Our debarment lawyers are here to help with your pending suspension or debarment. Contractors and individuals facing suspension and debarment understand the impact ineligibility has on them and the challenge of convincing a government suspension and debarment official (SDO) that debarment is unnecessary. In this “bet the company” or “bet the career” environment, sophisticated contractors immediately recognize the importance of retaining experienced debarment lawyers who have been there before, are familiar with the government agencies and officials, and know what it takes to afford them the best chances of success.
BakerHostetler’s suspension and debarment lawyers have been practicing in the debarment area for nearly 20 years, representing government contractors and grant recipients throughout the country. We have successfully represented scores of contractors and individuals through the federal suspension and debarment process, helping them avoid debarment. These include contractors of all sizes, from small to publicly traded companies, and individuals such as owners, officers, executives and engineers. Not only have we represented dozens of small and medium sized contractors and individuals successfully through the debarment process, but we have represented large contractors and publicly traded companies successfully, including an instance of resolving the suspension for a publicly traded contractor within three weeks of being retained, a highly unusual outcome. Suffice to say, our team of debarment lawyers has seen it all.
Our team members are true “insiders” in the government debarment space. Our lawyers include a former debarring official with the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of the Air Force serving as Director, Suspension & Debarment Operations and agency liaison to the Interagency Suspension & Debarment Committee. One team member has served as the co-chair and currently serves as vice chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Debarment & Suspension Committee, which is an organization established to foster thought leadership and engagement between the private sector debarment lawyers and their counterparts within the government; this team member authored the chapter on administrative agreements set forth in the ABA’s Practitioner’s Guide to Suspension and Debarment.
Our clients value our extensive knowledge of the debarment laws and regulations and the unwritten rules and practices that are so deeply ingrained within the debarment system. Our team’s deep experience enables us to counsel clients through the process without surprises, to ensure that the government’s concerns are adequately addressed while protecting the client’s business and personal interests. We have appeared before nearly all the active civilian and Department of Defense agency SDOs and understand what it takes to establish present responsibility.
We have enjoyed success representing clients before SDOs and obtaining terminations of the administrative actions for our clients either outright or through an administrative agreement. Among these many accomplishments for clients, one of our debarment lawyers recently in July 2022, successfully took the Department of Defense to federal court and prevailed in terminating or enjoining the debarment for a small contractor.
We are proud that very few cases have ever gone to court and nearly all have been resolved with the agency on amicable terms either through outright termination of the proposed debarment or suspension or through an administrative agreement.