Debriefing and Protests in Federal Government Contracts

AMY M. KIRBY is an Associate in the Federal Construction Group and focuses her practice on government construction litigation. Amy’s practice includes a wide variety of federal construction matters. She provides support to clients during all stages of contract management from assisting with the preparation of contract proposals through negotiating final contract close­out and beyond. Specifically, Amy assists clients with preparation of proposals and bids, as well as representing their interests related to pre and post award bid protests. She advises clients on various issues that arise during contract performance such as differing site conditions, changes, and defective specifications. Amy works with clients on all manner of contract concerns including payment issues, requests for equitable adjustments, claims, and terminations for both convenience and default. She represents clients in dispute resolution at the contractor level, as well as appeals before the various Boards of Contract Appeals, the Court of Federal Claims and various state and federal courts.

Prior to joining Cohen Seglias, Amy was an Assistant Public Defender in Portsmouth, VA. During her time with the Public Defender’s Office, Amy tried numerous jury trials gaining extensive litigation experience. Prior to her time in the Public Defender’s Office, Amy worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Winchester, VA. Litigation was Amy’s primary focus while with the Corps of Engineers, where she worked on numerous appeals before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals as well as protests with the Government Accountability Office.

Maria’s practice focuses on all aspects of federal government procurement law, including bid protests, Contract Disputes Act (CDA) claims and litigation, statutory and regulatory compliance counseling, and small business procurement. She represents a variety of government contractors including construction contractors, information technology and information system contractors, advisory and assistant service contractors, security contractors, dredging contractors, environmental remediation contractors, and suppliers. Maria counsels and guides her clients through the entire lifecycle of their government contracts, providing comprehensive representation that allows her clients to navigate complicated legal requirements while fulfilling their own business goals.

Maria represents clients before numerous federal agencies, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and various federal and state courts. Her practice includes contract interpretation matters, performance counseling, the drafting and negotiation of Requests for Equitable Adjustment (REA) and claims, claims litigation and appeals, the resolution of subcontractor disputes, including through the use of pass-through claims and liquidating agreements, and Miller Act bond claims. Though her practice is not limited to construction alone, Maria has substantial experience with a wide range of construction-related issues such as defective designs, defective specifications, differing site conditions, changes, suspensions, delays, liquidated damages, and contract terminations. Maria regularly counsels clients regarding compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and its supplementary regulations, the False Claims Act, the Buy American Act, and other federal regulations.

Having acquired substantial experience with the government’s 8(a), SDVOSB, WOSB and HUBZone small business programs, Maria provides assistance to clients competing for small business program set-aside contracts. She assists clients with small business eligibility analyses and has successfully challenged negative agency findings regarding clients’ SDVOSB, HUBZone, and 8(a) eligibility and defeated size- and status-related bid protests brought by clients’ competitors. As part of her practice, Maria has considerable experience drafting teaming and joint venture agreements and advising small business clients on potential affiliation problems, subcontracting requirements, and the SBA’s mentor-protégé programs.

Maria is active in numerous federal contracting- and construction-related professional associations and is a frequent contributor to the firm’s Federal Construction Contracting Blog. She works closely with APTAC and many individual Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, providing educational content for a variety of government contractors. Maria is also a community partner at Govology, a legal content contributor to VetLikeMe, Targetgov, and Onvia, and a faculty member at the Government Contracting Institute.