Lauren Leulu (MSL ’25) is a student in the GW Law Government Procurement Law program. We spoke with Lauren about her thoughts on GW Law, her experience in the program, and her career.
Interview with Lauren Leulu
What is your hometown? Why did you decide to join the government procurement law program?
I am from Bristol, VA, a small city divided between Virginia and Tennessee. There are not many academic opportunities for students in Appalachia. I left my hometown at 17 years old to pursue my education after graduating high school a year early. I always wanted to go to law school, but decided to become a communications major while an undergrad at Virginia Commonwealth University. I joined the pre-law society and became the marketing chair and secretary for the club. Back then, I did not know that government procurement could be such an interesting field.
After graduating from VCU, my first job out of college was with a small service-disabled veteran-owned business focused on providing federal IT services at the Department of Veterans Affairs. I was their marketing coordinator… and eventually became their business development coordinator, proposal coordinator… you name it, I wore the hat. Through all that, I learned to love the field. Government procurement, from a business development standpoint, is like a game with many different rules. I am a competitive person, and I have always enjoyed learning about law. So to take my career a step further, I joined the Masters of Studies in Law for Government Procurement program here at GW Law School.
How did you discover the government contracts field?
By accident. My first job out of college was at a small government contractor. One night as I was packing up to go home, the COO of the company came by my cubicle and asked if I had ever studied graphic design in college. I told him I had, and I ended up staying late two nights in a row to work on a large VA proposal, designing the desktop publishing and proposal graphics. Those two nights, I learned a lot about the competitive side of procurement in a very short amount of time… trial by fire!
Most of our MSL students are either contracting officials working within the government, or contract personnel within their company. You currently work in a different field within the government procurement world– tell us about it.
My entire career has been in government contracting. However, I am not a traditional student in this program. I have always worked in marketing, proposals, and business development (BD). My specialty is small businesses in the government procurement field, so I was often fulfilling all three roles simultaneously. I have been a marketing manager, a proposal manager, a growth director… almost every position related to business development. I even used to own a business that helped clients succeed in the government contracting world by providing them with proposal and business development support.
You recently wrote a paper for the program on the use of scorecards in award decisions that will be published in a forthcoming issue of NCMA’s Contract Management Magazine. Please tell us about it.
My paper explores the complex issues surrounding self-scorecards in government contracting, particularly within the context of Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs). My research focused on how these self-assessment scorecards have led to inefficiencies and disputes in the contracting process. I address the problems arising from the use of these scorecards, analyzing case studies, such as the Alliant 2 Small Business contract, the delayed Polaris contract, and the much-protested CIO-SP4 contract to illustrate my points.
My paper also examines the government’s inclination towards GWACs, driven by their alignment with category management principles and the perceived streamlining of procurement. However, I suggest that alternative contracting solutions, such as the Federal Supply Schedules or competitions mirroring the OASIS+ contract, might offer more efficient and less dispute-prone processes.
In conclusion, my paper argues that while self-scoring was initially intended to simplify procurement, its current application has created numerous obstacles. I propose that greater transparency and verification in self-scoring, along with the exploration of alternative contracting solutions, could pave the way for a more streamlined and less contentious procurement process.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to someone working on a federal procurement proposal?
Compliance is key. Everyone knows you must be compliant and compelling with your proposal in order to win a government contract. However, not many people realize you only have 6.5” of horizontal space when creating graphics for a proposal that has 1” margins and letter-size paper. My advice is to not make your graphics so small that they are noncompliant with the solicitation in order to “save space.” I have seen companies lose because they resized their graphics!
What advice do you have for non-lawyers who are interested in furthering their education in government contracts?
I would say consider the GW Law program for government procurement. Even if you are not a government contracting officer or contract specialist in the private sector, you will still get so much value out of the classes. I was a non-traditional student in the program, given that my career has revolved around marketing and business development. It has helped inform my BD process, research, and overall outlook on the market. I also feel like it gives me an advantage over other candidates in the job market. I now view the federal government procurement world differently than other BD professionals!
