Defense Acquisition System Webinar Series

An introductory lecture about the Defense Acquisition System, led by Louis Chiarella.

A panel discussion regarding the current state of the Defense Acquisition System, including whether the current process strikes the proper balance between flexibility and accountability.

Speakers:

Louis Chiarella, Deputy Assistant General Counsel in the Procurement Law Division,
Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Professorial Lecturer in Law, GW Law School

Wendy Saigh, Chief Counsel, U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Command 

Steven Schooner, Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law, GW Law School

Karen DaPonte Thornton, Acquisition Counsel, Committee on Armed Services of the U.S House of Representatives

Louis A. (Lou) Chiarella is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at The George Washington
University Law School, Government Procurement Law Program. When not at GW,
Mr. Chiarella is a Deputy Assistant General Counsel in the Procurement Law Division,
Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Since
joining GAO in 2001, he has decided more than 2,500 bid protests involving challenges to the solicitation and award of contracts across the entire federal government. He has written more than 200 published decisions as well as countless unpublished ones. For example, Mr. Chiarella recently handled the bid protest filed by the Microsoft Corporation challenging the National Security Agency’s $10 billion award to Amazon Web Services for cloud computing services. Also, since 2008, Mr. Chiarella has been a member of the GAO Contract Appeals Board where he adjudicates contract disputes involving legislative branch federal agencies.

From 1988 to 2001, Mr. Chiarella served as an active duty Army judge advocate, culminating with his assignment as Associate Professor, Contract and Fiscal Law Department, The Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. From 2001 to 2018, COL Chiarella served another 17 years as a reserve Army judge advocate. His assignments during this time included: Military Appellate Judge, Army Court of Criminal Appeals (2006-2010); Source Selection Evaluation Board Chairman for a $10 billion procurement at the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (2011); Reserve Chief Trial Attorney, Army Contract and Fiscal Law Division (2013-2016); and Assistant General Counsel (Ethics and Fiscal), Army Office of the General Counsel (2016-2017). Finally, from 2017-2018, Colonel Chiarella was mobilized and served as Chief Counsel for the Army Futures Command Task Force, which resulted in the Army’s largest acquisition-related reorganization in 50 years.

Mr. Chiarella received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of
Notre Dame; a juris doctor from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo; a
master’s degree in international affairs from the Catholic University of America; and a
master’s of law degree from the U.S. Army JAG School.

Mr. Chiarella resides with his wife Carrie in Greenwood, Virginia.

Ms. Wendy S. Saigh was appointed to the Senior Executive Service on 29 September 2019 and is currently serving as Chief Counsel for the Army Materiel Command Legal Center – Detroit Arsenal (AMCLC-DTA), US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM). Prior to that position she served as the Deputy Chief Counsel, AMCLC-DTA, where she led a staff of attorney-advisors and support personnel who provide legal services and advice for TACOM Headquarters, the Command’s arsenals, depots, and field activities, as well as Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier, PEO Ground Combat Systems, PEO Combat Support and Combat Service Support, and other tenant organizations. The TACOM mission involves over 21,000 personnel at 9 major locations, and 79 smaller locations, with an operating budget in excess of $4.6B, providing key equipment, sustainment logistics, depot maintenance and arsenal manufacturing for ground combat vehicles, tactical vehicles, deployment equipment, small arms, chemical/biological systems, targetry, supporting services, and associated consumable parts. She has a JD from Michigan State University College of Law (formerly Detroit College of Law) and BS in Human Resource Development from Oakland University.

Steven L. Schooner is the Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law, GW Law School. Before joining the law school faculty in 1998, Professor Schooner was the associate administrator for procurement law and legislation at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget. He previously served as a trial and appellate attorney in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Department of Justice. Professor Schooner also practiced with private law firms and, as an active duty Army judge advocate, served as a commissioner at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals. Until his retirement as an Army Reserve officer, he was an adjunct professor in the Contract and Fiscal Law Department of the Judge Advocate General’s School of the Army, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Professor Schooner’s scholarship focuses primarily upon federal government contract law and public procurement policy. His dispute resolution experience includes service as an arbitrator, mediator, neutral, and ombudsman. Outside of the United States, Professor Schooner has taught and advised hundreds of government officials on public procurement issues, either directly or through multi-government programs, in more than 30 countries.

He is a fellow of the National Contract Management Association, a certified professional contracts manager (CPCM), and recipient of the Charles A. Dana Distinguished Service Award. Professor Schooner is the faculty adviser to the ABA’s Public Contract Law Journal and also serves on the Procurement Round Table and the advisory board of the Government Contractor. He served as senior associate dean for academic affairs of the Law School from 2006 to 2008.

Karen DaPonte Thornton is Counsel on the staff of the Committee on Armed Services of the U.S House of Representatives. She is responsible for advising Chairman Adam Smith on all matters related to defense acquisition policy (including acquisition reform, acquisition workforce, sustainable procurement, other transaction authorities, and small business matters) managing the legislative process related to Title 8 of the National Defense Authorization Act, and conducting related oversight of the Department of Defense. Previously she served as Director of the Government Procurement Law Program at The George Washington University Law School where she managed the curriculum, adjunct faculty, budgeting, marketing, and student support for four specialized government procurement law degrees.  During her time as program director, she created the JD Concentration and Master of Studies in Law degrees and pioneered GWLaw’s distance education program in an effort to lead the program into a new era of legal education. For several years she was a member of the GWLaw legal writing faculty, managing the program’s upper-level writing program and she continues to serve on the adjunct faculty. Karen began her career as an Army JAG officer at the Headquarters of the Army Corps of Engineers and served in the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Government Accountability Office as Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Defense Capabilities and Management. She earned her B.A. from Providence College, her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and her LL.M. in Government Procurement from The George Washington University Law School.