Defense, National Security & Government Contracting
McGuireWoods Defense, National Security, & Government Contracting Industry Team provides industry-leading services to clients operating throughout the defense, government services, aerospace, and technology industries both inside and outside the Beltway. Our Team leverages the expertise of McGuireWoods’ full-service Government Contracts Practice, Corporate Group, as well as our nationally recognized Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation and Labor & Employment Departments and Data Privacy & Security Industry Team. With strong defense and national security credentials, including multiple attorneys holding government clearances, we are uniquely positioned to guide clients through the complex issues that arise in the highly regulated and fast-changing defense, government, and aerospace sectors.
Strategically anchored in the Washington, DC, area, our team includes former senior officials from the Department of Justice – a deputy attorney general and head of DOJ’s National Security Division, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps litigators, military service members who have extensive operational and technical experience with defense systems, and senior lawyers possessing active high-level clearances.
Through our breadth of work for a range of clients, from top defense contractors and energy companies to technology firms to small businesses, our experience covers the full range of legal issues raised throughout these critical industries, including: internal, government, and congressional investigations; protests, claims, and subcontract-related litigation; procurement and export control counseling; mergers and acquisitions; employment litigation and investigations, including in the False Claims Act arena; and cybersecurity counseling and breach response. McGuireWoods’ attorneys represent clients before nearly every agency and forum of interest to these industries, including the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, General Services Administration, Government Accountability Office, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, U.S. Court of Federal Claims and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The DNSGC Team is supported by McGuireWoods’ full-service Government Contracts Practice, which leverages strong defense and national security credentials to provide services across the spectrum of the procurement process. Our capabilities include government contract investigations and enforcement matters, supported by McGuireWoods’ nationally recognized White Collar and Government Investigations Group; defense and intelligence contract negotiations and counseling; procurement counseling; DCAA and other audit assistance; government contract claims; bid protests; False Claims Act matters; and cybersecurity counseling and export control counseling. This team has significant experience at both the federal and state level, and in working with both prime contractors and subcontractors including related disputes.
Further, DNSGC lawyers include members of McGuireWoods’ nationally recognized Labor & Employment Department, with substantial experience on significant employment litigation, including discrimination claims and issues arising out of the theft of confidential or proprietary information, as well as investigations for top defense contractors, including in the False Claims Act arena. Our labor and employment Team, which includes a former Deputy Director at OFCCP, also assists clients with Service Contract Act compliance, wage and hour matters, the full range of compliance audits enforced by the OFCCP (including affirmative action audits), and compliance with other recent government policies impacting employee management.
The DNSGC Team also includes experienced members of our Corporate Transactions Practice. This Group includes senior corporate lawyers with active security clearances and substantial experience handling significant transactional matters, including energy and classified services government contracts and buy- and sell-side mergers and acquisitions involving defense and national security companies and assets.
Finally, the DNSGC Team is skilled in cybersecurity and data privacy issues, with BTI Consulting naming McGuireWoods a “Leading Cybersecurity Law Firm.” Our Data Privacy & Security lawyers have deep experience in the development, procurement and use of cyber tools and platforms and other sensitive technologies and services. We regularly counsel clients on cyber risk assessments, compliance obligations (e.g., NIST, GDPR), data management practices, and 24/7 incident response and remediation. Our Data Privacy Team work with the DNSGC Team to address the unique needs of our government contractor clients.
For more information about the broad capabilities of McGuireWoods’ Defense, National Security, & Government Contracting Industry Team, contact DNSGC chair Ned Childs or Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation chair Noreen Kelly.
Download a PDF copy of our team brochure.
