Government, Regulatory, & Tax

We successfully advise, guide, and represent clients in areas where law, business, and government intersect.

Overview

With decades of experience navigating the intersection of law, business, and government, we help clients overcome regulatory hurdles and tax issues on their path to success. We help protect our clients’ interests and shape their opportunities in virtually every government and regulatory venue. We don’t think in terms of whether a regulatory challenge can be overcome; we find the right approach to overcome it now and avoid similar challenges in the future.

We stay abreast of developments in our clients’ industries, not just the legal issues that affect them. This is why clients view us as their trusted business advisors who always think about the legal issues in the holistic context of what the client seeks to achieve. This is also part of the reason why our work has been consistently recognized by Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, and Super Lawyers.

Experience

  • Obtained permanent injunction in a protest filed at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims alleging GSA erred by not selecting the protestor as one of the awardees for GSA’s Alliant 2 Small Business contract, valued at $15 billion.
  • Served as lead counsel to Atlanta Housing Authority, an affordable housing provider, in a myriad of state and federal actions.
  • Representing Griffin-American Healthcare REITs, non-traded REITs, in connection with tax matters raised in structuring and acquisition and sale of regulated healthcare facilities in multiple states, including RIDEA-compliant structures.
  • Negotiated with USEPA on behalf of one of three responsible parties for the cleanup of a federal Superfund site, including cost allocation (including with a federal PRP), bidding of the $10-plus million cleanup, and oversight of the project.
  • Represented Southern Motor Carriers charged with a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, more specifically, price fixing with respect to Commercial Motor Carrier rates in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. After losing the case on Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, En banc, obtained victory in the United States Supreme Court on a 7-2 decision finding the activities in question to be immune from the Antitrust Laws under the State Action Doctrine first announced by the United States Supreme Court in 1945 in the case of Parker vs. Brown.
  • Serves as national eDiscovery counsel for large healthcare companies with respect to both civil litigation and governmental investigation matters.
  • Successfully represented her client by filing a pre-award bid protest filed at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”). The protest alleged, among other things, that the solicitation issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in West Palm Beach, Florida (“Agency”) violated the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (“CICA”) because the solicitation called for several proprietary products which only one large healthcare company in the United States could provide. CICA expressly requires agencies to promote competition to the maximum extent possible. Within one week of receipt of the bid protest, the Agency agreed to take corrective action by revising the solicitation in a manner designed to achieve competition. GAO dismissed the protest after the Agency agreed to take such corrective action. Her client will now have an opportunity to bid on a five (5) year contract with the Agency.
  • Consultations with numerous clients regarding the application of various Affordable Care Act provisions (i.e., Health Reform) to the clients’ large self-funded health plans.
  • Responsible for legal aspects of environmental due diligence for a national food distribution company.
  • Served as litigation counsel to a Georgia-based pawn company in a variety of litigation matters.
  • Drafted Code of Business Ethics and Conduct for a $1 billion company and created an “Ethics Training” PowerPoint presentation for the company’s executive level officers and all salespersons who interacted with federal government personnel.
  • Counseled technology company with regard to the numerous compliance obligations imposed on federal government contractors and described the penalty associated with the failure to comply with or blatant misconduct of each of the listed compliance obligations.
  • Counseled the US subsidiary of a $1 billion company based in the United Kingdom with regard to the compliance obligations of the Buy American Act and Trade Agreements Act imposed on the US subsidiary due to sales of its services to the federal government both on and off its GSA Schedule.
  • Drafted and edited numerous teaming agreements and subcontract agreements for a technology company serving as a subcontractor to multiple large systems integrators which hold prime contracts with various federal agencies.
  • Performed due diligence focused specifically on a Target Company’s multiple government contracts on behalf of my client, the purchaser of such Target Company.
  • Representation of a Fortune 50 company in a bid protest before the Government Accountability Office in a multi-party bid protest challenging the award by the Department of Justice of a contract valued at approximately $500 million to another bidder.
  • Represented client in successful price negotiations involving cost or pricing data for a $250 million follow-on subcontract to provide materials to a large prime contractor managing and operating a US national security site.
  • Successfully represented a federal government contractor in the process of submitting a Novation Agreement to the General Services Administration, resulting in the novation of the company’s GSA Schedule from one corporate entity to another.
  • Represented federal government contractor investigated by the U.S. Government for potential civil and criminal violations of the False Claims Act and False Statements Act.
  • Successfully represented a $1 billion technology company in three successive claims against the Government, avoiding time-consuming and expensive litigation by negotiating settlements favorable to my client in each case.
  • Successfully represented a small technology company in obtaining a 20-year contract with the General Services Administration; such contract is referred to as a “GSA Schedule.” Drafted Memorandum of Law for the company outlining compliance obligations imposed on federal government contractors holding GSA Schedules.
  • Representing a Dallas-based private equity firm in connection with the structuring of a joint venture arrangement involving an international investment group, including all tax considerations and Sharia law financing.
  • Representing First Tennessee Housing Corp. on numerous transactions involving LIHTCs and HRTCs across the Southeast, with multiple projects in Tennessee and North Carolina.
  • Representing a regional hospital in a whole hospital audit conducted by the IRS.
  • Representing a company in a combined reporting case and audit before the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
  • Representing an online retailer in determining its multi-state sales and business tax nexus.
  • Representing many companies in the design and analysis of deferred compensation plans, including in merger and acquisition transactions.
  • Represented numerous clients before the IRS that failed to report off-shore (non-U.S.) bank accounts and/or assets, utilizing the offshore voluntary disclosure programs provided by the IRS.