2011 Crystal Drive,
Ste. 400
Arlington, VA 22202

Officers

Chair
Stacia Davis Le Blanc
Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP
2001 L Street, NW 2nd Fl
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 466-8960
sleblanc@ftlf.com

Chair-Elect

Immediate Past Chairs
Jeffrey P. Hildebrant
Hildebrant & Associates
McLean, VA 22102
(703) 752-3740
jph@hildebrantlaw.com

Steven Briggerman
Seyfarth Shaw
Washington, D.C.
(202) 828-5388
briggerman@starpower.net

Jana Gagner
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Commerce
(301) 975-5035
jana@nist.gov

J. Michael Littlejohn
Wickwire Gavin PC
Vienna, Va.
(703) 790-8750
mlittlejohn@wickwire.com

Ralph Thomas III
Buchanan Ingersoll PC
Washington, D.C.
(202) 452-5472
thomasrc@bipc.com
 
David W. Burgett
Hogan & Hartson LLP
Washington, D.C.
(202) 637-6597
dwburgett@hhlaw.com
 
Richard P. Theis
U.S.Department of Justice
Washington, D.C.
(202) 338-8824
richard.p.theis@usdoj.gov
 
David Hazelton
Latham & Watkins
Washington, D.C.
(202) 637-2200
david.hazelton@lw.com
 
Linda Donaghy (ret.)
U.S.Department of Justice

Special Events/Federal Procurement Policy
Leader Speaker Series
Jeffrey P. Hildebrant
Hildebrant & Associates
McLean, VA 22102
(703) 752-3740
jph@hildebrantlaw.com

Newsletter Editor
Carrol Kinsey Jr.
Van Scoyoc Kelly PLLC
Washington, D.C.
(202) 898-0406
ckinsey@vsklaw.com

Standing Committees

Bid Protests
John Tolle
Barton, Baker, McMahon, Hildebrant & Tolle LLP
McLean, VA
(703) 448-1810
jtolle@bbmtlaw.com

Contract Disputes
Michael A. Branca
Peckar, Abramson, Bastianelli & Kelly
Washington, DC
(202) 293-8815
mbranca@pecklaw.com

Homeland Security
Carmody A. Gaba
Customs & Border Patrol
Dept. Of Homeland Security
(202) 344-2972
carmody.gaba@dhs.gov

Small Business &
Socioeconomic Matters
Ralph Thomas III
Buchanan Ingersoll PC
Washington, D.C.
(202) 452-5472
thomasrc@bipc.com

Federal Grants
Edward Sharp
Jana Gagner
U.S. Department of Commerce
(301) 975-5035
EFSharp@JUNO.COM
jana@nist.gov

International Procurement
Matthew McGrath
McGrath & Barlow LLP
Washington, D.C.
(202) 895-2786
mmcgrath@mcgrathbarlow.com
                                               
David W. Burgett
Hogan & Hartson LLP
Washington, D.C.
(202) 637-6597
dwburgett@hhlaw.com                                                   
Statutory/Regulatory Review
Richard Webber
Arent Fox
Washington, D.C.
(202) 857-6000
webberr@arentfox.com                                                  
Programs (West)
Jay Gallagher
McKenna Long & Aldrich
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 243-6165
jgallagher@mckennalong.com

back to the top

Contents
A Message from the Section Chair
Calendar of Events
Section News
Recent Events
Committees
Opportunities
Accomplishments
Articles of Interest
Helpful Links

A Message from the Section Chair

Welcome to the 2007-2008 Season for the Government Contracts Section of the Federal Bar Association. As a former government attorney for 20 years, I would like to reach out this year and increase participation by federal attorneys. The FBA, unlike any other bar association, provides the perfect opportunity to bring federal and private practitioners together to discuss the legal issues that affect our daily work lives. I would like to eliminate or reduce any perceived barriers to government attorneys’ participation in the organization and increase our section membership by reaching out to all of the federal executive agencies. It is the synergy between the federal and private counsel that is the hallmark of the Federal Bar Association. It provides a unique opportunity for attorneys on both sides to see the legal issues from each others’ perspectives. Through an open exchange of ideas, viewpoints, and interpretations of the federal laws, regulations, policies and procedures that affect our clients, we can both learn to be better lawyers.

Thank you for your membership. If you don’t belong to the Federal Bar Association, I strongly encourage to join. If there is anything we can do to improve the section and its delivery of services to you, please do not hesitate to contact me at (202)466-8960 or e-mail me at sleblanc@feldesmantucker.com.

Stacia Davis Le Blanc, Esquire
Government Contracts Section Chair

back to the top

Calendar of Events

June 5, 2008
Annual Boards of Contract Appeals Judges Reception in honor of the Judges of the Boards of Contract Appeals and Seminar on "Practice Tips for Handling and Pursuing Claims
Co-sponsored by the Government Contracts section of the FBA
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, 1050 Connecticut Ave NW, Second Floor, Washington, D.C. (Metro Stations: Farragut North and Farragut West)
Cost: $35 Section/BCABA/FBA Members/Subscribers; $60 Non-Members/Guests (No purchase orders please.)
Registration: View Flyer

back to the top

Section News

Government Contracts Section Newsletter

September/October 2006 Issue

January 2006 Issue

back to the top

Recent Events

February 7, 2008
Must a False Claim Be Presented to the Federal Government
The Government Contracts Section sponsored a brown bag lunch at Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP in Washington, DC on February 7, 2008. The event was entitled Must a False Claim Be Presented to the Federal Government for the False Claims Act to Apply? Allie Pang, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, U.S. Department of Justice, was the featured speaker.



At the February 7 event—(l to r) Staci LeBlanc, Government Contracts Section Chair, Federal Bar Association; Allie Pang, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, U.S. Department of Justice; Jana Gagner, Immediate Government Contracts Section Chair, Federal Bar Association

April 25, 2007
Q & A Legal Round Table at the National Grants Management Association National Conference
The Federal Bar Association Government Contracts Section Federal Grants Committee sponsored a Legal Round Table featuring Grants Law Questions and Answers at the National Grants Management Association (NGMA) annual conference on April 25, 2007 in Washington, D.C.

Pictured are the panelists (left to right):  Jim Drummond, attorney in the Office of General Counsel, Civil Rights & Finance Law, Environmental Protection Agency; Staci Davis LeBlanc, an attorney who is a Research Fellow, Resources & Acquisition Management Group, LMI, Virginia; Edward T. Waters, Managing Partner, Feldesman Tucker Fidell Leifer LLP, Washington, DC, and Chair of the Board of the NGMA; and the moderator, Jana Patterson Gagner, an attorney in the Federal Assistance Law Division, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Commerce. 

April 17, 2007
Monthly Meeting And Dial-In/Brown Bag Lunch Program: Effective Lawyering in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims
The Disputes Committee of the Government Contract Section of the Federal Bar Association was honored to have as its guest for a brown bag luncheon Judge Robert Hodges of the United States Court of Federal Claims. The topic for the luncheon was "Effective Lawyering at the Court of Federal Claims." Judge Hodges lead a lively and informative discussion touching on many facets of trial practice before the Court.
After a few introductory remarks, Judge Hodges opened the floor to questions from the Section members in attendance. To add a different perspective to certain issues, Judge Hodges asked his current law clerks to provide their comments on a number of the audience's questions. The Section and the Committee would again like to thank Judge Hodges for his time and sharing his valuable insights.

March 6, 2007
An Audio Conference on ITAR License Exemptions Available to Government Contractors
Time: Noon–1:15 p.m.
Speakers: Matthew J. McGrath, McGrath & Barlow LLP and John A. Ordway, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe LLP
Cost: $10 members; $15 nonmembers

February 6, 2007
Procurement Policy Leader Luncheon Series: Critical Federal Procurement Issues
Sponsored by the Government Contracts Section
Speaker: Hon. Albert “Al” Wynn, Democratic Representative for Maryland
Time: Noon
Location: The Horizon Room at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.
Cost: $40 for FBA Members; $50 for nonmembers; full lunch will be served.

February 1, 2007
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Brown Bag Lunch)
Sponsored by the Federal Grants Committee
Featuring: Edward T. Waters, managing partner, Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP, chair, Board of Directors of the National Grants Management Association; Christopher R. Yukins, co-director, Government Procurement Law Program, The George Washington University Law School
Time: Noon–1:30 p.m.
Location: Holland and Knight, 2099 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 100, Washington, D.C. Please note this location changed to accomodate significant interest. The new location is on the same block as the original site. Closest Metro stop is Farragut West on the Blue-Orange line. Look for places nearby to pick up lunch on your way in or bring a brown bag.
· The FFATA will require a free public database to report all government contracts and grants, including those at sub-tier levels.
· What are the details of this September 2006 law?
· How does this law affect government agencies, contractors, grantees, sub-tier parties, and the public?
· Find out from the experts
FFATA information from the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, and White House:  
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/RL33680.pdf
thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/R?r109:FLD001:S59210
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060926.html

Edward T. Waters (left ) and Christopher R. Yukins (right) at the FBA Government Contracts Section Federal Grants Committee event of Feb. 1.  Waters and Yukins discussed the The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, a law requiring a free public database to report all government contracts and grants, including those at sub-tier levels, at an FBA event on Feb. 1., at Holland+Knight in Washington, DC, and via dial-in. Waters is managing partner, Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP and chair, board of directors of the National Grants Management Association and Yukins is co-director, Government Procurement Law Program, The George Washington University Law School.

January 25, 2007
“Government Procurement and Global Sourcing” Panel
Sponsored by the Government Contracts Section and the Georgetown Journal of International Law
Panelists: Daniel I. Gordon, George Washington University Law School, GAO (Moderator); Gillian Marks, general counsel, Australian Defence Materiels Organisation; Professor Steven Schooner and Professor Chris Yukins, Government Procurement Law Program at George Washington University; and Professor Laurence Falliot-Lolliot, University of Paris (Tentative)
Time: Noon
Location: Georgetown University Law Center
Cost: free and open to the public, but space is limited and reservations are required.

December 7, 2006
Brown Bag Lunch
Sponsored by the Federal Grants Committee
Featuring: Mark Freedman, assistant general counsel, Legal Services Corporation, discussing statutory restrictions on non-federal activities of federal grantees: The Velazquez and Dobbins cases.
Time: Noon
Location: Offices of Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis, 2001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. Metro stop is Farragut West on the Blue-Orange line. Look for places nearby to pick up lunch. 
Registration: RSVP by contacting Edward Sharp, ESharp@doc.gov or (301) 713-2175.

December 13, 2006
Implementing the Safety Act in Federal Procurements: A Roundtable
Sponsored by the Homeland Security Committee
Time: Noon–2 p.m.
Location: FBA Headquarters, 2215 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C.
Registration: Contact Mike Littlejohn, Michael.littlejohn@akerman.com, (703) 790-8750. This meeting is open to FBA members and guests. 

October 24, 2006
An Audio Conference About The Intersection of U.S. Export Control Laws & Commercial Litigation/Arbitration
Sponsored by the Government Contracts Section
Time: Noon – 1:15 p.m.
Cost: FBA Members $5; Nonmembers $10

September 21, 2006
Procurement Policy Leader Series Luncheon
Sponsored by the Government Contracts Section
Time: Noon
Speaker G. Marty Wagner, associate administrator, Office of Governmentwide Policy General Services Administration
Location: The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Cost: $35 for FBA members, $45 for nonmembers.

May 9, 2006
Annual Boards of Contract Appeals Judges Reception in Honor of the Judges of the Boards of Contract Appeals
Co-sponsored The District of Columbia Bar Government Contracts and Litigation Section; Boards of Contract Appeals Bar Association; and FBA Government Contracts Section
Time: 4–7:30 p.m.
Location: Offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, 1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Second Floor

May 18, 2006
Monthly Meeting and Dial-In/Brown Bag Lunch Program
Time: Noon–1:30 p.m.
Location: Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, Washington, D.C.
Speaker: Stephen D. Altman, former assistant director in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Location: Seyfarth Shaw, 815 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C.

April 26, 2006
Appropriations Earmark Grants: Insider Perspectives at the National Grants Management Association Annual Training Conference
The FBA Government Contracts Section Federal Grants Committee sponsors a panel discussion on a legal issue of interest to the grants community every year at the National Grants Management Association annual training conference. This year, the panel discussed appropriations earmark grants at the conference in Washington, D.C. The Congressional Research Service has reported that earmarks grew from 4,126 in 1994 to 15,877 in 2005. Panelists Dyer, Lilly, and Meade shared insights gained from decades of experience as staff on Capitol Hill and in the White House, while panelist Levin shared experiences from the executive branch perspective.

Members of the panel sponsored by the section at the National Grants Management Associations annual training conference (l to r) — Edward Levin; James W. Dyer, moderator; Jana Gagner, co-chair of the FBA Brants Committee; Scott Lilly; and Rich Meade.

March 30, 2006
Procurement Policy Leader Series: The Changing Roles of the Courts and the Boards and the Implications of Board Consolidations
Sponsored by the Government Contracts Section in coordination with Federal Publications Seminars
Time: Noon
Speaker: Hon. Edward J. Damich, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Location: The International Trade Center/Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

April 5, 2006
Hot Issues Facing Small Businesses in the Federal Marketplace
Sponsored by the Small Business and Socioeconomic Matters Committee of the Government Contracts Section
Speaker: Ralph C. Thomas III, chair, Buchanan Ingersoll, PC; J. Patrick McMahon, deputy chair, Barton, Baker, McMahon, Hildebrandt & Tolle, LLP
Time: Noon–1:30 p.m.
Location: Buchanan Ingersoll, PC, 1700 K Streets, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, D.C.

January 19, 2006
Brown Bag and Dial-in Luncheon Program: Lessons Learned From Hurricane Katrina
Time: 12:15 – 1:30 p.m.
Speaker: Hugo Teufel, associate general counsel for general law, Department of Homeland Security
Location: Seyfarth Shaw, 815 Connecticut Ave., 5th Floor, Washington, D.C.
Registration: To attend in person, please make reservations with Katie Mathews at kmathews@seyfarth.com. Space is limited to 30 persons, but priority will be given to FBA members. To participate by telephone: Call 1-877-807-5706. The participant code is 875936. The program will begin at approximately 12:30 p.m.

November 2–3, 2005
33rd Annual Symposium on Government Acquisition and the Annual Eastern Briefing Conference
Co-sponsored by the North Alabama Chapter and the Government Contracts Section
Location: Marriott Hotel, 5 Tranquility Base, Huntsville, Ala.
Cost: $325 per person both days; $250 FBA Members (includes Nov. 3 luncheon).
CLE: 12 hours CLE credit in Alabama and Tennessee, including 2 hours of ethics

November 3, 2005
The False Claims Act and Federal Grant Programs — Federal Grants Committee Brown Bag Lunch
Allie Pang, a trial attorney in the Commercial Litigation Branch/Fraud Section of the Department of Justice, was present to discuss the False Claims Act with a focus on its applicability to federal grant programs. Pang received a B.A. from UCLA with a degree in Economics/Women's Studies in 1991 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1994. She has been a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice since 1994, working primarily on health care fraud cases in the Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section.
For further resources on the False Claims Act and associated cases, visit www.taf.org/. Note: the information is provided by the relators' counsel bar.

October 7, 2005
On Oct. 7, the International Procurement Committee of the Government Contracts Section conducted a program on the subject of Buy-American Legislation.  The guest speaker was Robert Gorman, associate general counsel of the Department of Defense. The program was held at the offices of Hogan and Hartson in Washington, D.C., and was well attended.

International Procurement organizer Walt Henderson, left, together with guest speaker Robert Gorman.

June 30, 2005
Procurement Policy Leader Series Luncheon with Paul J. McNulty
The Federal Bar Association Government Contracts Section Procurement Policy Leaders Series luncheon on June 30 featured the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Paul J. McNulty.
In response to recent high-profile procurement scandals, McNulty formed an interagency Procurement Fraud Working Group. McNulty detailed to a large audience of government and private procurement law practitioners the purpose and operation of the Procurement Fraud Working Group and his approach for curbing procurement fraud.
McNulty said that the reason for forming the Procurement Fraud Working Group is that the government’s expenditure of resources is too great not to have supervisory checks and balances in place to prevent loss. He noted that the current National budget includes over a half trillion dollars slated for the defense spending and that, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office, billions of dollars in procurement funds are not adequately controlled.
The fact that Virginia receives the third largest amount of procurement dollars in the country, after California and Texas, with over 20 billion dollars in contracts flowing through it, further stresses the need for fraud preventative programs in the Washington D.C. area.
The Procurement Fraud Working Group, McNulty said, is comprised of 20 agencies who work to prevent fraud through inter-agency coordination and education as well as consulting with private sector corporations on their loss prevention methods. The group’s mantra is “preventing fraud through detection, investigation, and prosecution,” he said.
Approaches being discussed by the group to fight fraud are to embed criminal investigators in government contracting offices to advise contracting staff, increase training for government contracting officials, make better use of the contracting information already being recorded, and to “enthusiastically” implement ethics reinforcing programs.
Some of these approaches, such as imbedding criminal investigators in contracting offices, were viewed by some members of the audience during the question and answer period as potentially controversial.

Jana Gagner, Paul J. McNulty, and Jeff Hildenbrant

June 22, 2005
Ralph C. Thomas, a recent past chair of the FBA Government Contracts Section, current chair of the section's Small Business & Socioeconomic Matters Committee, and head of NASA's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, was named "Man of the Year" by Minority Enterprise Advocate. As a leader in the FBA Government Contracts Section, Ralph Thomas' efforts have included work developing a popular seminar, "Winning Strategies in Teaming for Federal Contracts," and a brochure providing guidance to small businesses about Federal contracting.  The section congratulations our colleague, Ralph Thomas, on the distinguished honor recently bestowed upon him. Download event article.

back to the top

Federal Grants Committee
The FBA Government Contracts Section’s Federal Grants Committee serves as a professional forum for attorneys interested in legal issues arising in Federal assistance programs.The committee sponsors a variety of programs, including a panel presentation on a timely legal issue at the National Grants Management Association’s annual training conferences. The committee also distributes a list of cases of interest from the past year at this annual conference. In addition, the committee sponsors an Internet listserv on grants law matters, to which nonmembers may also subscribe. Each month the committee also holds an informal “brown bag” luncheon meeting to discuss committee business and legal cases and situations of interest.

Pictured in the photo:
FBA Government Contracts Section Chair Jana Gagner and past Grants Committee Chair Edward Levin surround Malcolm Mason, age 94, "Dean of the Federal Grants Bar," after he was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award from the FBA Grants Committee. Read more about Malcolm Mason!

For further information
To join the section and the committee, or for more information, contact Co-chair Edward Sharp, at (301) 713-2175, or e-mail esharp@doc.gov. You may also contact Co-chair Jana Gagner, (301) 975-5035, jana.gagner@nist.gov.

To join the listserv, send an e-mail to esharp@doc.gov, with a message stating your e-mail address and asking to join the listserv.

July 2006 Grants Committee Meeting
Tom Armstrong, assistant general counsel for Appropriations Law at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, spoke at length at the July 6, 2006 monthly informal brown bag lunch of the FBA Federal Grants Committee. The lively discussion included recent federal and GAO cases and opinions and focused on questions from the audience, including those joining by telephone from as far as Alaska with a special interest in the Supreme Court's Cherokee Nation ruling. Besides that case, among the many subjects covered were developments in the GAO "Red Book," recent Department of Labor and Education cases, the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act, and Treasury Department account closing laws. More information about GAO is available at www.gao.gov. The committee thanks Mr. Armstrong and the law firm of Feldesman, Tucker, Leifer, Fidell LLP, Washington, D.C. for hosting the meeting.

Left photo: Tom Armstrong, U.S. Government Accountability Office assistant general counsel for Appropriations Law; and Robert Graham of Feldesman, Tucker, Leifer, Fidell LLP, Washington, host firm for the meeting at which Armstrong was the featured speaker. Right photo: Nancy Weiss, general counsel of the Institute for Museum and Library Services, consults with Tom Armstrong, GAO Assistant General Counsel for Appropriations Law.

Documents of Interest

Grants Case Update—The Supreme Court heard the oral arguments in FAIR v. Rumsfeld on Dec. 6, 2005. The federal government's approach to the case raised an issue about unconstitutional grant conditions. Certain law schools seek to prohibit military recruiters from receiving the same help contacting students that other potential employers of students receive, because the military discriminates against gays. Congress passed a law restricting Federal funds to universities unless the military received the same treatment as the other employers; the government's position is that the university can turn down the federal funds. The discussion at the Court on Dec. 6 did not seem particularly favorable for the law schools. Among other issues, Chief Justice Roberts brought up the leading case on unconstitutional grant conditions, South Dakota v. Dole. 
Audio transcript of the oral arguments (look for FAIR v. Rumsfeld)

NPR story

Written transript of the oral argument

Slate story

Examples of other pending cases involving congressional restrictions on grantees based on the spending power (restrictions related to prostitution and abortion): see DKT International v. U.S. Agency for International Development, D.D.C., Civil Action Case No. 05-01604 (2005), and National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Ass’n., Inc. v. Gonzales, 391 F.Supp.2d 200 (D.D.C. Sept. 28, 2005).  For recent past cases, see also the presentation by Jana Gagner of the U.S. Department of Commerce, co-chair of the Federal Bar Association Grants Committee, at the State Department in November 2005, on the PubKLaw, Commerce Department and Federal Bar Association Web sites.

Presentation by Jana Gagner, co-chair of the FBA Grants Committee, at the U.S. Department of State Office of the Procurement Executive Grants Conference, Nov. 17, 2005.

The Grants Committee notes this case of interest from March 8, 2005. This updates information from a Feb. 10, 2005 Grants Committee presentation.

Recent Grants Law Cases You Should Know About — Presented at the National Grants Management Association Training Luncheon, February 10, 2005

October 2004, GSA's Joseph Neurauter gave a talk to the FBA Government Contracts Section on GSA's "Get It Right" plan

National Grants Management Association 26th Annual Training Conference, Washington, D.C., May 2005 — Highlights in grants law from the past year. This document discusses several major cases that have arisen, and provides limited information about some other cases of potential interest to the federal grants community.

National Grants Management Association 25th Annual Training Conference, Washington, D.C., April 2004 — Highlights in grants law from the past year. This document discusses several major cases that have arisen, and provides limited information about some other cases of potential interest to the federal grants community.

back to the top

Opportunities

The Office of Defender Services (ODS) in the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC) is seeking to identify one or two individuals who would qualify as an expert/ consultant in the field of case-budgeting processes for representations by appointed counsel under the Criminal Justice Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3006A, and related statutes. The AOUSC, located in Washington, D.C., is the administrative arm of the federal judiciary, and ODS functions as the administrator of the appointed counsel program. (The expert/consultant, who would enter into a contract with the AOUSC, is not required to be based in the Washington, D.C. area.) The expert/consultant would furnish objective case-budgeting advice to ODS and federal courts and develop case-budgeting protocols and training materials.
The particular expertise sought also includes knowledge of federal criminal law and procedures applicable to large, non-capital and capital cases, including post-conviction proceedings under
28 U.S.C. §§ 2254 and 2255; evaluation of litigation budgets; and maintenance and analysis of databases related to case costs.
Interested persons may call Paul Denicoff, Attorney Advisor, Office of Defender Services, Legal and Policy Branch, at 202-502-3043.

Accomplishments

October 2004 – September 2005

Section-Wide Program Highlights

• Procurement Policy Leader Series
  • U.S. Comptroller General David Walker
  • Office of Procurement Policy Deputy Administrator Robert Burton
  • U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Paul McNulty
• FBA Presidential Achievement Award, presented at Convention
  Co-sponsored Board of Contract Appeals Bar Association, District of Columbia Bar Association, and Court of Federal Claims Bar Association Events
• Annual Judicial Reception
• Summer Career Event
• Brown-bag lunch 
  • GSA s Get It Right Program

Committee Highlights

Small and Disadvantaged Business Committee

• Winning Strageies in Teaming Program presented in several cities
  
  Intellectual Property Committee
• Several programs presented through the year
  
  Grants Committee
• Panel on Faith-Based Grants at National Grants Management Association (NGMA) Conference·
• Monthly meetings and speakers throughout the year
• Grants Law Year in Review Presentation and Handout presented to NGMA

Member Achievements

• Ralph Thomas presented is Minority Enterprise Man of the Year
• Tony Perfilio retired after many years of distinguished and meritorious service
• Malcolm Mason presented with lifetime achievement award

Administrative Activities

• Updated bylaws, remained within budget; need to target leadership recruitment

Articles of Interest

18USC 207(c) Amendment Ensnares Majority of
Senior Executive Service Employees
By: Anthony J. Perfilio

Negotiating Subcontracts For High Tech Small Businesses
By Ralph C. Thomas III

Related Links

Acquisition Web site links
General Services Board of Contract Appeals
GWU's Government Contracts Web page
Hill AFB FAR
Prompt Payment Act Interest Rates
PubKLaw.com

Doing business with Government Web sites
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Energy
Department of State
NASA
Department of Defense
Department of Commerce
Department of Treasury
Department of Justice
Federal Aviation Administration
Department of Transportation

Check out more helpful links listed on the main FBA page!

back to the top

Federal Bar Association Grants Committee Issues Lifetime Achievement Award to Malcolm S. Mason, Dean of the Federal Grants Bar
Malcolm S. Mason, 94, widely respected as the premier authority on the law of federal grants, received a Lifetime Achievement Award on March 6, 2005, from the Federal Bar Association Grants Committee, part of the FBA’s Government Contracts Section.

Government Contracts Section Chair Jana Gagner and Past Chair Edward Levin presented the award to Mason at a luncheon in Washington, D.C.

A prolific author and enthusiastic mentor to two generations of grants lawyers, Mason served as the first full time chairman of the Grant Appeals Board of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, now the Departmental Appeals Board of the Department of Health and Human Services. In 1991, Mason co-authored Essentials of Grant Law Practice with Paul Dembling, past president of the FBA and former general counsel of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and of the U.S. General Accounting Office, who recently described Mason as “knowledgeable in philosophy, logic, literature, law, and languages — a true modern Renaissance man!”
After a long and distinguished career, at age 94 Mason continues to consult with the FBA Grants Committee to discuss case law in his retirement. The Committee presented this award in appreciation for Mason’s preeminent service.

Born in 1910, in the Bronx, New York, Mason received his law degree from Columbia in 1934, after obtaining an undergraduate degree from Columbia College, and studying philosophy in Grenoble, France as a scholar of the Ministry of Public Instruction. He first practiced law as an attorney with the New Deal Agricultural Adjustment Administration. After a stint as a faculty assistant at Columbia while practicing law on the side in New York City, Mason rejoined the government as litigation supervisor with the National Labor Relations Board. He was general counsel of the World War II Office of Alien Property Custodian and Chief of the Legal Branch, and for a time acting head of the Office of Alien Property in the Department of Justice and special assistant to the attorney general. These government agencies, he later said, “were charged with economic warfare,” seizing, controlling and administering enemy and enemy controlled property.

As associate general counsel for grants matters of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Mason helped to develop the government’s position in the 1976 Supreme Court case of U.S v. Orleans, which established the principle that the U.S. government is not liable for misconduct by employees of federal grant recipients.

Mason was a member of the American Delegation to the Inter-Allied Reparations Agency, Brussels, Belgium, and was elected by the member nations (along with Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts) as a member of the Panel of Conciliators to resolve inter-allied disputes. He was associate general counsel, Office of Economic Opportunity, in the 'War on Poverty;” special counsel to the general counsel, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; and Senior Fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States. He was a fellow of the Foundation for Research in Legal History, Columbia University, Reporter on American Law of Obligations and co-reporter on American Law of Commercial Obligations, Istituto di Diritto Comparato e di Studii Legislativii, Rome, Italy.

Mason continued to attend FBA Grants Committee meetings into his 90s, until he moved away from Washington, D.C., and he continues to contribute to the Committee by telephone. He also actively law practiced into his 90s, specializing in corporate and international matters, and as a consultant in federal grant matters. In addition to the Federal Bar Association, he has been active in and the American Bar Association, and in the Legal and Financial Group of Washington, D.C., a luncheon roundtable of distinguished practitioners. He was a director of the National Assistance Management Association, now called the National Grants Management Association, and received the highest award of that Association. He was formerly director of Hugo Stinnes Corporation, North American Rayon Corporation, American Bemberg Corporation, Mid-Continent Uranium Corporation, Royal Hospital, Bronx, New York, and Kew Gardens General Hospital, Kew Gardens, New York, and other corporations.

In addition to many articles and books on contract law, comparative law, administrative law, and grant law, Mason wrote his memoirs, From the Other Side of the Water, published by Xlibris. He taught philosophy at City College, New York, and Grant Practice at the University of South Carolina.

Mason has also been involved in community activities, such as directing a family summer camp, Camp Greylock for Girls, Raquette Lake, N.Y., together with his wife of nearly fifty years, Irma Slosberg, who died in 1985, and serving as chairman of the Riverside Reform Democratic Club in New York.

back to the top