Thomas M. Brownell

Thomas M. Brownell is a member of Holland & Knight's Government Contracts Group, who practices in the areas of government contracts (GovCon) and commercial litigation, with particular emphasis in the areas of claims and disputes in government service and construction contracts.

Mr. Brownell has more than 40 years of experience in all aspects of federal, state and local government contracting, construction contracts, business disputes and real estate litigation. His earliest practice involved antitrust litigation in the defense and healthcare industries. Since then, he has advised clients and litigated disputes concerning U.S. federal government contracts, including bid protests, claims against the government and government claims against the contractor, subcontractor claims, and False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and qui tam suits. Mr. Brownell's construction practice has involved claims and disputes concerning delays, extra work and construction defects, as well as collections work involving mechanic's liens and payment bonds. His business disputes practice has included issues involving ownership and governance of corporations, LLCs and partnerships, as well as litigating nondisclosure, noncompete and nonsolicitation covenants in employment agreements and commercial contracts.

Mr. Brownell's practice regularly involves representation before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Boards of Contract Appeals, federal and state courts in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and arbitration panels of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and other tribunals.

Mr. Brownell's recent representative engagements include:

• preparation and successful negotiation of a $6 million claim against a defense department agency for unpaid costs incurred by a prime contractor performing translation services in Afghanistan
• successful defense of a multimillion-dollar subcontractor arbitration claim involving base operating agreements for the Afghan government in Afghanistan
• a defense award for the prime contractor in a subcontractor's arbitration to recover termination costs under a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contract
• successful defense of another U.S. government prime contractor against a subcontractor termination claim in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
• a plaintiff's verdict in a suit to recover profits due the minority shareholder of a government contractor in circuit court in Virginia
• successful settlement of contentious wage and hour class actions brought against his clients by employees of defaulting subcontractors in federal courts in Virginia and the District of Columbia
• successful protests of local government contract awards in Virginia and Maryland

Mr. Brownell has written and lectured over the years on various aspects of construction law for National Business Institutes Inc., and on government construction law for the National Contract Management Association (NCMA).