As Co-Chair of the firm’s national Government Contracts team, Todd Canni is entrusted by government contractors to resolve their most
important “bet-the-company” government contracts matters and unexpected “crisis” events. Indeed, his success for clients earned
him national Chambers recognition, Law360’s prestigious “Most Valuable Player” for Government Contracts lawyers in 2024, a designation given to only five lawyers nationally, and Legal500 (2024) to call him “a heavyweight in crises matters, high-profile bid protests, white collar defenses and fraud allegations ….” Where others fear the U.S. Government, Todd helps his clients “triumph over the Goliaths” as recognized by Chambers (2024).

Todd is widely known as one of the nation’s preeminent suspension and debarment lawyers and one of only a few debarment lawyers who previously served as a Department of Defense debarring official (Director, Suspension & Debarment Operations). Among his accomplishments: in 2022, Todd served as lead trial counsel in successfully challenging a DoD debarment in federal court, thus saving the client’s business and the jobs of its valued workforce. Due to Todd’s two decades of experience in the government contracts and debarment spaces, including as a debarring official and as defense counsel, and his involvement in several dozen administrative agreements involving monitoring, he is well positioned to serve as an Independent Monitor under agency Administrative Agreements. Indeed, Todd served as Chair and Vice Chair of the ABA Suspension and Debarment Committee, and he authored the chapter on administrative agreements in the ABA’s Practitioner’s Guide to Suspension & Debarment.

Jay is a litigator and former Co-Chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Government Contracts and Public Procurement practice, with 46 years’ experience in the field. Clients from the aerospace, technology, and healthcare sectors seek his representation in all facets of government procurement law—from bid protests to complex claims and disputes through suspension and debarment. He also has an extensive practice in related issues, such as civil fraud and qui tam False Claims Act (“FCA”) actions. Quoting from a source, Chambers USA called Jay: “The best litigator in the country on government contracts and related matters.”

Mr. DeVecchio’s litigation successes include a defendant’s jury verdict in a $480 million FCA case in which he was trial counsel; prevailing in one of the largest defective pricing appeals tried to date; enjoining the Department of Defense for an improper debarment; winning the leading case on latent defects in government contracts; and achieving victory in the Eleventh Circuit's decision on false claims immunity for Medicare contractors. He has more than 50 reported decisions.

Since 2005, Jay has been named a leading national practitioner in Government Contract Law by Chambers USA. He similarly has been named a Top Washington Lawyer in Government Contracts by both The Washington Business Journal and The Washingtonian. Jay has been a guest instructor at the University of Virginia, the George Washington University Law School Government Contracts Program, and the American University Washington College of Law. He conducts seminars on diverse subjects including claims, disputes, terminations, and data rights and has written extensively on all these topics.

Michael Rizzo, Pillsbury’s Government Contracts & Disputes practice co-leader, has represented defense contractors, design/build firms, transportation and technology companies in multimillion-dollar, precedent-setting cases.

A government contracts lawyer in Los Angeles, Michael prepares Contract Disputes Act certified claims; resolves contract disputes before the ASBCA, the CBCA, California federal and state courts, and in arbitration; and handles termination disputes at the federal, state and local government levels. He defends lawsuits filed under the Civil False Claims Act. He crafts comprehensive government contracts compliance programs designed to reduce clients' future exposure and legal expenditures. Additionally, Michael is experienced in handling internal investigations into quality assurance and pricing issues.

Alex Tomaszczuk, a Pillsbury Government Contracts & Disputes partner, is repeatedly recognized by Chambers USA as an authority on government contracts and disputes litigation.

Alex litigates high-dollar value government contract claims and bid protests, helps clients challenge adverse CPARS ratings and conducts internal investigations related to a wide range of compliance issues. He represents a diverse set of clients, including utilities, aerospace manufacturers, real estate developers and service contractors in actions before the GAO, the Court of Federal Claims and other federal forums. Alex has secured important victories in procurement and contractual disputes with the DOE, DOD, Justice Department, the GSA and other agencies.