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Evan Matsuda

Evan Matsuda is an associate in the firm’s Washington, DC office and a member of the firm’s Government Contracts Practice Group. He assists clients on a broad range of issues, with a focus on bid protest litigation, contractor tort defenses, and regulatory compliance matters.

Evan represents clients in bid protest litigation at the Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, both as protester and defendant-intervenor. He has experience with bid protest procedures for negotiated procurements, task and delivery orders, and other transactions authority (OTA) awards. Evan also defends government contractors against tort claims in federal court, including based on the government contractor defense, federal preemption, and derivative sovereign immunity.

In addition to his litigation practice, Evan has experience counseling clients on labor law compliance, ethics regulations, and risks associated with supplier diversity programs. He also assists clients responding to public records requests under state and federal public records laws. Evan also maintains an active pro bono practice focused on international law and security.

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As part of the Trump Administration’s Revolutionary FAR Overhaul[1] (“RFO”), the FAR Council has released a model deviation for FAR Part 33 – Protests, Disputes, and Appeals, which includes changes that seem intended to make agency-level protests more appealing to disappointed offerors.  It remains to be seen whether these proposed changes will have the desired effect, particularly in instances where a protester wishes to subsequently re-file at GAO.Continue Reading Revolutionary FAR Overhaul Seeks to Make Post-Award, Agency-Level Protests More Enticing

A pair of recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid protest decisions addressing impaired objectivity organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) highlight the fact-specific and highly discretionary nature of a contracting officer’s OCI investigation, as well as the important role that contractors themselves can play in supporting such an investigation.  We discuss these two protests and the key takeaways for contractors below.Continue Reading A Tale of Two Impaired Objectivity Investigations:  Key Takeaways for Contractors Navigating Potential Organizational Conflicts of Interest

President Trump has issued two new Executive Orders (“EOs”) that seek to reshape federal procurement.  The much anticipated “Restoring Common Sense To Federal Procurement” EO (the “FAR Reform EO”) seeks to “create the most agile, effective, and efficient procurement system possible” by revising the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”)…

Continue Reading Trump Administration Issues Two Executive Orders Seeking To Remake Federal Procurement

President Trump issued a series of executive orders (“EOs”) and presidential memoranda on Wednesday, April 9, that could impact government contractors across a broad range of industries.  Among other initiatives, these executive actions seek to reform the defense acquisition system, reinvigorate the U.S. maritime industry, and streamline foreign military sales.  The actions also reflect President Trump’s goal of catalyzing innovation and economic growth by reducing regulatory burdens, both in general and in the energy industry specifically.

We briefly summarize below the six April 9 executive actions most likely to impact government contractors.Continue Reading New Executive Actions Address the Defense Acquisition System, U.S. Maritime Industries, Foreign Military Sales, and “Unlawful” Regulations

On behalf of the Professional Services Council (PSC), this past week Covington filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the petitioner in The GEO Group, Inc. v. Menocal (No. 24-758). The brief urges the Court to grant certiorari and, ultimately, to hold that government contractors are entitled to immediately appeal a district court’s denial of derivative sovereign immunity under the collateral order doctrine.Continue Reading Covington Submits Supreme Court Amicus Curiae Brief Addressing Derivative Sovereign Immunity for Government Contractors