When clients hire Mark, they receive much more than excellent legal results. He delivers military, electrical engineering and business expertise to government contracts, technology transactions, security and regulatory compliance. Mark’s multi-faceted skills and experience enables him to efficiently get deals done, provide insightful solutions and help clients with:

  • Government Contracts: Winning prime and subcontracts, bid protests, classified programs and resolving disputes.
  • Technology Transactions and Outsourcing: Increasing financial returns, operational efficiencies and cost reductions from technology, drones/UAS, energy, data, trade secrets, intellectual property and telecommunications.
  • Security: Investigating, improving security and reducing risks from terror, cyber, insider and FOCI threats to physical assets, finances, privacy and data (PII, PHI, PCI, IP, TS, etc).  Counseling on ECPA, SCA, NSL, FISA, CALEA and related activities.
  • Regulations: Complying with FAR, HIPAA/HITECH, FISMA, GDPR, PCI DSS, NIST, FCC, DSS/NISPOM, FCRA, CFIUS, ITAR, EAR, FMS, OFAC, FEMA/DSCA/Stafford Act, FirstNet and x911 requirements.

A retired U.S. Army Colonel and service-disabled veteran, Mark served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Europe in special operations, intelligence, homeland defense and communications units on Active Duty and in the Reserves. His last assignment was FEMA/Army North’s emergency preparedness officer for Maryland, and he responded to domestic emergencies such as the September 11th Pentagon attack, Baltimore Riots and Ebola Crisis. Previously, he was the battalion commander of a tactical line unit and JSOC’s task force CIO (J6) responsible for all command, control and communications assets including aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. Mark has substantial TS/SCI experience with IC platforms as a member of an SMU and SAPs.

Prior to his legal career, Mark was an electrical engineer and international business executive where he started a consulting business in Boston, provided regional expertise in Australia, harmonized U.S. products in Denmark and managed telecommunication QA teams across Europe.

Mark chairs the firm’s Homeland Security, Government Contracts and Technology Transactions groups, serves as iCERT’s General Counsel and chairs Montgomery County’s Dickerson Area Facilities Implementation Group.

Certifications

  • Security clearance information upon request
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) United States (US)
  • Certified Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)
  • Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)
Professional & Community Affiliations

Results

Government Contracts – Technology

  • Won a $28M IDIQ bid protest at the GAO for a large government contractor for the provision of IT products and services.
  • Negotiated service levels, performance specifications and customized liability terms for a multiyear service agreement to implement a FedRAMP Ready commercial cloud offering in Japan.
  • Won a Library of Congress bid protest for a government contractor for the digitization and imaging of millions of archived government documents.
  • Counseled a billion-dollar IT products and services company on the business, technical and government requirements arising from reselling commercial cloud services.
  • Won a TS/SCI IDIQ bid protest at the GAO for a large government contractor as an intervenor for the provision of classified IT products and services to the DIA.
  • Defeated claims of organizational and personal conflicts of interests (OCI and PCI) made against the minority owner of a military products government contractor during a valuation and M&A dispute.
  • Won a sole source bid protest for a Graph Database Developer for the provision of large database products and services to the IRS.
  • Won a $10M bid protest of a DHS sole source purchase of smartphones for a smartphone manufacturer.

Commercial Technology

  • Saved the business of a $15M information aggregator by concurrently analyzing the underlying technology of the company’s disputed mission-critical software, identifying legal strengths and weaknesses, negotiating a favorable settlement, keeping the business running and putting in place alternative providers.
  • Negotiated service levels, performance specifications, continuity of operations and customized liability terms for the procurement of a billion-dollar building company’s mission-critical ERP, financial, SCM and SaaS logistics services.
  • Created a new shared economy developer and operator service agreements for the provision of food trucks to commercial buildings.
  • Negotiated service levels, performance specifications, continuity of operations and customized liability terms for the procurement of a logistics company’s mission critical ERP and SCM SaaS services.
  • Represented international vehicle manufacturer in the negotiation of joint venture agreements, data acquisition and commercialization of new usage-based insurance services.
  • Represented U.S. telecommunications carrier in the negotiation and performance of a billion-dollar IT outsourcings in parallel with conducting a highly sensitive national security investigations and remediation of data security issues subject to DSS NISPOM compliance requirements under classified contracts. Negotiated intellectual property (IP) ownership and license rights.
  • Represented international ocean terminal operator in the design and implementation of a large automated container port logistics systems using RFID, OCR, GPS, and WiFi. Negotiated intellectual property (IP) ownership and license rights.
  • Represented a municipality in the creation of a smart city commercial structure to obtain and provide investments into critical infrastructure, real estate and other developmental projects using opportunity zones, software as a service subscriptions and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Government Contracts – Classified and General

  • Represented large Government Contractor in the negotiation of multiple datacenter construction and operations for classified datacenter services to intelligence community agencies.
  • Represented classified government contractor in the successful intervention in opposition to a protest of a TS/SCI data exploitation contract and prevented additional awardees, reconsideration, and any other corrective action.
  • Represented benefits provider in the unwinding of a business purchase due to a denial of the novation request, including transferring employees, intellectual property, assigned contracts, ongoing business and capital assets.
  • Represented classified government contractor in the assessments, valuations, diligence, subcontractor disputes, alliance formation and development of market strategies for the provision of operational support and training services.

Government Contracts – Energy

  • Represented multiple national and regional electricity services providers in the negotiation for the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of geothermal, bio steam, solar and wind energy to the U.S. Government under Marine Corp energy savings performance contracts (ESPC), Army multiple award task order contracts (MATOC), Navy power purchase agreements (PPA) and GSA area-wide contracts.
  • Represented energy grid operator in the counseling of energy resiliency, microgrids, security enclaves and proximity-based threat prioritization.
  • Represented nuclear, geothermal, biothermal and offshore wind companies in the contracting with the DOE’s national labs to conduct research and development under agreements for commercializing technology (ACT), cooperative research and development agreements (CRADA), works for others (WFO) agreements and assistance agreements (AA).

Government Contracts – Utility

  • Represented electricity and gas utility in the negotiation of a 50-year electricity and gas utility privatization contracts including creating new provisions with DLA governing system disposition and clawing back post-termination costs due to a BRAC closure.

Telecommunications

  • Represented smartphone manufacturer in the development and sales of new products compliant with FirstNet requirements operating over LTE, HF and satellite networks.
  • Represented aerospace and defense company in a settlement with the FCC and avoidance of forfeitures in connection with the transfer of spectrum as part of an M&A spin-off.
  • Represented multi-tenant REIT property owners across the country in negotiations for revenue shares, performance levels and voice, video and data services. Successfully closed dozens of service agreements and resolved performance disputes for issues such as demarcation points, must-carry, exclusivity and shared access.

Cybersecurity

  • Identified, analyzed and shifted liability for an insider attack to the seller of a company during an M&A.
  • Counseled on the applicability of and assessed compliance with CMMC, CCPA, GDPR, HIPAA, PCIDSS, FISMA and FedRAMP.
  • Represented international food and beverage provider to the airline industry in the creation, purchase, transition and certification of an in-flight Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant system.
  • Negotiated intellectual property (IP) ownership and license rights.
  • Represented numerous clients in the assessment, determination and compliance with HIPAA, GDPR and PCIDSS.

Counterterrorism Law Enforcement

  • Represented provider of specialized services in its response to national security letters, counterterrorism activities and related compliance obligations under the USA PATRIOT, USA FREEDOM, ECPA, FISA and CALEA Acts.

International Trade

  • Ensured for the compliance with CFIUS requirements as part of a new funding by Asian investors into a US mobile technology company.
  • Represented off-shore investment fund in the review and compliance with CFIUS requirements as part of its acquisition of a U.S. manufacturer of security products.
  • Represented weapons manufacturer in foreign military sales (FMS) requirements, investigations and compliance actions.
  • Represented international aero structures manufacturer in its review and compliance with ITAR/EAR requirements as part of its potential purchase of a U.S. jet engine parts manufacturer.
  • Represented U.S. subsidiary of an Asian parent organization in the mitigation of FOCI risks and ongoing compliance with CFIUS and DSS requirements under a National Security Agreement (NSA) and a Special Security Agreement (SSA).
  • Represented U.S. telecommunications carrier in its core business outsourcing to an offshore provider.

Recognition

  • Legion of Merit
  • Bronze Star
  • SERE Level C High Risk Training
  • Airborne Paratrooper

Publications

Seminars & Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker “National Security Law.” C5 Accelerates Urban Resiliency, July 2020
  • Speaker, “Security Risk Management for Business Owners and the Hospitality Industry” ShulmanRogers Webinar, February 2020
  • Speaker, “Homeland Security,” ShulmanRogers CLE, February 2020
  • Speaker, “The New CMMC & Other Security Requirements from 3 Perspectives: DOD, Supply Chain, and Legal.” CohnReznick‘s Government Contracting Practice, December 2019
  • Moderator, “Drones, Safety and Security CLE: How Federal, State and Local agencies are dealing with current Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) challenges,” Federal Communications Bar Association’s Homeland Security and Emergency Communications Committee, April 2019
  • Organizer and Host, “Coping with Carpenter CLE: The Fourth Amendment Meets the 21st Century,” Federal Communications Bar Association’s Homeland Security and Emergency Communications Committee, November 2018
  • Speaker, “Blockchains, Crypto Currencies and Beyond,” Security Title’s Maryland Fall Seminar, October 2018
  • Team Leader, “Cyber Threats to Critical Infrastructure Tabletop Exercise,” INSA’s Cyber and Domestic Security Councils, November 2017
  • Speaker, “Constructing a Program to Deter, Detect and Mitigate Insider Threats and Comply with NISPOM Change 2,” ABA Webinar, September 2016
  • Speaker, “CFIUS and FINSA: Hot Topics in 2016 LIVE Webcast,” The Knowledge Group, June 2016
  • Organizer, “Military Commanders Muster,” Department of Defense Support of Civil Authorities, March 2016
  • Speaker, “Delineating Federal and State Boundaries to Understand Compliance Responsibilities and Redundancies,” FCC Boot Camp,American Conference Institute, June 2015
  • Moderator, “Tysons Data Privacy and Security Forum,” McGuireWoods LLP, June 2013
  • Co-presenter, “EU Data Privacy and Security Conference,” Client Seminar, Telecommunications Industry, June 2013
  • Co-presenter, “Data Privacy & Security for Power Utilities,” Client Seminar, Energy Industry, February 2013
  • Speaker, “Challenges, Threats and Best Practices Relating to Data Protection,” Client Seminar, September 2012
  • Co-presenter, “Data Privacy & Security: Update,” Client Seminar, Defense Industry, April 2012
  • Co-presenter, “Data Privacy & Security: Update,” Client Seminar, Telecommunications Industry, March 2012
  • Co-presenter, “Government Contracting: Overview and Recent Developments,” Client Seminar, March 2012
  • Co-presenter, “Data Security & Privacy,” Client Seminar, Telecommunications Industry, January 2012
  • Speaker, “Data Security and Privacy,” Charlotte ACC, November 2011
  • Speaker, “Building Your Company for Growth and Successful Exit,” 2010 Seminar Series, McGuireWoods LLP, January 2010
  • Speaker, “Contracting Trends to Lower Costs and Increase Efficiencies,” Virginia Bar Association’s Advanced Business Litigation Institute’s ‘The Year-in-Review’, September 2009
  • Speaker, “Intellectual Property and Websites Issues,” Annual Local Government Attorneys Spring Conference, April 2009
  • Speaker, “Practical Tips for Engaging and Disengaging from Technology and Business Process Outsourcings,” Outsourcing Webinar, McGuireWoods LLP, June 2008
  • Speaker, “Intellectual Property and Websites Issues,” Pennsylvania State University College of Engineering, University Park, October 2007
  • Speaker, “Intellectual Property for Engineers,” Pennsylvania State University College of Engineering, University Park, November 2006

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