Bio
Sam Finnerty is a trusted legal partner to government contractors, helping businesses secure, defend, and maximize federal contracting opportunities. With deep expertise in federal procurement, construction law, small business programs, and litigation, Sam provides strategic counsel to contractors navigating the complex world of government compliance and disputes.
A seasoned advocate, Sam represents contractors in high stakes bid protests before the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition (ODRA), U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC), and state/local procurement agencies. He also defends and pursues small business size and socio-economic status protests before the Small Business Administration (SBA) and its Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA). As a key member of the firm’s Government Contract Claims & Appeals Group, Sam has extensive experience handling Contract Dispute Act claims, requests for equitable adjustment (REAs), cure notice and show cause responses, terminations, and contract performance disputes.
Beyond litigation, Sam helps businesses leverage federal set-aside programs, advising on the 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, and All Small Mentor-Protégé Programs. He drafts and negotiates teaming agreements, GSA CTAs, joint ventures, subcontracts, mentor-protégé agreements, and other contracts to ensure clients remain competitive in the federal marketplace. Additionally, Sam advises contractors on a diverse array of regulatory compliance issues arising under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and SBA regulations, including recertification, limitations on subcontracting, organizational conflicts of interest (OCI), adverse past performance evaluations (CPARs), security clearances (FCLs and PCLs), and affiliation. Sam also works closely with the firm’s Business & Transactions Group to guide contractors through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), due diligence, and novation agreements, ensuring seamless transitions in government contracting.
Sam is an active member of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) GovConNet Council, which advocates on behalf of the contracting community. He also supports the Veteran Institute for Procurement (VIP) by providing frequent trainings and instruction to its veteran-owned small business members.
Related Practice Areas
Representative Matters
Representative Experience
Government Contracts:
- Litigates bid protests before federal agencies, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC)
- Pursues and defends both size and socio-economic status protests before the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and its Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA)
- Prosecutes government contractor claims under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) at the COFC and the Boards of Contract Appeals (ASBCA and CBCA), including those pertaining to terminations for default, excusable and compensable delays, differing site conditions, constructive changes, and past performance evaluations (i.e., CPARS)
- Negotiates requests for equitable adjustment and other payment and contract-related disputes
- Coordinates and manages due diligence in connection with government contractor mergers and acquisitions and prepares related novation and change of name agreements
Small Business Programs & Advisory Services:
- Drafts subcontract agreements, mentor-protégé agreements, joint venture agreements, teaming agreements, and all other procurement related agreements
- Provides guidance on issues arising under with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and SBA regulations, including those related to recertification, the limitations on subcontracting, past performance evaluations/CPARS, organizational conflicts of interest, security clearances, and affiliation
- Counsels growing government contractors on how to maintain small business size and/or socio-economic status and how to mitigate and avoid affiliation
Litigation:
- Represents large corporations and small businesses in state and federal courts, arbitration, mediation, and before administrative bodies in labor and employment, appellate, corporate, and general litigation matters
- Drafts all matter of pleadings in federal and state court at the trial and appellate level
Representative Cases
Bid Protests:
- Successfully defended the National Geospatial‑Intelligence Agency’s amendment to its CLOVER solicitation incorporating the 2024 version of the SAM.gov registration clause, FAR 52.204‑7 (NOV 2024), obtaining judgment on the administrative record for the Government and intervenors. See Zolon PCS II, LLC v. United States, No. 25-21, 2025 WL 1257143 (Fed. Cl. Apr. 15, 2025)
- Successfully protested a FEMA BPA for project management and cyber security compliance support services where the agency improperly disqualified the protester for quoting labor categories (LCATs) under special item numbers (SINs) from its GSA FSS contract other than the SIN under which the solicitation was issued and where the agency failed to refute that one LCAT quoted by the awardee did not map to or encompass the duties of the solicited position. See VMD Systems Integrators, LLC dba VMD Corporation, B-422384.3, et al. (Mar. 25, 2025)
- Obtained GAO recommendation for reimbursement of protestor costs in connection with a $34 million DOL contract where the agency unduly delayed taking corrective action in response to clearly meritorious protest arguments that DOL failed to engage in meaningful discussions and unreasonably evaluated quotations. See 2TechJV, LLC–Costs, B-420960.7 (Aug. 27, 2024)
- Successfully intervened in a GAO protest and defended Army award of a $105 million task order under ITES-3 IDIQ against allegations that the agency misevaluated proposals, applied an unstated evaluation criterion, and made an unreasonable source selection decision. See Zantech IT Servs., Inc., B-422452 (June 26, 2024)
- Successfully protested a $50 million FAA contract for operation, maintenance, support, and supply services at ODRA where the agency created an unmitigated and unequal access to information OCI and failed to properly evaluate technical proposals, resulting in an unreasonable award decision. See Protest of Adsync Technologies, Inc., ODRA Docket No. 23-ODRA-00951 (June 21, 2024)
- Successfully intervened in a COFC protest and defended Department of Defense Education Activity’s award of a $6.7 million contract against claims that the agency misled the protestor. See Safal Partners LLC v. United States, 171 Fed. Cl. 656 (2024)
- Successfully protested a $34 million GSA award for organizational level aircraft maintenance services at GAO where the agency did not reasonably determine that the labor categories required by the solicitation fell within the scope of the awardee’s proposed labor categories from its GSA FSS contract. See LOGMET LLC, B-422200 (Feb. 21, 2024)
- Successfully protested a $93 million GSA award for IT services to maintain and modernize the USDA Farm Loan Programs at GAO where: (i) the agency’s evaluation of the experience of the 8(a) small business joint venture awardee was inconsistent with SBA regulations requiring agencies to consider the experience of the individual members of the joint venture, (ii) the agency performed a flawed price evaluation, and (iii) the agency failed to resolve identified risks in the awardee’s price quotation. See AttainX, Inc., B-421216 (Jan. 23, 2023)
- Successfully protested the terms of a USDA solicitation for nationwide default management services at GAO on the basis that certain pricing and payment terms were inconsistent with customary commercial practice. See Orlans PC, B-420905 (Oct. 25, 2022)
- Successfully intervened in a COFC protest and defended the Census Bureau’s award of a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) worth more than $70 million against numerous claims of disparate treatment. See Golden IT, LLC v. United States, 157 Fed. Cl. 680 (2022)
- Successfully intervened in a GAO protest and defended USAID’s award of a $22 million contract against claims of misleading and unequal discussions and a flawed cost realism analysis and best value tradeoff. See RTI International, B-420577.1 (June 13, 2022)
- Successfully intervened and defended a $47 million FBI award for name check services through three separate GAO protests and numerous allegations of disparate treatment. See PAE National Security Solutions, LLC, B-419207.6 (Nov. 19, 2021)
- Successfully intervened in a GAO protest and defended a $200 million U.S. Army award for base operations and maintenance support services against allegations that the agency performed a flawed past performance evaluation. See Hughes Coleman, JV, B-417787.5 (July 29, 2020)
- Successfully protested a U.S. Air Force award for solid waste management services at GAO where the awardee’s proposal failed to meet the material requirements of the solicitation. See CR/ZWS LLC, B-414766.2 (Sept. 13, 2017)
- Successfully protested a $30 million U.S. Army award for real property services at GAO where agency failed to conduct meaningful discussions and its best value tradeoff decision was not reasonably based. See Mevacon-NASCO JV, B-414329 (May 11, 2017)
Size and Status Protests:
- Successfully defended a favorable size determination issued in connection with a Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command contract against allegations that size recertification had been requested after initial proposal submissions and size should have been determined at a later date. See Size Appeal of Glob. Pac. Design Builders, LLC, SBA No. SIZ-6260, 2023 (Dec. 21, 2023)
- Successfully protested the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) status of a government contractor in connection with a Department of Veterans Affairs procurement, where the awardee was not unconditionally owned by a Service-Disabled Veteran. See CVE Protest of Randy Kinder Excavating, Inc. d/b/a RKE Contractors, SBA No. CVE-232 (June 13, 2022), aff’d, E&L Constr. Grp., LLC v. United States, 161 Fed. Cl. 570 (Aug. 3, 2022)
- Successfully defended a favorable size determination against allegations of general and ostensible subcontractor affiliation. See Size Appeal of Inquiries, Inc., SBA No. SIZ-6008 (2019)
- Successfully defended a favorable size determination against allegations that the joint venture awardee violated, among other things, SBA’s joint venture regulations. See Size Appeal of Glob. Dynamics, LLC, SBA No. SIZ-6012 (2019)
- Successfully appealed the SBA’s decision to deny a government contractor entry into its 8(a) Business Development Program. See Management Solutions, LLC, SBA No. BDPE-2017-09-07-09 (2017)
- Successfully protested a government contract awardee’s Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) status (decisions unpublished)
Claims & Appeals:
- Obtained quantum meruit relief from the CBCA through binding ADR
- Prosecuted multiple appeals of terminations for default at the ASBCA and CBCA that resulted in conversions to terminations for convenience
- Negotiated increased CPARS for multiple clients through the rebuttal, claims, and appeals processes
Litigation & Arbitration:
- Successfully argued and won a motion to dismiss in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland on behalf of a government contractor that had been sued by a former employee for breach of contract, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, wrongful termination, and violation of civil rights
- Won a judgment in favor of a government contractor that had been sued by a former teaming partner for breach of contract and unjust enrichment wherein the American Arbitration Association (AAA) held that the teaming agreement was unenforceable and unjust enrichment was not available
- Obtained a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and favorable settlement on behalf of a government contractor in a misappropriation of trade secrets case before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA)
- Obtained a preliminary injunction enjoining an individual and corporate defendant from competing with a government contractor on a federal procurement in a misappropriation of trade secrets case before the EDVA
- Successfully defended a Maryland corporation in an appeal for unemployment benefits before the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
- Successfully defended multiple requests for emergency equitable relief before the AAA
PPP Loan Forgiveness:
- Successfully argued majority owner of a borrower of a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan did not have the ability to control the borrower and was therefore not affiliated with the borrower, resulting in OHA vacating and remanding SBA’s final loan review decision of a PPP loan totaling more than $4,000,000.00
Credentials
Education
- George Mason University School of Law, J.D., 2014
- Saint Joseph’s University, B.S.B.A., 2011
Admissions
- Virginia
- District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
Honors
Honors
Super Lawyers® Rising Star, Washington DC, Government Contracts, 2018-Present
Top Author, JD Supra Readers’ Choice Top Author 2020 Award