Ira E. Hoffman joined the Firm in 2007, focusing on the areas of government contracts, national security law, international trade law, international procurement, complex civil and administrative litigation, and alternative dispute resolution. Mr. Hoffman, who has been practicing law for more than 20 years, has served as a Court Law Clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; as Counsel to the Vice Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission; and as Counsel to the Israeli Ministry of Defense Mission to the United States. He also practiced with the nationally prominent large law firms Fried, Frank and Howry, LLP and more recently with the government contracts "boutique" firms Grayson, Kubli and Hoffman and Hoffman & Associates. Mr. Hoffman is also a part-time Adjunct Professor of Law at the George Mason University School of Law, where he has taught European Union Law and International Trade Law.
Mr. Hoffman is licensed to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Florida, and is admitted to appear before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, 4th, 10th, 11th and Federal Circuits; the U.S. Court of Federal Claims; and the U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia and Maryland, the Southern District of Florida, and the Western District of Pennsylvania. He has conducted numerous trials, hearings and appeals in various parts of the country, plus two international arbitrations. He is also a certified mediator.
Mr. Hoffman received his Juris Doctor degree (cum laude) in 1983 from the University of Miami School of Law, where he was an editor on the Law Review. He also earned an M.Sc (Econ) from the London School of Economics (LSE) in 1975, and a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1973. Before studying law, Mr. Hoffman taught International Relations at the LSE, was a Research Fellow at Tel Aviv University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and was the Economics Research Editor of the Africa Contemporary Record.
Mr. Hoffman is also an author and lecturer on government contracts, national security and international law issues. He has addressed meetings of the American Bar Association and the National Contract Management Association, lectured on Foreign Military Sales and export controls, and taught at George Mason University's Procurement Technical Assistance Program. He is also a biographee in Who's Who in American Law.
As an attorney, Mr. Hoffman represents or has represented at various times defense contractors (e.g., General Dynamics' Electric Boat, Raytheon's E-Systems, Fairchild, B3H), civilian contractors (e.g., PeopleSoft, Hexagon Metrology, Cotton & Company, Chamber Corp., Computer Products, Inc., J.I. Case), and foreign contractors (e.g., CAE, MacGregor (FIN) Oy, Israel Aerospace Industries, Israel Military Industries, El-Op, Elbit, Rafael).
In addition to resolving disputes in litigation or adjudication, Mr. Hoffman has:
persuaded the Office of Personnel Management to take corrective action and award indefinite quantity/indefinite delivery contracts to two small businesses to permit them to compete for task orders totaling $250 million over the next five years;
negotiated with the U.S. Navy to secure his client's design rights for submarine systems;
represented a contractor in a $70 million claim against the U.S. Intelligence Community for a classified military sensor development project;
represented a technical support services contractor for the U.S. Air Force in a GAO bid protest;
negotiated with the Defense Security Assistance Agency to resolve a dispute concerning agency regulation;
convinced the Defense Contract Audit Agency ro reverse its decision disallowing an aircraft maintenance contractor's cost-reimbursement submission;
persuaded the Department of Commerce to modify an exclusion order to allow an exporter convicted of violating the Trading with the Enemy Act and Export Administration Act to resume exporting commercial items to the Dominican Republic;
convinced the Department of Justice to rescind the debarment of a security guard contractor;
counseled a European multinational on U.S. export controls for manufactured articles and U.S. import rules for sophisticated machinery components;
advised a foreign embassy on U.S. procurement law;
represented an auditing services contractor in a GAO protest against award of a follow-on MAS contract;
represented an IT support services contractor in motion for TRO against an FCC override of a statutory stay at Court of Federal Claims;
advised an accounting firm on cost allowability issues in HUD auditing contract;
negotiated a settlement for an accounting firm in a contract dispute with NIH;
provided advice on bid protests, claims, administrative law, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS) and other agency FAR supplements, the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), Export Administration Act (EAA), Buy American Act (BAA), Trade Agreements Act (TAA), Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA), International Emergency Economics Powers Act (IEEPA); suspension and debarment, fraud investigations, intellectual property rights, mergers & acquisitions, small business, audits, Federal fiscal law, cost allowability, security clearances, and other government procurement issues;
he has also represented domestic and foreign companies in bid protests and disputes with the U.S. government in U.S. District Courts, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Courts of Appeals, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Boards of Contract Appeals, and the FAA's Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition.
Mr. Hoffman's noteworthy cases include:
United States ex rel. Fisher v. Network Software Assocs., Inc., 180 F. Supp. 2d 192 (2002) - established new law that successor liability for asset purchase attaches in FCA case where alleged fraud predated creation of successor entity and initiation of lawsuit postdated acquisition of assets by officer of both entities, on ground that successor entity had notice of potential libility
Appeal of Kira, Inc., (SBA HUBZone decision 2004) (unpublished) - won appeal against SBA HUBZone disqualification from competition for $80 million DoD base maintenance contract on ground that agency decision based on proposed, not extant, rule, was improper under APA
In re Debarment of Lyons Sec. Servs., Inc. (DOJ 2003) (unpublished) - DOJ withdrew suspension of guard services contractor after showing that client was not "affiliate" of debarred contractor
MacGregor (FIN) Oy v. Kellogg, Brown & Root, Inc., 126 S.W.3d 176 (Tex. App. 2003, orig. proceeding) - compelled second-tier subcontractor to arbitrate claims against prime contractor because subcontractor suing under prime contract was bound by prime contract arbitration clause
MacGregor (FIN) Oy v. Gulf Coast Holdings, Inc. d/b/a Unidynamics, Inc., ICC No. 12-142/JNK (2003) (unpublished) - prevailed in ICC arbitration for Finnish shipbuilding company in contract dispute with U.S. component-fabricator subcontractor
Computer Prods., Inc., B-284702, May 24, 2000, 2000 CPD//95 - GAO sustained bid protest against award of FSS audit services contract on ground that award to "lowest-priced, technically acceptable" quote was improper where solicitation stated award would be made to "best value"
Cube Corp. v. United States, 46 Fed. Cl. 368 (2000) - successfully defended award of $14 million Army Corps of Engineers' facilities management contract by establishing rational basis for evaluation matrix and evidentiary support for evaluation scores and award decision
Marketing & Mgmt., Inc., B-283399.2, Nov. 30, 1999, 99-2 CPD/105 - won protest requiring DoD agency to conduct procurement for information retrieval database as small business set-aside, by demonstrating insufficient efforts by agency to ascertain small business capability to perform
Action Affecting Export Privileges; Kenneth Broder; Order Amending the Order Denying Permission to Apply for or Use Export Licenses, 64 Fed. Reg. 34,633 (Dep't Commerce, Bureau of Export Admin., June 28, 1999) - won administrative appeal from order denying export privileges
Protest of Camber Corp., No. 98-ODRA-79 (FAA Sept. 3, 1998) - prevailed in protest against FAA award of $44 million civilian GPS technical support services contract by establishing that awardee had misrepresented availability of key personnel in proposing impermissible "bait and switch"
