Contracting with the government — whether it be federal, state, or local government — presents a unique set of complexities. Navigating those complexities often requires counsel experienced in the full life cycle of a government contract. Cozen O’Connor’s Government Contracts attorneys assist clients in all phases of the process, including analyzing procurement schemes, preparing proposals and bids, conducting negotiations with contracting agencies, protesting deficiencies or ambiguities in government solicitations before bids or best and final offers, protesting or defending the award process, novating contracts, negotiating change orders, assessing the effect of relevant statutes or actions by government agencies on contract performance, handling contract disputes arising during performance, and defending clients facing debarment or other punitive measures.
Our team includes lawyers who have held high-level positions and handled procurement throughout government, including former senior lawyers in offices of state attorneys general; those who have served in federal administrative agencies; the former Chief Operating Officer of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and senior vice president and general counsel of the Export-Import Bank of the United States; and a former General Counsel of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Associate Counsel to the President in the Office of White House Counsel. Our Government Contracts attorneys have experience with a wide range of industries and related state and federal agencies, including construction, engineering, technology, maritime, aviation, and transportation.
We have successfully represented clients in bid protests before the General Accountability Office (GAO) and contract disputes before contracting officers, boards of contract appeals, and various state and federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. For example, the GAO sustained a protest we brought that challenged certain technical restrictions in a U.S. Forest Service solicitation for aerial firefighting services. We also successfully defended a bid protest before the D.C. Contract Appeals Board and represented a wood casework contractor in a bid dispute with a school district in New Jersey. We also have substantial experience with debarment and suspension proceedings, including representing a very large Philadelphia-based company in proceedings with the General Services Administration.
Our team helps clients cut through the tangle of red tape that can make the government contracting process seem unnavigable, from the initial decision to pursue a contract, to crafting the proposal, to bid protests and beyond. With respect to new procurements, our Government Contracts attorneys work alongside Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies professionals to help clients identify opportunities at every level of government. We know which members have discretionary funds to allocate, what legislative or executive decisions will ultimately lead to new funding, and when programs are likely to be renewed. Our strength lies in understanding the procurement process, pulling all the pieces together, and developing short- and long-term strategies that benefit our clients every step of the way.