Ronald S. Perlman

Ronald S. Perlman is an attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Holland & Knight, where he is a member of the firm's Government Contracts Group.

Mr. Perlman has represented both large and small companies in contract negotiations, counseling, claims, disputes and protests. He has experience at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and various boards and courts. His practice of government contract counseling and litigation work includes experience with many federal agencies, including the U.S. Departments of Defense (DOD), Commerce, Energy, Transportation (DOT), Labor, Justice (DOJ), Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Veterans Affairs (VA), Federal Aviation Association (FAA), Social Security Administration (SSA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Small Business Administration (SBA) and the U.S. Postal Service.

Mr. Perlman's recent representations include:

• counseling a Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) contractor on avoiding termination for default on a contract for Army tank components
• successful defense of the award of a major ship management contract by the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC)
• the successful 2009 presidential inauguration sound system contractor protest, based on an organizational conflict of interest
• a significant meteorological contractor's successful protest of a major contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• a large construction company in bid protests in the GAO and at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, challenging the award of a construction contract by the architect of the Capitol
• counseling a major Navy systems contractor on its prime/subcontractor relations and on its Navy intellectual property data rights
• representing a ship operating contractor defending against an allegation of being other-than-small at the SBA in connection with a more than $100 million Navy contract
• the manufacturer of explosive containment vessels in a bid protest at the GAO, challenging the award of a contract for explosive containment vessels by the Air Force
• counseling an industrial manufacturer on required terms and conditions for the sale of metal bellows to the Air Force
• litigation of major termination for default claims against a major architectural fabric manufacturing company by the Air Force and Navy
• counseling a nonprofit applied research and development professional services organization with the drafting and negotiation of a software license agreement with the Office of Naval Research (ONR)
• defending the small business certification of a client that was awarded a contract to provide engineering services to the Department of Energy against claims of affiliation with a large business
• representing a large aircraft manufacturer in a multimillion-dollar contract claim against the Army in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims with respect to constructive changes and cost increases on an aircraft remanufacturing contract
• counseling minority-owned, 8(a) small businesses in marketing goods and services to the United States government

Before entering private practice in 1980, Mr. Perlman represented the U.S. Air Force and the GSA as a government attorney. He was assistant staff judge advocate at the Armament Development and Test Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and the staff judge advocate of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research in Washington, D.C. In addition, he served as a senior trial attorney for the GSA, litigating major cases.

In addition, Mr. Perlman was previously on the board of directors for the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and now serves as a senior director as well as on the executive committees of its Logistics, Small Business and Manufacturing divisions. He is also a director for NDIA's prestigious Procurement Roundtable. Mr. Perlman is also a Fellow of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA); he serves on the executive committee of its D.C. Chapter and was its past president.

Mr. Perlman has taught programs on government contract issues for the Air Force, NASA and the Central Intelligence Agency, among others. In addition, he has written several articles on federal contract law with articles published in federal publications and National Contract Management Magazine, including the briefing paper "Sole Source Contracts," the only work of its kind on this critical topic.