Government Contracts

Steven Diamond is a partner in Arnold & Porter LLP's government contracts practice. He has practiced government contracts law for over 25 years, beginning with defective pricing cases and the fraud, waste, and abuse scandals of the 1980s involving major defense contractors. Over the past two and a half decades, his practice has evolved to encompass all facets of government contracts law, including bid protest and claims litigation; mergers and acquisitions involving government contractors; negotiating FOCI-mitigation arrangements with the Defense Security Service; representing companies in the Exon-Florio approval process  before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS); company defense in response to government audits, investigations, and enforcement actions including allegations under the False Claims Act; international procurement matters, securing and protecting intellectual property rights under government contracts, and grants; and corporate compliance counseling. He has represented US and non-US firms, from start-ups to FORTUNE 10 companies, as well as US and foreign government entities.

Mr. Diamond's practice spans a broad range of industries, including aerospace and defense; pharmaceuticals; biotech; healthcare; medical device and equipment; information technology; telecommunications; professional services; financial services; transportation; and consumer products. He has been lead counsel in bid protest, claims and False Claims Act litigation before various tribunals, including the Government Accountability Office (GAO), boards of contract appeals, the US Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and multiple federal district courts. Mr. Diamond also has extensive experience in structuring and negotiating acquisitions, mergers and divestitures involving government contractors and capital markets transactions implicating federal government contracts and appropriations law issues. He has also led internal investigations, conducted compliance reviews and counseled companies on enhancing corporate governance, risk management and corporate compliance programs. Mr. Diamond has lectured at numerous companies and industry conferences on government contracting and regulatory compliance issues.

Areas of Significant Experience

• Bid protest litigation before the GAO, US Court of Federal Claims, and US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
• Government audits and investigations, involving administrative, civil, and criminal matters under the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Veteran Affairs, General Services Administration (GSA), and other federal agency contracts
• Procurement fraud, and False Claims investigations and litigation
• Contract claims development, negotiation, and litigation
• Suspension/debarment proceedings
• Subcontract claims preparation, negotiation, and litigation
• Mergers and acquisitions involving government contractors, on both the buy and sell sides and for both strategic and financial buyers
• Capital markets transactions involving government contractors, including counseling and representing clients in their relationships with investment banks and rating agencies
• Corporate compliance counseling, including service as principal outside compliance counsel for a FORTUNE 10 corporation
• Technology transfer, including licensing, cooperative agreements, and other strategic arrangement
• Federal drug pricing regulation and litigation
• US General Services Administration (GSA) schedule issues, including pricing, audits, and litigation
• Contract teaming, joint venture, and subcontracting arrangements

Government Contracts Representative Matters

Transactions

• Lead government contracts counsel in over 100 acquisitions of government contractors spanning across two decades.
• Represented General Atlantic Service Company, LLC and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. in their acquisition of TASC, a division of Northrop Grumman.¶
• Represented NISC, a DC Capital Company, in its sale to IBM.
• Represented Finmeccanica S.p.A. in its US$5.2 billion acquisition of DRS Technologies, which involved sophisticated issues relating to foreign ownership in the defense and national security sectors.
• Represented Thomson Reuters in its acquisition of ChoicePoint assets, including contracts with law enforcement and federal government customers, including defense and intelligence agencies and foreign ownership issues.
• Represented DC Capital Partners in acquisitions of government contractors Athenyx, Information Manufacturing Corporation, and Kaseman LLC.

Litigation

• Lead counsel for Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS) in parallel GAO protests successfully challenging one award of a CMS Medicare Administration Contract (MAC) covering Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota (Jurisdiction 6), while simultaneously defending a protest by a competitor challenging the award of another MAC contract covering Michigan and Indiana (Jurisdiction 8) to WPS. Collectively, the two contracts are valued at over US$500 million. In the successful challenge by WPS, the agency agreed to take corrective action following a hearing and post-hearing conference call during which GAO indicated its intent to sustain to WPS’s protest. These protests follow an initial successful round of protests by WPS challenging the same awards. 
• Lead counsel representing Wisconsin Physician Services Insurance Co. in defending award of the US$500 million US Department of Defense (DOD) Tricare Dual-Eligibility Intermediary Contract (TDEFIC) in multiple protests before the GAO, US Court of Federal Claims, and US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Lead counsel in negotiating successful resolution of criminal and civil fraud and False Claims Act allegations concerning cost mischarging against a major information technology company under a multibillion dollar DOD computer networking contract.
• Team leader advising the US Navy in the A-12 default termination litigation, then the largest default termination in government history.
• Lead counsel in representation of the City of Reading, PA in challenging GSA's decision to relocate federal government offices from downtown Reading.

Counseling

• Lead counsel in representing defense, professional and technical services, pharmaceutical, medical equipment and consumer products companies in defective pricing, cost mischarging and incurred cost audits and investigations under the Departments of Defense Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, and GSA contracts.
• Advising a major US railroad on government contracting and federal stimulus program compliance requirements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
• Representing a major Internet and telecommunications services provider in connection with negotiation of a new GSA schedule contract, various government subcontracts and government contracts compliance issues.
• Negotiating patent licensing and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements on behalf of pharmaceutical companies with National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• Advisor to various foreign governments on foreign military sales transactions.
• Government contracts advisor to the Government of Canada in the negotiation of the US/Canada Free Trade Agreement.
• Mr. Diamond also served as past chair of the International Procurement Committee of ABA's International Law Section, writing and presenting programs on international government procurement agreements and the European Public Procurement Directives.