts, scheduling experts, and cost and pricing experts.

Lynne is a Director with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. providing government contract consulting services to our clients primarily related to Commercial Items, Cost Accounting Standards, DFARS Business System Audits, Proposals, and Incurred Cost. Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, Lynne served in several capacities with DCAA and DCMA for over 35 years.

James Newland is a partner in Dentons US LLP, a licensed architect, and his law practice focuses on major construction and public works projects and includes a mix of non-contentious and contentious matters. He is ranked by Chambers USA which describes him as “very well versed in construction law and construction related issues.” He began practice in 1998.

In his practice, James drafts and negotiates construction contracts and procurement documents and helps clients resolve major complex claims involving construction and design issues on domestic and international projects. He represents national and international contractors and project owners in transactional work, mediation, arbitration and litigation. He has significant experience in vertical construction, power and heavy civil contracting and claims, as well as in design-build, P3, alliance contracting and traditional design-bid build delivery formats. Government construction contracting is a major focus of his work.

Prior to practicing law, James practiced architecture and worked as a project manager on development projects. Given this experience, James is frequently called upon to counsel clients on risk management and allocation, advising on troubled projects during the construction phase, project work-outs and project closeout strategies.

Deborah Nixon, is a nationally recognized trainer, licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and career dedicated Government contracts practitioner with over 30 years of experience. Deborah is the founder of Crosshair Advisors, and a retired Partner with Ernst & Young’s Government Contract Services practice where she worked for 25 years. Before joining EY, she held management positions with both large and emerging growth contractors including Motorola and General Dynamics.

Deborah Norris Rodin is an attorney in RJO’s Washington, D.C. office, specializing in government contracts. She represents clients in a range of industries in high-stakes bid protests, complex contract claims and disputes, and internal and government investigations. She has significant experience litigating before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Boards of Contract Appeals, among other venues. Ms. Rodin also counsels clients on a variety of compliance issues affecting government contractors, with a focus on cybersecurity and supply chain law and regulations.

Rogers Joseph O’Donnell is a boutique law firm that has specialized in public contract matters for 36 years and is ranked in “Band 2” by Chambers USA – the only boutique in Band 1 or 2. RJO was listed among the top six government contracts firms globally by Legal 500®. Free from the bureaucratic and economic burdens of a supersize law firm, we can listen to our clients more attentively, think more creatively and act more nimbly.

Adetayo “Tayo” Osuntogun advises business and institutional clients on international trade law, including export controls, economic sanctions, trade remedies, trade policy and customs and import regulations. He helps clients realize their distinct objectives surrounding their global commerce initiatives by working regularly, on their behalf, with government agencies that regulate international trade.

Tayo represents clients before various federal agencies such as the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB), U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) and the International Trade Administration (ITA). His experience in export controls and economic sanctions includes assisting clients with commodity jurisdictions, licensing, drafting and revising compliance policies and procedures to meet the demands of an ever-shifting regulatory environment, as well as assisting clients with export classifications. Additionally, Tayo counsels clients regarding licensing services and enforcement issues with respect to U.S. economic sanctions, anti-boycott regulation and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Cameron Over leads the Cyber & Privacy service line. Cameron has significant experience advising organizations with transforming their cybersecurity and privacy programs. Her team offers a full suite of services to deliver both policy and governance support as well as deep technical cybersecurity Subject Matter Expert (SME) support to industries including financial services (banking, broker dealer, fintech, pre-IPO, M&A), critical infrastructure, technology, healthcare, education, and non-profit, among others.

Cameron has been in the field of information security since the late 90’s. From mid-high school, she was exposed to early network discovery techniques while interning with DoD agencies, and held a Top Secret security clearance for more than 15 years. She grew her career assisting countless agencies with their most pressing security challenges, including specialized skills and expertise in Unix and Linux operating systems, Domain Name Services (DNS), Cross-Domain systems handling highly classified data, and web server and application security.

Cameron now leads a team at CrossCountry comprised of cyber risk management, privacy and data protection, cloud security, security architecture and engineering, and advanced cyber risk, including threat intelligence, threat modeling, and advanced attack emulation. The team has developed a Cyber Fusion Lab, proprietary to the firm, as a highly secure environment with which to conduct assessments, testing, and analysis.

Prior to joining CrossCountry Consulting, Cameron served as a Senior Associate for Booz Allen Hamilton in the Washington DC Metro area. Prior to joining Booz Allen, Cameron was a Unix Security Engineer with Electronic Data Systems (EDS).

Katarina is an intellectual property lawyer focusing on patent preparation and prosecution relating to technologies involving physics, and mechanical and electrical engineering. Katarina has experience in matters involving medical device technology, control systems, and computer software. She is also a member of our Data Privacy team where she is engaged in legal issues surrounding data collection, use, retention, selling and sharing. Katarina earned her JD The University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, where she was Notes Editor for IDEA: The Law Review of the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property and active in the UNH Patent Law Forum.

Mauricio Paez advises Fortune 100 companies on legal issues related to digital transformations, virtual data services, global e-commerce, digital marketing, data protection, cybersecurity, technology sourcing and outsourcing, and emerging technology matters, such as IoT (Internet of Things), AI, blockchain and Web3, the industrial internet, and autonomous machines. A regular speaker and publisher, he is a recognized leader in these fields.

Mauricio assists clients with legal issues impacting their digital business, including industrial internet applications, consumer IoT protections, cloud services, big data analytics, AI and cognitive technologies, terrestrial and space-based commercial data services, data privacy, cybersecurity breach response and investigations, and global compliance. He helps clients develop and implement worldwide B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) digital strategies; compliance programs for addressing new legal risks; strategies and programs for generating and safeguarding digital assets; cross-border data transfers; and cybersecurity risk management. He also helps clients address these issues in commercial agreements and corporate transactions, such as joint ventures, contractual ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and investments.

In addition, Mauricio assists clients with data breach response and conducts data privacy assessments, information security compliance audits, and cyber investigations on a worldwide scale, including overseeing third-party forensic investigations. He defends clients against state and federal governmental agency cybersecurity and data protection compliance enforcement and investigations.

Mauricio's clients are in a variety of industries, such as the internet, technology, retail, financial services, communications, health care, utilities, automotive, aviation, satellite, and marketing.

He is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), the American Bar Association, and the New York State Bar Association.

Maria L. Panichelli, Esq. is a partner in McCarter & English LLP’s Government Contracts and Global Trade group. Maria’s practice includes: bid protest litigation; contract interpretation and performance counseling; the preparation and negotiation of REAs and CDA claims, as well as related litigation before the Boards of Contract Appeals, the Court of Federal Claims, and the Federal Circuit; statutory and regulatory compliance counseling; federal subcontracting (including the negotiation of FAR-compliant subcontracts, liquidating agreements, and the litigation of pass-through claims, Miller Act claims, and sub/prime disputes); contract terminations; and suspension and debarment. Having acquired substantial experience with the government’s small business programs in particular, Maria provides effective assistance to clients applying for small business certification, or competing for small business program set-aside contracts. She routinely assists clients with eligibility analyses and size and status protests, and has considerable experience drafting teaming and joint venture agreements, as well as helping clients navigate the SBA Mentor-protégé program. Maria also has substantial experience with issues particular to infrastructure contracts, such as defective designs and specifications, express and constructive changes, differing site conditions, delays and disruption; suspensions; and liquidated damages. Her clients include both prime and subcontractors, performing work for a variety of federal agencies, across a wide breath of industries, all over the nation and abroad. Maria is active in a number of industry-related professional associations is a frequent lecturer and author on government contracting and small business procurement topics.

Mr. Perfilio concentrates his practice in government, public, and business contracts and dispute resolution. His principal practice areas include contract solicitation and proposal requirements, competition, award selections and bid protests, contract technical data and intellectual property matters, organizational conflicts of interest, contract interpretation, dispute resolution, and terminations for convenience and default. A retired member of the Senior Executive Service, he has over 31 years of practice experience as an attorney and legal services manager for the Department of the Air Force. Prior to retiring as Director, Air Force Materiel Command Law Office, he supervised all Air Force contract dispute resolution before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and all legal services in connection with acquisition of major weapon systems by the Aeronautical Systems Center, research and development by the Air Force Research Laboratory, and foreign military sales by the Air Force Security Assistance Center.

Mr. Perfilio is admitted to practice in Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as before the U. S. Supreme Court and several Federal trial and appellate courts. He is an active member of the Federal Bar Association, having served as past president of the Association's Dayton, Ohio Chapter and serving currently as a Council Member of the Federal Bar Association's Government Contracts Section. Also active in the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Mr. Perfilio serves on the Board of Directors of the association's Dayton-Wright Chapter, and is a past Chairman of the Board. Mr. Perfilio is a Fellow of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association.

Marques Peterson is the managing partner of the firm’s Washington, DC office. His practice focuses on counseling and representing aerospace/defense and civil contractors in both federal procurement and international defense sales.

Marques has significant experience in bid protests and contract performance disputes before the Government Accountability Office, the Court of Federal Claims, and the Boards of Contract Appeals. He also regularly counsels clients on a wide array of government contract compliance issues, including contracting with the General Services Administration (GSA), pricing issues, and mandatory disclosure requirements.

Prior to entering private practice, Marques served on active duty in the Air Force Office of General Counsel at the Pentagon, where he counseled senior leaders on numerous acquisition-related matters including services contracting and space acquisitions.

As Senior Vice President of Information Solutions at Deltek, Kevin Plexico is responsible for overseeing research, analysis and specification creation for customers in the Government Contracting and Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) industries.

Kevin manages the delivery of GovWin – Deltek's industry-leading government market research and information solution providing essential intelligence to over 5,000 clients. He has responsibility for leading the industry's largest team of analysts focused on the government contracting industry. He also provides thought leadership and expert opinion to industry executives and is a recognized expert on the public sector market.

Chris Pockney has over 35 years of experience in Government contracts, primarily in the areas of contract pricing, accounting and administration. He provides advisory and training services to clients, primarily in the areas of contract pricing, cost accounting, contract administration and compliance.

He is a long time instructor for Federal Publications on their Cost Accounting Standards and Masters in Contracting courses, and co-developed and co-presents the Advanced Cost Impact Analysis Workshop for them.

He is a retired partner of Ernst & Young’s (now EY) Government Contract Services practice where he spent 24 years leading teams advising clients in a broad range of industries both domestically and internationally on pricing, cost accounting, compliance and contract administration issues including claims and Government investigations. While at EY he was a frequent speaker at public events and a highly rated instructor providing courses to companies and for Federal Publications. He has been admitted as an expert on contract pricing, accounting and claims matters in a variety of forums, including the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, state and local courts, arbitration and mediation procedures. He also has extensive experience in presenting analysis and findings to US Attorneys and Agency Inspectors General in settlement proceedings.

Prior to joining EY he spent 8 years in the Aerospace and Electronics industries in Financial Analysis and Financial Management positions involving US Government and International contracts.

Chris Pogue is the Director of Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) for CyberCX in the Americas and is a member of the global DFIR leadership team.

Over his 25-year career, Chris has led multiple professional security and services organizations to investigate data breaches, secure corporate computing assets and critical value data, implement wide-scale compliance regimes, and help executives and boards of directors both qualify and quantify security risks.

His extensive experience is drawn from careers as a cybercrimes investigator, ethical hacker, military officer, law enforcement and military instructor, university professor, business executive, and board advisor.

Chris served in the United States Army as a Signal Corps Warrant Officer, participating in multiple joint task force missions is support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and the Global War on Terror. He distinguished himself as an Honor Graduate from a variety of Army Academies and Schools and received multiple awards and commendations for excellence.

Chris was also an active member of the United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force in multiple field offices as well as the Headquarters Division. He has also been the recipient of multiple Secret Service Certificates of Appreciation.

Matt Popham is Sr. Vice President, Government Compliance Director, Leidos.

Ashley Powers* advises a broad range of government clients on compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and FAR supplement requirements, with specific expertise in supply chain and cybersecurity. She regularly advises clients on complex data rights issues, with a focus on clients in the new and emerging technology space. In addition to her counseling practice, Ms. Powers maintains an active government contracts litigation practice, representing clients in investigations, bid protests, and contract claims.

Ms. Powers has extensive government experience, having most recently served as Senior Counsel in the Contract Law Division, Office of General Counsel, at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In that role, she developed CIA-wide supply chain and cybersecurity compliance programs and served as the agency's legal expert on these issues, including Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Ms. Powers was also the primary legal advisor with regard to the CIA's relationship with In-Q-Tel (IQT) and the agency's relationships with new and emerging technology companies more generally. Her practice included regularly advising on all aspects of the federal procurement process, focusing on data rights, organizational conflicts of interest, and Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigations. Finally, Ms. Powers served as lead counsel defending the CIA in bid protests and contract claims before the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Court of Federal Claims (COFC), and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA). She also spent several years as an Attorney-Advisor in the Contract Law Division of the Office of General Counsel at the Department of Commerce (DOC) where she represented the Department in all aspects of government contracts-related litigation, assisted in the redevelopment of the Department's Suspension and Debarment program, and served as a legal advisor to the Department's Suspension and Debarment Official (SDO).

Zach Prince’s practice encompasses all areas of government contract law. Zach counsels domestic and international clients on a wide range of issues, including compliance with federal and state regulations and statutes, bid protests, contract and subcontract drafting and negotiations, contract changes, claim preparation and disputes, cost allowability and cost accounting standards, price and cost reasonableness, export controls, government audits, subcontractor management and disputes, due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, cybersecurity, grants and cooperative agreements, and protecting intellectual property rights when contracting with the government. His clients range from the largest traditional defense contractors, to small businesses, to non-traditional government contractors including commercial technology companies.

Zach is regularly engaged to support acquisitions. He has conducted diligence relating to Federal, state, and international government contracts, export controls, and national security risks in support of a variety of transactions. Such acquisitions include technology companies, service-providers, electronics manufacturers, and aerospace companies. The size of these deals has ranged from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars and include public companies.

Aaron Raddock is the National Co-Leader of BDO’s Government Contracts Practice. He focuses in the area of advisory services working with government contractors in virtually every industry on a wide range of business issues and regulatory compliance matters. Aaron regularly assists federal contractors with the development of REAs, Claims, and Termination Settlement proposals and frequently support clients in other areas involving complex cost accounting, audits, investigations and disputes.

Daniel Ramish’s practice encompasses government contracts, construction, and white collar matters. He works with a multitude of issues unique to doing business with the federal government, including subspecialties such as cost and pricing, data rights, and small business and socioeconomic programs. Daniel has a particular focus on contract claims and disputes with the federal government, and disputes between prime contractors and subcontractors. He has extensive experience with federal government construction disputes, including constructive changes, differing site conditions, Spearin design liability, and Eichleay unabsorbed overhead claims.

Daniel also represents contractors in white collar matters relating to government contracting, including the False Claims Act. He has worked on large and complex subcontracting transactions and disputes, including matters relating to construction and performance-based remediation subcontracts, on behalf of both prime contractors and subcontractors. He served as a team lead for the ABA Guide to Services Subcontract Terms and Conditions, which included overseeing the FAR Part 27 intellectual property clauses and corresponding DFARS clauses.

Avani Rao is a Manager in HKA's Washington, D.C. office, with a focus on the government contracts practice. Avani has performed accounting, financial, and economic analyses in a variety of matters that center around cost, schedule, and damages analyses, as well as other dispute and compliance related issues, often within the context of the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR"). Avani has supported the calculation and evaluation of damages claims ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to over $1 billion.

Anthony Rapa co-chairs Blank Rome’s International Trade group, with a focus on economic sanctions, export controls, and foreign investment review. A U.S./UK-qualified practitioner, he advises clients across various industries, including aerospace and defense, automotive, semiconductors, software, telecommunications, and freight forwarding. A former member of the Law360 International Trade Editorial Board, he has been recognized as a leading practitioner by Global Investigations Review and Who's Who Legal, and frequently writes and speaks on economic statecraft matters. Anthony loves baseball, classic rock, and Italian cooking, and he and his wife live on a farm in Virginia with their son and their corgi-lab mix.

Ms. Reed’s practice focuses on advising domestic and international clients on all aspects of government contracting law, including prime contracts, subcontracts and other related agreements, drafting requests for equitable adjustments and claims; drafting Contractor Performance Assessment Report System responses; reviewing, drafting, evaluating and revising ethics compliance programs; evaluation and submission of Mandatory Disclosures; Cost Accounting Standards and accounting systems/cost principles; contract and solicitation review and risk assessment; protection of intellectual property rights related to government contracts; Organizational Conflicts of Interests issues and mitigation plans; Freedom of Information Act requests and defenses; export controls compliance and training programs; and cyber security issues. She is experienced and skilled in negotiating both international and domestic contracts including subcontracts, teaming agreements, intellectual property licenses, agent agreements, and proprietary information agreements for numerous million- and billion-dollar programs. She has represented clients of all sizes in bid protests before the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims.

Ms. Reed lectures for Federal Publications Seminars on Data Rights in Government Contracts, Cooperative Agreements, CRADAs, Other Transaction Agreements, the FAR, DFARS, Cyber Security and Government Cloud Computing initiatives.

Ms. Reed is a “second-career” lawyer who brings together over twenty years of experience as an attorney with over 15 years of experience as a Business Finance Manager at a major defense contractor and as a Contracts Manager at several defense contractors. She also worked under a contract with the FAA to provide contracts management support.

Tom Reynolds is a Partner in HKA’s Government Contracts Practice in Washington, D.C. Tom is a forensic accountant and CPA with 20 years of experience helping government contractors navigate the complex government contracting compliance rules and regulations. Tom has provided government contract accounting, auditing and advisory support to government contractors across numerous industries, including aerospace and defense, manufacturing, healthcare, construction, engineering, and professional services. Tom has presented contractors’ positions and facilitated negotiations with contracting officers, DCAA, DCMA, and other regulatory bodies.

Tom has supported government contractors in connection with business systems compliance assessments, DCAA/DCMA audit support, False Claims Act disputes, merger and acquisition due diligence and post-merger integration, and indirect rate modelling and analysis. Tom deals extensively with critical government contracting regulations and requirements, including the FAR, DFARS, and CAS.

Ms. Katelyn Rigle is the Operations Audit Liaison Small Business Coordinator for DCAA, headquartered at Fort Belvoir, VA. Ms. Rigle has been with the agency since 2009 and currently acts as the agency’s small business liaison, offering education, guidance and support to small and medium businesses working in the Federal contracting realm. Ms. Rigle also coordinates training through the Small Business Administration, APEX Accelerators, and federal consulting firms.

Kimberly specializes in U.S. Government contract and subcontract management, purchasing, and estimating system compliance. With over 30 years of experience, she excels in optimizing processes across contracts and procurement, enhancing communication, efficiency, and
compliance. Her expertise spans proposal development, domestic and international subcontract negotiations, supply chain risk management, and purchasing system compliance.

Prior to Capital Edge, Kimberly was Senior Director of Contracts & Procurement Operations for a large aerospace firm, where she led contract compliance, price/cost analysis, and business process improvements. She successfully led Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Contractor Purchasing System Reviews (CPSR) and supported audits conducted by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). Kimberly also led corporate negotiations with federal customers and served as the primary interface with the U.S. Air Force’s Contracting Innovation Group.

Michael Rizzo, Pillsbury’s Government Contracts & Disputes practice co-leader, has represented defense contractors, design/build firms, transportation and technology companies in multimillion-dollar, precedent-setting cases.

A government contracts lawyer in Los Angeles, Michael prepares Contract Disputes Act certified claims; resolves contract disputes before the ASBCA, the CBCA, California federal and state courts, and in arbitration; and handles termination disputes at the federal, state and local government levels. He defends lawsuits filed under the Civil False Claims Act. He crafts comprehensive government contracts compliance programs designed to reduce clients' future exposure and legal expenditures. Additionally, Michael is experienced in handling internal investigations into quality assurance and pricing issues.

David B. Robbins is a partner and co-chair of the firm’s Government Contracts Practice. Mr. Robbins is an experienced litigator, investigations lawyer, and strategic business counselor with a broad skillset focused on ethics, compliance, M&A/diligence, investigations, crisis management, and enforcement defense for government contractors, grant recipients, and regulated industries.

Mr. Robbins advises clients on a range of litigation matters, including civil False Claims Act defense, parallel civil and criminal fraud enforcement proceedings, claims, requests for equitable adjustment, whistleblower reprisal defense, and prime/sub disputes. He also handles matters involving high-stakes, complex internal investigations, mandatory disclosures, claims, trade secrets litigation, ethics/compliance, conflicts of interest, fraud and public corruption defense, bid protests, General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule contracting, Procurement Integrity Act, Anti-Kickback Act, and suspension and debarment.

As a trusted business advisor, Mr. Robbins provides strategic advice to executives and in-house counsel on their most pressing business needs, including M&A due diligence, mitigating issues found during diligence, and post-merger integration. Mr. Robbins actively counsels companies concerning COVID-19 incident response and the provision of COVID-19 countermeasures such as vaccines and PPE to the US government. Mr. Robbins has represented audit committees and special board committees in high stakes, government-facing matters. In Chambers USA, clients describe him as a “[c]reative strategic thinker,” emphasizing that “he finds opportunities where other lawyers have given up.” These attributes cause clients to turn to Mr. Robbins to achieve global resolutions in their most complex civil and criminal fraud matters.

Mr. Robbins is a former Air Force General Counsel’s office senior lawyer, where he ran the global Air Force’s Procurement Fraud Remedies Office and served as acting Suspending and Debarring Official and Deputy General Counsel (Contractor Responsibility). Mr. Robbins advised Air Force, Defense, and Intelligence Community senior leaders on a wide range of acquisition issues. During his tenure, he and his teams were responsible for thousands of civil False Claims Act matters, criminal fraud cases, and suspension/debarment exclusion proceedings. Mr. Robbins also co-ran the Department of Defense Procurement Fraud Working Group, a collection of agents, lawyers, auditors, and acquisition officials who gathered monthly to discuss best practices and set standards, with an intense focus on False Claims Act matters. He was also a member of the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee. These two committees coordinated the operations of the government’s procurement and grant fraud organization, setting practices that remain in use today.

Mr. Robbins frequently speaks and publishes on government contracts topics, including in Thomson Reuters Government Contracts Year in Review. He is the primary author and editor of the ABA Publications peer-reviewed book The Procurement Fraud Guidebook: System, Stakeholders, and Response Strategies.

Ryan Roberts is a partner in the Governmental Practice in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. He is also a member of the firm's Aerospace and Defense and Retail Industry Teams.

Areas of Expertise
Ryan regularly represents government contractors ranging from small businesses to the largest defense contractors in matters that include: Civil False Claims Act litigation defense Internal investigations Civil and criminal subpoena responses to both federal and state enforcement agencies Mandatory disclosures to the Department of Defense and General Services Administration (GSA) Offices of Inspector General Audits, including GSA pre- and post-award audits and defense contract audit agency audits Compliance programs, including drafting policies and implementing comprehensive compliance programs Contract Disputes Act (CDA) claims and appeals before the Boards of Contract Appeals and the Court of Federal Claims Bid protests before the Government Accountability Office Subcontracts, teaming agreements, joint ventures, and related disputes Small business issues under the Small Business Administration regulations Labor qualifications under service contracts Bribery, gratuities, and kickbacks Trade Agreements Act compliance Personal and organizational conflicts of interest Revolving door and other post-government employment restrictions Procurement Integrity Act Compliance As part of his internal investigation practice, Ryan serves as a member of the team appointed in 2013 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana as the federal monitor over the New Orleans Police Department responsible for reviewing, assessing, and reporting publicly on the department’s compliance with a far-reaching Consent Decree.

Zach Rockwood provides Government audit assistance and consultation services to a variety of Government contracting entities. Zach has over 12 years’ experience in Government contracting including: Government Audit, Compliance Leader (medium and large contractors), Head of Internal Audit and Government Contract Consulting.

In his current role, Zach delivers advice and consultation regarding DFARS Business Systems, Indirect Rates and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS).

Bill has significant Cost Accounting Standards (“CAS”) experience gained through positions held in both the public and private sectors, including being the industry representative to the CAS Board.

Most recently, Bill was a CAS specialist with the Defense Contract Management Agency. He developed CAS training modules that he then used to train the Agency’s Cognizant Federal Agency Officials (“CFAOs”). He also served the role as an advisor to the CFAOs on their specific CAS issues.

Previously, Bill was an Industry leader in Federal procurement issues, while holding various positions at The Boeing Company. He has significant experience with earnings improvement and business process reengineering initiatives, with in-depth experience in cost accounting, variance analysis, performance improvement, budgeting, and forecasting. While at Boeing he also developed robust internal control processes in general, with a focus in the area of International Business Compliance.

Prior to starting his almost twenty-eight year career at Boeing, Bill was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica.

Rob focuses his practice on export controls and government contracts. Rob conducts internal
corporate investigations and audits, drafts compliance plans, and counsels clients through
all stages of involvement in complex export transactions, from mandatory registrations,
technology release issues, and strategies for licenses and Commodity Jurisdiction
Determinations and Commodity Classification Requests, to preparation and submission of
voluntary disclosures.

His representation includes: investigations and voluntary disclosures for public and private
companies; advising on license strategies; compliance reviews; and development of internal
control and compliance plans for export controls and international transactions involving the
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Export Administration Regulations
(EAR), and sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Scott practices business litigation in federal and state courts and before arbitration and administrative tribunals. He has extensive experience handling government contract disputes and defending individuals and corporations in a wide range of civil and criminal fraud investigations. He has more than 30 years of experience investigating and litigating qui tam False Claims Act cases and related whistleblower actions. Scott has handled dozens of corporate internal investigations involving diverse industries such as aerospace and defense, healthcare, financial institutions, electronics, high technologies, transportation, construction, and telecommunications, among others that conduct business with the government. He provides compliance program advice and counsel and conducts investigations concerning the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Mr. Roybal utilizes his extensive experience to assist clients with early resolutions of potential disputes.

Marie is a Partner at Capital Edge Consulting, Inc. Marie’s areas of expertise include: Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), incurred cost submissions, forward pricing rate proposals, contract terminations, business system compliance reviews, policies and procedures development, indirect rate structure reviews, disclosure statements, cost impact models, DCAA audit support, cost engineering, construction-related claims, and litigation support.

Marie has more than 29 years of government contract cost accounting and compliance consulting as well as cost engineering, construction claims analysis and litigation experience in an array of industries that include pharmaceutical, defense, manufacturing, service, energy, and waste management.

Jeff Sarlouis is CISSP and GSEC certified with 23+ years in Information Technology with experience in IT Security, vulnerability management, network management and audit. He also has 5 years of defense contracting experience with a focus on creating System Security Plans (SSP) and working with DCSA to obtain and maintain Authorizations to Operate (ATO).

Alex Sarria is an experienced litigator and counselor with wide-ranging expertise in government contracts law. He represents government contractors in contract disputes, bid protests, False Claims Act lawsuits, and complex civil litigation arising from military operations, national security programs, and environmental remediation projects.

Named one of the "Top Lawyers Under 40" by the Hispanic National Bar Association in 2020, leading government contractors also turn to Mr. Sarria to investigate allegations of procurement fraud, prepare mandatory disclosures, and defend against government audits and investigations. In his counseling practice, Mr. Sarria advises clients on a wide range of federal procurement matters including cost allowability and cost accounting, defective pricing, Buy American Act (BAA)/Trade Agreements Act (TAA) compliance, intellectual property and data rights, supply chain (Section 889) and cybersecurity regulations (CMMC), subcontract pricing and flowdowns, commercial items and General Services Administration (GSA) schedule contracting, organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs), and business ethics and conduct requirements.

He also is recognized for his unique experience helping companies identify and mitigate their exposure to potential civil and tort liability and has worked with clients in numerous industries to secure liability protection and indemnification under the SAFETY Act, Public Law 85-804, the Price Anderson Act, the Defense Base Act (DBA), and FAR 52.228-7 (Insurance-Liability to Third Persons).

Mr. Sarria began his career in the highly-regarded government contracts group of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, where he practiced for seven years.

Michael J. Schaengold focuses his practice on government contracts litigation, investigations and counseling, and on litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. From 2014 to 2024, he was Chair or Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Government Contracts Group.

Mike's substantial government contracts dispute and bid protest experience includes litigation of major cases before the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Boards of Contract Appeals. He has represented clients in disputes involving most major departments and agencies of the U.S. government and, in recent years, has focused on procurements involving the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, the Department of Energy, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of State, among others. He has substantial experience in False Claims Act (including qui tam) and Inspector General investigations and litigation, including negotiating Settlement and Administrative Agreements related thereto; suspension and debarment matters; and drafting and implementing compliance programs.

Dave is a Principal and co-founder of C&S Consulting. He has more than 25 years of experience with both government and commercial customers in the implementation of systems and methodologies to improve management processes. He has worked with organizations in highly regulated industries such as aerospace and defense, government contracting, and natural resources to implement project controls systems that ensure mission-critical projects are completed on time and within budget.

Dave has extensive experience designing, implementing, and supporting compliant Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS) for both the U.S. Government and government contractors. In addition, he has provided EVMS assurance services supporting government contractors' EVMS compliance with the ANSI/EIA 748 standard. He provides a unique perspective gained through his experience directly supporting Federal Agency and Department of Defense (DOD) programs surveillance of contractors EVM reporting and EVM Systems.

He actively supports several government and industry associations that are developing improved project controls processes and surveillance of project controls systems. He frequently presents at conferences and training workshops on a variety of related industry topics.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Earned Value Management Practitioners’ Forum (Founder) National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Integrated Program Management Division Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) Project Delivery Working Group College of Performance Management (CPM)

Phillip Seckman represents clients concerning government and commercial contract matters. His practice spans a broad range of subjects related to federal procurement law, state and local procurement law, and complex federal regulatory issues. He concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial item acquisitions, GSA schedule contracting, cybersecurity, compliance, internal investigations, and bid protests (both federal and state). A significant component of his practice involves government contract cost allowability, proper cost accounting, and contract cost and pricing issues.

Phil has significant experience in the assessment, presentation, and litigation of complex contract claims. He also has significant experience assisting clients in establishing policies and procedures to ensure compliance with government contract requirements. When potential non-compliances have been identified, Phil has assisted in the internal review and assessment of these issues and has aided clients in the preparation of appropriate disclosures when required. He frequently assists DOD contractor clients regarding business systems issues, including preparing for, responding to, and remediating issues associated with reviews conducted by the Defense Contract Management Agency and the Defense Contract Audit Agency.

Phil frequently writes and lectures regarding commercial item acquisitions, GSA schedule contracting, cybersecurity, business systems, FAR Mandatory Disclosure Rule, and cost accounting issues.

Phil was recently named a Fellow of the National Contract Management Association. Phil also has been repeatedly recognized as a "Rising Star" by Colorado Super Lawyers.

Laura A. Semple serves as Assistant General Counsel for Amentum, where she provides advice on Government contracting, employment, and corporate law issues. Ms. Semple previously worked as an associate at Smith Pachter McWhorter, PLC, where she counseled Government contractors on cost and pricing issues and resolved claims relating to disallowed costs, CAS noncompliances, and accounting change cost impacts. Ms. Semple counseled Government contractors on compliance with mandatory disclosure obligations, incurred cost submissions, and other Government reporting requirements. Ms. Semple co-teaches the Cost & Pricing Course for the Masters in Procurement Law Program at the George Washington University Law School. She is an active member of the ABA Section of Public Contract Law and currently serves as Vice-Chair for the ABA Accounting, Cost, and Pricing Committee. Ms. Semple also serves as President of the Boards of Contract Appeals Bar Association.

Derek Shaw is a Director in the Government Contractor Advisory Services practice and brings to BDO more than 27 years of Finance experience with focus on Government Finance & Compliance in the Aerospace & Defense sectors. This includes a broad range of Government contracting & compliance matters, including Federal Acquisition Regulations, Cost Accounting Standards, TINA, Government Business Systems controls, and Restructuring. Derek has held senior management positions with large corporations, and also has extensive hands-on experience with small and mid-sized contractors, including SDB/8a firms.

Derek has extensive experience in mergers & acquisitions focusing on government contracting aspects, including restructuring proposal development. Derek has also been a frequent speaker at training conferences and has developed and delivered training programs covering various government contracting topics.

Mr. Shelby has over nineteen years of Government Contracting experience at the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA).

With a focus on Contractor Purchasing System Reviews (CPSR) for the last thirteen years, Randy conducted CPSR's as a procurement analyst, managed CPSR teams, and oversaw hundreds of CPSR's as a supervisory procurement analyst.

While at DCMA, Shelby worked as Team Lead to develop policies, standard operating procedures, templates, and data collection tools used in every CPSR conducted by the agency.

Randy co-created the “New CPSR Process” which encourages contractors to correct their deficiencies in the early stages of the purchasing system process. DCMA considered Randy a leading CPSR expert and relied on him to share knowledge at government industry events and other DoD agencies.

As a noted guest speaker, Randy shared expertise at NCMA's World Congress, SubCon, and Government Contract Symposiums. Randy also delivered CPSR presentations for Federal Publications Seminars (FPS), NAVSEA, the Army, and the Air Force.

John is a Director with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. providing government contract consulting services to our clients primarily related to the DFARS business systems, CAS Disclosure Statements, and DCAA/DCMA compliance preparation, advisory, and defense. Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, John served in a number of capacities with DCAA/DCMA for more than 30 years. Upon his retirement, he was based in Texas as an SES-level Corporate Audit Director for DCAA, managing a staff of 300 auditors at one of the largest DOD programs.
John began his career in the late 80s working in the Clearwater, FL audit office and over the next three decades he progressed through a number of positions within both DCAA and DCMA with career highlights as DCAA Program Manager at Ft. Belvoir, Chief of Technical Programs Division, Deputy Assistant Director-Policy, Director of the DCMA Cost and Pricing Center, the SES-level Lockheed Martin Corporate Audit Director, and Director of Integrity and Quality Assurance.
John’s three decades of experience in performing and leading DCAA auditors and DCMA reviewers provides a wealth of expertise to our clients. John’s role, not only in the performance of audits, but also in the development of audit policy affords him unique insights into the defense of audit findings and the linkage of audit program steps to the underlying regulatory framework. He is an expert in FAR, DFARS, and other agency acquisition regulation, as well as a subject matter expert in the Cost Accounting Standards having reviewed and provided audit feedback on many of the largest and most complex cost accounting practices during his tenure with the DCAA.

John’s tenure with DCAA and DCMA came at a critical time during each agency’s history where a number of changes were occurring such as the response to the ICS backlog, development of audit approaches to the DFARS Business Systems and implementation of new audit initiatives as a result of Congressional oversight through the NDAA process. John’s leadership at the DCMA Cost & Pricing center saw oversight of all major DOD pricing actions, leadership of should cost review teams, the Commercial Pricing group and many other areas of strategic value to our clients. His involvement in these and other Agency initiatives is of great value to our clients due to his in depth understanding of DCAA and DCMA’s internal policy directives.

Benjamin Smith is a Senior Consultant with Capital Edge Consulting, Inc., located in McLean, VA. He has experience providing professional support to government contractors and Federal grant recipients in the areas of regulatory compliance, and government contract cost accounting. Benjamin is skilled in the areas of Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).

Benjamin has supported a multitude of clients with Incurred Cost Submissions (ICS), Forward-Pricing Rate Proposals (FPRP), Cost Impact Analyses, Requests for Equitable Adjustment (REAs), Disclosure Statements, Accounting System Policies and Procedures, financial modeling, various internal audit exercises, and complicated forensic analyses. He is also skilled in supporting clients in developing indirect cost rate structures.

In May 2020, Stephanie was selected as a senior analyst in RSM’s cutting-edge Industry Eminence Program, which positions its senior analysts to understand, forecast and communicate economic, business and technology trends shaping the industries RSM serves. These senior analysts advise clients on conditions influencing middle market leaders. Stephanie’s focus is government contracting.

Stephanie has ten years of experience serving clients across the country by providing industry-specific insights and thought leadership that allows them to stay at the forefront of the changes within their industry while also providing valuation and advisory services related to mergers and acquisitions, financial reporting, tax reporting and strategic planning.

Stephanie has worked with a variety of publicly and privately held clients in the business and professional services industry, with a specialized focus on government contracting and private equity-backed portfolio companies. Stephanie has performed and reviewed hundreds of valuations of business enterprises, intangible assets, intellectual property and complex equity securities. Stephanie’s primary focus is on delivering timely, relevant information to her clients while also providing high-quality valuation services and market insight. This industry-specific focus has allowed Stephanie to bring her clients valuable information relevant to their business, which also allows her to work with them in a strategic and impactful manner.

As a first generation American, Christine Sohar Henter exemplifies a passionate commitment to the practice of international trade law. She represents companies, trade associations, and governments on international trade matters including import trade remedies, customs compliance, export controls, sanction laws, and international business transactions, based on her public and private sector experience.

Christine started her legal career in public service. She was a senior attorney with the Office of the Chief Counsel for Import Administration (now the Office of Enforcement & Compliance) at the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). There, she advised U.S. government officials on compliance with U.S. trade laws and represented the U.S. in judicial appeals domestically before courts and internationally before the World Trade Organization (WTO) and North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) panels. Christine was also the lead attorney for Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel, drafting implementation regulations, counseling on the application and negotiation of international textile and free trade agreements. Prior to DOC, Christine served as a legal adviser for a Commissioner and Chairperson at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), assisting with trade remedy decisions, responding to inquiries from Congressional members, and overseeing 337 reviews. Before pursuing her government legal service in Washington, D.C., she assisted numerous companies with their export business through the Denver US Export Assistance Center.

Jose Soto is a Director with MorganFranklin Consulting and is a Government Contracts compliance subject matter expert with over 24 years of progressive experience which includes over six years with DCAA and over seventeen years in Industry including working for some of the largest Government Contractors. His vast experience includes preparation incurred cost submissions, Disclosure Statements, Forward Pricing Rates Proposals and Internal Controls design and implementation, as well as preparation of Gross Dollar Magnitudes and Detailed Cost Impact Proposals and assisting in position negotiations.

Specialties include interpretation CAS, FAR, and FAR supplements. Jose poses expertise in developing compliant policies and procedures and developing Strategies around Future State Indirect Rates Structure utilizing Industry Best practices to remain competitive and maximize profit.

Lonnie Springirth is a Solutions Engineer at JAMIS Software Corporation with over 13 years of government contract accounting and compliance experience. Lonnie has spent much of his career evaluating and implementing business systems solutions across multiple industries, including defense, professional services, and technology providers to various US Federal Departments and other agencies.

Roland M. Stein is an international trade law and national security expert and one of the founding partners of the leading law boutique BLOMSTEIN in Berlin, Germany. He is regularly listed as one of the leading lawyers for “Trade and Customs”, “International Sanctions” and “Foreign Investment Review” in various rankings, such as Lexology/Who’s Who Legal and The Legal 500.

Roland has many years of experience in advising national and international clients on all matters relating to international trade law. In particular, he has handled a large number of complex foreign investment control proceedings in recent years and represented clients in export control and sanctions procedures and investigations (in particular with regard to the export of software, technology and know-how as well as sensitive products). Roland also advises clients regarding tender procedures, mainly in the defence and security sectors.

Roland is a Director of the CELIS Institute and co-leader of the defence and security division of forum vergabe. He is co-editor of Recht der Investitionskontrolle (commentary on investment control law) and co-author of the Commentary on the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act (AWG) in Dorsch.

Roland is half German and half Brazilian and grew up in São Paulo. He has close relationships to Brazilian law firms and regularly gives speeches on issues affecting Brazil and the EU.

Bruce Stout is the Director of Compliance at Battelle.

Leslie Stout-Tabackman regularly counsels and represents clients with matters before the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Wage and Hour Division, including Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) issues and prevailing wage and benefits issues arising under the Service Contract Act (SCA), the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA), and requirements under related Executive Orders and the FAR. Her prevailing wage practice includes counseling federal contractors and providing comprehensive training on SCA and DBA prevailing wages and benefits requirements, coverage, exemption and worker classification issues, and related contracting procedures from the solicitation and bid stage through completion of the contract. Conducting voluntary FLSA compliance audits. She regularly works with contractors to conduct internal compliance audits and provides education and training
sessions for clients on these topics. Her practice also includes prevailing wage and related laws and Executive Orders due diligence reviews in buy/sell transactions. She is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences on wage and hour and prevailing wage law matters, including presentations for the AGC of America, the National Contractor Management Association, the Practicing Law Institute, the Power & Communications Contractors Association, and LCPTracker.

A seasoned trial attorney, Ms. Sujeeth's practice focuses on litigation from the start through verdict. She is a member of the firm's Government Contracts, Complex Commercial Litigation, White Collar Criminal Defense, Attorney Liability and Conduct, and Construction Practice Groups. She also serves as the Chair of the RJO COVID-19 Task Force. From 2016 through present, she was listed as a “Rising Star” among government contracts attorneys in Northern California by SuperLawyer®.

Ace Swerling has over 30 years of security experience and has helped many of the largest organizations in the world to expand and protect their business by taking a balanced approach. Starting at a large US Defense contractor, he learned that while security is critical to defending the country, complying with regulations, and resisting attack; it is also critical to facilitating collaboration and ensuring economical results. He is dedicated to security and collaboration as business enablers by identifying business needs, defining processes, mapping to technical requirements, selecting vendors, and implementing quality solutions while managing risk and ensuring compliance.

Gunjan Talati is an experienced government contracts practitioner who regularly represents contractors in a variety of sectors, including aerospace and defense, health care, and technology. Gunjan’s practice is a mix of regulatory compliance, transactional, and litigation matters.

Gunjan’s regulatory compliance experience includes advising government contractors on complying with various Federal Acquisition Regulations, navigating small business and socioeconomic regulations and matters, addressing GSA and Federal Supply Schedule issues, and meeting ethics and compliance requirements. Gunjan also has significant experience in helping contractors navigate federal cybersecurity regulations and requirements.

Chad V. Theriot is a member of the firm’s board of directors. He is also co-leader of the firm’s Construction Industry Team. He focuses on major public and commercial construction and infrastructure projects.

Chad advises domestic and international clients across a broad spectrum of construction, contracting, and procurement activities. He represents owners, commercial and government contractors, major subcontractors, and original equipment manufacturers in contract negotiation, construction litigation and construction claims avoidance.

Chad currently represents US, UK, Austrian, German, South African, and Saudi Arabian companies spanning the globe in the energy, construction, aviation, defense, and shipping sectors. He currently is negotiating multiple billion dollar construction contracts and has disputes before the ICC and the LCIA involving international disputes. He also currently represents domestic clients before the AAA and various state and federal courts.

James W Thomas (Jim) is a forensic accountant with 35 years of experience providing consulting and dispute resolution services to government contractors. He has been retained as an expert on more than 50 occasions.

Jim has testified as an expert in proceedings before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, General Services Board of Contract Appeals, District Court and in arbitration. He has served as a neutral accountant in purchase price disputes involving government contract accounting issues.

In addition to his expertise in aerospace and defense, Jim serves many industries including technology, engineering and professional services, industrial products, construction, retail products and healthcare. Prior to joining HKA, he was a forensic services partner specializing in government contracts with PwC.

Jim specializes in cost and pricing matters including government audit issues, False Claims Act damages, defective pricing, labor charging, Cost Accounting Standards, cost allowability, record keeping requirements, Federal Supply Schedule contracts, claims, requests for equitable adjustment, terminations and prime/subcontractor disputes.

MaryJo “MJ” Thomas is Director of Security at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. She is responsible for overseeing all BIW Security functions including supply chain vetting, cyber security, industrial and physical plant security programs. She manages day-to-day activities and ensures compliance with all programmatic, regulatory, legal and contractual requirements for these areas. She has extensive experience in matters concerning national security and the protection of defense weapons and technology, with specific expertise in crisis and change management and investigative leadership.

Ms. Thomas spent much of her professional career with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Her most recent Pentagon assignment was as FBI Senior Advisor to the Department of Defense for the FBI National Security branch. Ms. Thomas served as primary interface between the FBI and the Office of Secretary Defense on national security investigations involving counterintelligence, counterterrorism, cyber and weapons of mass destruction matters. Her previous roles include Section Chief of the Counterproliferation Center in the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.

Ms. Thomas joined the FBI as a special agent in 2000 after serving as a law enforcement officer in Rhode Island. Ms. Thomas also has served as a Security Forces Officer and Logistician in the Air Force, active duty and reserve.

Steven N. Tomanelli is the owner of Steven N. Tomanelli & Associates and is an attorney specializing in government contract law in the Washington DC area. Steven N. Tomanelli & Associates provide legal services, training and consulting services in all aspects of government contracting and federal appropriations law. Courses include: COR Certification, COR Refresher, Buy American & Trade Agreements Acts, Cost Realism, Justifications & Approvals, Intellectual Property, How to Avoid Bid Protests, Negotiating Software Licenses, Performance-Based Contracting, Small Business Contracting, IDIQ Contracting, Source Selection, FAR Workshop, Advanced FAR Workshop, FAR Update, Contract Disputes and Terminations, Introduction to Government Contracting, Procurement Ethics, Past Performance Evaluations, Federal Appropriations Law, Commercial Item Acquisition, as well as courses tailored for the specific customer.

Mr. Tomanelli is a retired Air Force Judge Advocate and has held numerous high-level procurement law positions, including Chief of Acquisition and Fiscal Law for the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command and Senior DoD Counsel for the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Virginia. He has provided consulting services and legal advice in support of highly classified major system acquisitions and has been a member of many source selection boards, advisory councils and “red teams.” He served as a Professor of Contract and Fiscal Law at the Army Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Virginia. While in the Air Force, he was selected as “The Outstanding Career Judge Advocate of the Air Force.”

Mr. Tomanelli received his B.A. and J.D. at Hofstra University, and his Master of Laws in Federal Procurement Law at George Washington University. While earning his Master of Laws degree, Mr. Tomanelli worked as an Intern at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.

Since 1995, Mr. Tomanelli has consistently been one of the highest rated acquisition trainers in the country according to student evaluations. He has authored over forty course books and written numerous articles on federal procurement and fiscal law topics. Mr. Tomanelli authored a comprehensive textbook titled, A Practical Guide to Federal Appropriations Law (MCI); is currently the Lead Editor of the FAR and the Annotated FAR for Thomson-West Publishing Company; and has received “Small Business Achievement Awards” for two consecutive years from the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Tomanelli is an attorney in good standing of the Virginia Bar; and serves on the Advisory Board of the Government Contractor (West Publishing). He has been retained as an expert witness in numerous federal, state and international court cases on federal procurement law matters. Mr. Tomanelli has a current TS/SCI security clearance.

Alex Tomaszczuk, a Pillsbury Government Contracts & Disputes partner, is repeatedly recognized by Chambers USA as an authority on government contracts and disputes litigation.

Alex litigates high-dollar value government contract claims and bid protests, helps clients challenge adverse CPARS ratings and conducts internal investigations related to a wide range of compliance issues. He represents a diverse set of clients, including utilities, aerospace manufacturers, real estate developers and service contractors in actions before the GAO, the Court of Federal Claims and other federal forums. Alex has secured important victories in procurement and contractual disputes with the DOE, DOD, Justice Department, the GSA and other agencies.

Kristin Torcasi is the Vice President of Government Compliance for CACI International Inc headquartered in Arlington, VA. Kristin is responsible for ensuring compliance with Government contract requirements and serves as the company’s liaison for Government inquires and audits. Kristin has a wide range of experience in government contract accounting, including business system compliance; preparation of incurred cost proposals and forward pricing rates; application of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS); CASB Disclosure Statement preparation; cost allowability matters; cost accounting structure evaluation; and cost impact preparation.

Kristin is a CPA in the state of Virginia.

Tim Trickett is the CTO of BDO Public Sector and leads Public Sector’s Technology Office. He is responsible for the overall strategic and technological management of BDO Public Sector. He is also responsible for BDO Public Sector’s IT infrastructure which support Federal, State, Local, and Non-Profit organizations. Tim is a service-disabled veteran with seventeen years of specialized experience in cybersecurity, information technology, compliance, and risk management.

Prior to joining BDO Tim was a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer for the U.S. Army’s Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) Information Technology Laboratory. While at ERDC Tim was a Team Lead for ERDC’s Security Control Assessor-Validator (SCA-V) Team and conducted Risk Management Framework based assessments for the Department of Defense and Federal Government.

In addition to his work with ERDC, Tim served as a Principal Consultant and Subject Matter Expert on many projects and programs throughout the Federal Government. Prior to working in cybersecurity, Tim was a Human Intelligence Collector, Counterintelligence Agent, and Electronic Warfare Instructor in the U.S. Army.

Mr. Turner is a Partner and Co-Leader of the Government Contracts & Export Controls Practice Group. He is an innovative business lawyer with significant experience resolving complex government contracts issues for a broad array of companies – ranging from multinational Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and small businesses. Mr. Turner routinely represents clients in the aerospace, defense, information technology, health care and industrial supply sectors.

Mr. Turner is a prolific author and lecturer and is routinely called upon by national and international news organizations to offer his insight regarding developments in the federal procurement industry.

Dr. Najam Hassan is the Department Chair of Computer Science at Capitol Technology University and a professor. He has been in the IT field for about 35 years. He has a Ph.D. in Business Analytics & Decision Sciences from Capitol Technology University, a dual Master (MBA/MIM) from University of Maryland University College and a master’s in computer science from John Hopkins University. He earned his bachelor's in computer science from the University of Houston Clear Lake.

Dr. Hassan is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), has a 6-Sigma Greenbelt certification, and is a Certified Information System Auditor (CISA). His industry experience includes working at several well-known organizations such as IBM, Verizon, Geico, and Dell in various roles including solutions architect and IT portfolio manager. He has 15 years of teaching experience. He has taught at many higher education institutions including University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), University of Maryland University College (UMUC), University of Phoenix Online. With Capitol Tech, he teaches Computer Science, Business Analytics, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Platforms, Software and Hardware Concepts, Management Information Systems, Project Management, System Analysis.

Current advancements in his field include:
Data Science: Unveiling Insights from Data
The power of data has transcended mere statistics, becoming a catalyst for informed decision-making across disciplines. From predictive analytics that guide critical healthcare decisions to optimizing supply chains for maximum efficiency, efforts in data science are propelling society towards smarter, more informed choices.

Artificial Intelligence: Transforming Human-Machine Interaction
The rise of artificial intelligence has ushered in a new era of human-computer interaction. This transformation is delving into the realms of machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision. From virtual assistants that understand and respond to human speech to autonomous vehicles that navigate complex environments, the impact of AI is reshaping the boundaries of possibility.

Quantum Computing: Pioneering the Unthinkable
At the intersection of science and computation, quantum computing stands as a disruptive force with limitless potential. Unrelenting research is unraveling the mysteries of quantum algorithms, exploring their applications in cryptography, optimization, and problem-solving. The era of quantum supremacy is dawning, and as we advance our understanding of this revolutionary technology, we're paving the way for solutions to challenges that were once deemed insurmountable. Quantum computing is not just a leap in processing power; it's a quantum leap in how we approach complex problems.

Bob’s law practice focuses on the application of international trade, government procurement and national security law and regulations. He regularly advises both U.S. and foreign clients on international trade matters including: the application of export controls such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the sanctions regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and U.S. and foreign anti-corruption controls including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

In the government contracts area, Bob advises and assists clients in the defense, aerospace, technology, software, telecommunications, health care, energy, and manufacturing sectors with claims, bid protests, and counselling. In his national security law practice, Bob leverages experience as a retired naval intelligence officer (with command and combat experience) to assist U.S. and foreign clients with reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), as well as security clearances and compliance with the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), nuclear and naval nuclear technology controls, and the DoD technology release processes.

Wolf is a leading internationally recognized arbitrator and mediator with over 30 years’ experience in International legal business. Before establishing his ADR practice he served as Legal Director and Assistant General Counsel to Northrop Grumman Corporation and before that to Litton Industries Inc. During his international career being located in their Toronto, Zurich and London offices.

Through his practice for Northrop he engaged with Governments and State Agencies in 52 countries dealing with trade, security and investment matters, and responsible for all international disputes including mediation, adjudication and arbitration.

Wolf is particularly knowledgeable in disputes related to the Aviation & Aerospace, Defence, Compliance, IP, Cyber Security and High Tech Industries. His Practice involved most regions of the World and includes commercial, government and state entities. He is now applying this accumulated knowledge to the field of global commercial conflict avoidance and resolution.

His expert analysis has covered all types of dispute management and resolution boards, adjudication systems, ADR guidelines and Model Clauses, ADR policies and procedures, Global conflict compliance and governance programs, arbitration programs, government procurement and supply chain dispute management.

Cobina Walkland is a Manager with Capital Edge Consulting, Inc. Cobina has over 7 years of experience in providing professional support to government contractors and Federal grant awardees in the areas of regulatory compliance, purchasing system compliance and training. Cobina’s expertise includes Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR) readiness, Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DEARS), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), Incurred Cost Submissions (ICS), Davis-Bacon Act compliance, and Procurement Evaluation and Re-Engineering Team (PERT) reviews.

Bill has four decades of experience in the government contracting industry. Prior to joining the firm, Bill was an auditor for the Defense Contract Audit Agency and also held executive-level positions with ono of the largest service providers to the U.S. Department of Defense. Bill’s extensive background is in the application and interpretation of rules, regulations, and standards applicable to government contractors including the Federal Acquisition Regulation, individual agency supplements, and the Cost Accounting Standards. Bill’s work includes helping clients understand the requirements associated with development and implementing pricing strategies, indirect cost allocation solutions, developing accounting, estimating, procurement, project management, and integrated system requirements for clients in various industries including aerospace and defense, contingency contracting, logistics, oil and gas, energy, manufacturing, healthcare, construction, and professional services.

He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, National Contract Management Association, Professional Services Council, and National Defense Industrial Association Procurement Committee. He is an associate member of The American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law.

Mark is a Senior Manager with Capital Edge Consulting, Inc. His areas of expertise include U.S. government contract and subcontract negotiations, management and administration, Federal Acquisition Regulations and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (FAR/DFARS) compliance, Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR) readiness through recovery, contract risk analysis, and small business subcontracting plan development. Mark has served in progressive management roles for large government contractors throughout his career, most recently leading a team of more than 50 members supporting CONUS and OCONUS operations.

Linda Weinberg provides practical advice to business and institutional clients on international trade law, including export controls, foreign assets control and customs. She works regularly with the U.S. and foreign government agencies that regulate international trade to help clients realize their distinct objectives surrounding their global commerce initiatives.

Carla Weiss advises large and small clients on a range of high-stakes government contract issues. She is a well-known bid protest practitioner, with successful matters before the Government Accountability Office, Court of Federal Claims, SBA Office of Hearing and Appeals, and FAA Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition. In partnership with clients, she provides strategic legal guidance throughout the acquisition process, and ultimately represents protesters challenging contract decisions—and intervenors defending their awards.

Carla also has significant experience handling internal investigations for government contractors and representing contractors and subcontractors in claims litigation against the government. In addition, she counsels clients on a variety of federal statutes, regulations and government contract-related compliance matters, including FAR and DFARS interpretation, SBA small business and socioeconomic programs and eligibility, and foreign sourcing requirements. Through multiple secondments, Carla has seen first-hand the pressures and demands facing government contractors, and she brings that in-house perspective when advising clients.

Prior to joining the firm, Carla served as a law clerk to former United States Senator Arlen Specter at the Senate Judiciary Committee. She also worked at the National Republican Senatorial Committee and interned with the White House Office of Public Liaison.

Jeffery White is Founder and CEO of J.A. White & Associates Inc. A leading industry firm in Federal Contracting and Compliance consulting offering a tailored line of advisory services to clients.

With over 38 years of experience in both the private and public sectors, White's expertise has led his firm to have an unprecedented 100% approval rate of Contractor Purchasing System Reviews (CPSR) and other Business System assessments.

The design of document automation, CPSR ProDocs, was spearheaded by visionary, Jeffery White. Used by small and large government contractors, the software streamlines the Procurement workflow process by leveraging a company’s existing enterprise platform and automates compliance-related Procurement file documentation. A company's benefits may include cost savings, 100% accuracy, increased CPSR success, error reduction and lead time reduction. White’s clients currently include government agencies, prime contractors, and subcontractors across the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

Christine Williamson, CPA, PMP, is a Partner in CohnReznick’s Government Contracting Industry Practice which she led for 15 years. She provides financial and accounting consulting services that offer solutions to such complex issues as indirect rate structure development, executive compensation analysis, and mergers & acquisitions. Christine has a deep breadth of knowledge in GAAP, FAR, CAS, DCAA and DCMA. Additionally, she advises government contractors with their tax strategies and operational issues, including: financial statement reporting, disclosures, incurred cost submissions, proposals, forward pricing rates, and federal and state tax preparation.

Howard Wolf-Rodda is a founding partner of Abrahams Wolf-Rodda, LLC, a boutique government contracts and wage and 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).

Mr. Wolf-Rodda represents organizations and individuals that do business with federal, state and local governments. Mr. Wolf-Rodda regularly describes himself as a general practitioner who guides his clients in all aspects of their operations in the highly-regulated world of government contracting.

Mr. Wolf-Rodda is admitted to practice in the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia. He is a member of the bars of the US Courts of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Federal Circuit. He also is admitted to practice before the US Court of Federal Claims as well as the US District Courts for the District of Columbia and Maryland. Mr. Wolf-Rodda has litigated cases in state and federal trial courts throughout the National Capital region. In addition, he has litigated in state and federal courts in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York and Washington. Mr. Wolf-Rodda also has filed briefs and/or appeared before the US Supreme Court, US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the Court of Appeals and Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

Bill Wootton is the Founder and President of C3 Integrated Solutions, a full-service IT provider that specializes in securing our nation’s Defense Industrial Base through cloud-based solutions and industry leading partners. C3 is a provider of Microsoft Government Cloud solutions including Microsoft 365 GCC, GCC High and AzureGov, and specializes in helping clients achieve CMMC and NIST 800-171 compliance by providing MSP, security and Microsoft 365 integration services. With over 100 migrations to GCC High already completed, C3 offers an award-winning, tailored approach to helping DoD clients move to the GCC High cloud.

Jason Workmaster focuses his practice on government contracts-related litigation, including contract claims and disputes, bid protests, and civil False Claims Act (FCA) cases. He has represented a host of clients in these types of cases before the boards of contract appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and U.S. District Court. He also routinely assists clients in responding to government audits and investigations.

A former partner in the highly-regarded McKenna Long & Aldridge government contracts practice, Mr. Workmaster is recognized as an expert on a wide range of government contracting issues – including contracting on the battlefield, cost allowability, the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), contract funding, requests for equitable adjustment, the General Services Administration (GSA) Schedules program, and the Trade Agreements Act (TAA). He also is a recognized leader on FCA issues and has appeared on NBC's The TODAY Show and Canadian TV's National News to discuss the highly publicized FCA case against the cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Cara Wulf is a partner in the Government Contracts & Global Trade practice group at McCarter & English. She focuses her practice on government contracts and regulations. She has extensive experience counseling clients regarding compliance with federal, state, and local public procurement requirements. She also assists in litigation involving bid protests, claims, and other disputes before federal agencies, courts and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Cara is a frequent lecturer for Federal Publications on U.S. domestic preference statutes, regulations and executive orders as they apply to the U.S. Government supply chain.

Gina Yacone is a Senior Cybersecurity Consultant & vCISO with Agio’s Raleigh, NC office. Gina is an information security strategist and speaker with a unique technical vision and business acumen. She is responsible for educating organizations about the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape and helping them build a dynamic cybersecurity and privacy programs. She loves focusing on the unique challenges today’s organizations face.

Gina is a designated CompTIA Subject Matter Expert and holds certifications from ISACA as a Certified Data Privacy Solution Engineer (CDPSE), (ISC) 2 as a Systems Security Certified Practitioner, CompTIA in Security Plus (Sec+), as well as the Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) as a Certified CSF Practitioner (CCSFP) and a Certified HITRUST Quality Professional (CHQP).

Prior to her work in information security, Gina was a licensed private investigator for Barry A. Cohen, P.A., in Tampa, FL. While there, she specialized in high-profile, complex litigation.

Theresa Youngblood has significant international trade compliance and regulatory law experience and advises domestic and international entities in the public and private sectors on building successful strategies and on dispute resolution. She offers her clients the right mix of dedicated and driven, smart and savvy, and knowledgeable and approachable – gained over the course of the last 20 years.

She has extensive experience in providing tailored counsel for matters involving export control and compliance, particularly with regard to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Customs and Border Protection regulations, and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions regulations. Theresa also guides clients through U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) regulations, in particular as export and import regulations impact her client’s the Foreign Military Sales contracts.

Theresa advises clients on these complex compliance issues and creates and launches internal compliance programs tailored to entities large, medium and small. She works with and on behalf of her clients regarding virtually all aspects of export and import transactions, including all affected corporate functions, to address transactional, operational, policy and compliance considerations. She is intimately aware of the issues affecting clients in the areas of export-import control, licensing compliance, commodity jurisdiction and classification determinations; reporting and compliance requirements for licenses, agreements and exemptions and exceptions; coordination with forwarders, brokers, agents, and third parties; and drafting and filing necessary documentation for tangible and intangible shipments and transfers.

Additionally, Theresa is well-versed across the international trade spectrum and handles internal and external audit activities. She briefs and advises senior leadership on metrics as to various trade control matters touching all business operations, from executive management and business development to engineering, research and development, finance, supply chain and procurement, and information technology.

International trade attorney Clinton Yu advises clients on compliance with U.S. trade and investment laws, including customs and import regulations, export controls (ITAR & EAR), economic sanctions (OFAC), and CFIUS.

Clinton is a trusted advisor for domestic and foreign clients in navigating the complex international trade issues affecting corporate and commercial transactions. He is also a strong advocate for clients dealing with U.S. government enforcement, whether in the context of investigations, penalties or voluntary disclosures.

With more than a decade of experience, Clinton practices before the federal agencies that enforce U.S. international trade regulations, such as the U.S. Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

M. Yuan Zhou is a counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Crowell & Moring, where she is a member of the firm's Government Contracts Group.

Yuan’s practice includes a wide range of investigatory, counseling, and transactional capabilities, including: internal investigations related to the False Claims Act, the Procurement Integrity Act, and other civil and criminal matters; compliance reviews and enhancing contractor compliance programs; representing clients in suspension and debarment proceedings; counseling on data rights issues, challenges, and disputes; mandatory disclosures; and providing government contracts due diligence in transactional matters. As part of the firm’s State and Local Practice, Yuan also counsels clients on state and local procurement issues, ranging from bid protests to contract negotiations with state agencies, and advises prime contractors and subcontractors on a variety of issues, including prime/sub contract formation, disputes, and other government contracts issues.

Prior to law school, Yuan was a special assistant at the White House and a White House intern for the Obama Administration.