Half a Century of Success

Kent Morrison, senior counsel with Crowell & Moring (left), and Professor Steven Schooner congratulate 2012 Boyd Scholar Award winner Shauna Johnston, JD '12, at the luncheon.

Abdul El-Tayef

The GW Government Procurement Law Program hosted its annual Alumni and Friends Luncheon at Washington's Omni Shoreham Hotel last winter, bringing together more than 200 alumni, students, faculty, staff, and supporters to celebrate the continuing strength and success of the program.

Associate Dean Daniel Gordon and Professor Steven Schooner emceed the event, offering an inspiring overview of the year's achievements and plans for future successes.

"This Law School is a treasure in all areas, but especially in government contracts," Associate Dean Gordon said. He discussed goals for the future that will keep the program on the cutting edge, saying, "We need to go even farther in being accessible to Capitol Hill, the executive branch, and industry—bringing together the key players in D.C. and meeting the educational needs of the next generation of government procurement."

Among the many distinguished guests at the luncheon were Emeritus Professor Ralph Nash, who founded the program 52 years ago; Emeritus Professor Fred Lees, who taught Government Contract Law at GW for almost 20 years and served as a program co-director; and the Hon. Ruth Burg, JD '50, former administrative judge on the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.

Shauna Johnston, JD '12, was recognized as the Roger Boyd Scholar during the luncheon, receiving a stipend for her work as editor-in-chief of the Public Contract Law Journal. The scholarship is named in honor of the late Crowell and Moring partner Roger Boyd, who passed away in 2003.  To view photos of the event, please visit http://gwlaw.smugmug.com/2011-2012Events/GovernmentProcurement/2012-GovK-AlumniAndFriends.

Finalists, judges, and professors at the final round of the Government Contracts Moot Court competition

Abdul El-Tayef

Government Contracts Moot Court Finals

Tradition continued, as the final round of the 2012 McKenna Long & Aldridge Gilbert A. Cuneo Government Contracts Moot Court competition was held in the ceremonial courtroom of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Judges for the finals were George W. Miller, LLM '68, and Victor Wolski of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and Jeri K. Somers, vice chairman of the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals and a member of GW Law's adjunct faculty.

Alumni joined Mathew Blum, JD '88 (third row, second from left), for dinner at Firefly in D.C.'s West End neighborhood.

Government Procurement Alumni Host Dinners

The GW Law Alumni Government Procurement Group held two dinners with alumni of outstanding achievement in 2012.

In April, the group dined with Mathew Blum, JD '88, the associate administrator for federal procurement policy at the Office of Management and Budget. In June, the group spent an evening with Judge Elizabeth Grant, JD '81, of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.

GW Hosts Procurement Round Table Events

Professor Jacques S. Gansler (center) with Procurement Round Table members

GW Law hosted two programs sponsored by the Procurement Round Table, a prestigious body of former federal acquisition officials.

In June, the Procurement Round Table met in GW Law's Great Room for a discussion of the current state of the federal acquisition workforce, moderated by Associate Dean Dan Gordon.

An April lecture brought the Hon. Jacques S. Gansler to campus to discuss his new book, Democracy's Arsenal: Creating a Twenty-First-Century Defense Industry. He is the Roger C. Lipitz Chair and Director of the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise at the University of Maryland.

Making a Difference Globally

GW Law's Government Procurement Law Program continues to make significant contributions to procurement law around the world. 

Professor Christopher Yukins is working with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law to prepare an implementation guide for the Model Procurement Law that was finalized in 2011. Professor Yukins also addressed conferences in Santo Domingo, Mexico City, Vienna, and Turin on anti-corruption issues. Through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, he worked on capacity-building projects in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Armenia; the project in Ukraine has been instrumental in advancing Ukraine's potential accession to the World Trade Organization's free trade agreement in procurement.  

Professor Steve Schooner spoke at a regional procurement workshop in Abu Dhabi, run by the World Trade Organization for government officials.  

Associate Dean Dan Gordon was named to the World Bank's International Procurement Advisory Group, which advises the bank on improving procurement policy. He also spoke at a multilateral seminar on procurement in Tirana, Albania, as well as in meetings hosted by the World Bank in Moscow and seminars conducted by the World Trade Organization in Nanjing and Beijing, China.

Government Contractor Data Rights Probed

Claire Duggan

The Jacob Burns Moot Courtroom was packed with government procurement practitioners and students for a high-level discussion on the data rights provisions of the recently enacted National Defense Authorization Act. The provisions could significantly affect the division of intellectual property rights between the government and contractors.

The audience heard from Peter Levine, general counsel of the Senate Armed Services Committee; Dr. Eugene Gholz, senior adviser to the deputy assistant secretary of defense (manufacturing and industrial base policy); Richard Gray, associate general counsel at the Department of Defense Office of the General Counsel; Jonathan L. Etherton of Etherton & Associates Inc.; and GW Law Professor Emeritus Ralph Nash. The colloquium was moderated by Associate Dean Dan Gordon and Government Procurement Law Program Co-Director Steve Schooner.