The fledgling government contracts practice at McDermott Will & Emery LLP is rapidly gaining ground in bid protests and claims litigation, inspiring the confidence of prominent names in the tech, professional services, and healthcare industries. Collaboration with the firm’s wider corporate, government investigations, employment, and cybersecurity specialists ensures a comprehensive service across all elements of the contracting life cycle. Leading the Washington DC-based team are Daniel Graham, a seasoned bid protests and prime/sub disputes litigator who also advises on compliance, transactions, and accounting, and Tara Ward, who is sought out for her specialized knowledge of the tech, defense, healthcare, and accountancy sectors.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘I have been very impressed with the government contracts team.’
  • ‘Daniel Graham is an excellent attorney - highly knowledgeable, collaborative, and a creative thinker - who is well-versed in how the agencies we contract with function. This has been invaluable in solving several problems before they could metastasize into issues that could have threatened our business.’
  • ‘We have found McDermott to be highly knowledgeable and capable in the government contracts area.’
  • ‘Daniel Graham has a tremendous depth of knowledge across a broad swath of areas relating to government contracting, importantly including administrative requirements. Dan has also proven to be very thoughtful as to the client side of the engagement, including creativity as to billing arrangements and other ways McDermott can help meet our needs.’
  • ‘Daniel Graham is the driver of our continued engagement of McDermott.’

Key clients

  • TRAX International
  • BDO
  • Aetna
  • Cognizant
  • GuideWell Source
  • Empower AI Inc.
  • WPS Health Solutions
  • Noridian Healthcare Solutions
  • Elbit Systems of America
  • Prime Therapeutics
  • Analytic Services Inc. (ANSER)
  • HLP Integration LLC
  • MicroHealth LLC
  • Accrete Inc.
  • CLogic Defense
  • Altium
  • RWJBH
  • Gerresheimer Glass Inc.
  • AirBoss Defense Group LLC

Work highlights

  • Represented Trax International in a successful bid protest before the GAO challenging an Army award of a contract for test support services at the Aberdeen Test Center to Engineering Research and Consulting.
  • Advised BDO USA and its subsidiary BDO Public Sector on all aspects of contracting with federal, state, and local governments.
  • Advised Cognizant on all aspects of contracting with state and federal agencies.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Daniel Graham, Tara Ward

Other key lawyers

Llewelyn Engel