Category: Meet Blank Rome

Justin A. Chiarodo and Elizabeth N. Jochum Named to Law360’s 2024 Editorial Advisory Boards

Elizabeth Jochum
Justin Chiarodo

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that Government Contracts partners Justin A. Chiarodo and Elizabeth N. Jochum have been named to Law360’s 2024 Editorial Advisory Boards. As board members, the partners will provide feedback on Law360’s coverage and share insights on how to best shape future coverage.

Justin, who serves as chair of our firm’s Aerospace, Defense & Government Services industry team and Government Contracts practice group, has been named to Law360’s Aerospace & Defense Editorial Advisory Board for the second time.

Elizabeth has been named to Law360’s 2024 Government Contracts Editorial Advisory Board.

Learn more about other Blank Rome partners serving on Law360’s 2024 Editorial Advisory Boards on our website.

Meet Our Newest Partner, Robyn Burrows


Justin A. Chiarodo, Dominique L. Casimir, and Robyn N. Burrows

In late 2023, we were very happy to announce that Blank Rome Government Contracts associate Robyn N. Burrows was elevated to partner in our Government Contracts practice in Washington, D.C., effective January 2024.

Robyn is a key member of our practice group who represents clients on a wide range of government contracts matters. She has experience preparing and negotiating complex claims and has litigated disputes before the boards of contract appeal and state and federal courts. Robyn has a particular focus on emerging supply chain and cybersecurity issues and has counseled numerous clients on Section 889 compliance. She also provides counseling on cost/pricing issues, domestic preferences, protection of contractor data and intellectual property, and suspension and debarment matters. She has experience navigating clients through False Claims Act investigations and regularly assists clients in high-value bid protests before the Government Accountability Office and U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Robyn has also developed particular experience with Department of Energy (“DOE”) contracts, and has handled matters involving whistleblower complaints, civil investigative demands, subcontractor disputes, cost-allowability issues, and other unique DOE requirements applying to management and operating (“M&O”) contractors.

Robyn is a member of the Public Contract Law Section of the American Bar Association, where she is Vice-Chair – Contract Claims & Disputes Committee, Vice-Chair – Cybersecurity, Privacy and Emerging Technology Committee, and has served as the Associate Editor for the section’s quarterly journal, The Procurement Lawyer, since 2021. Robyn also serves on the Washington, D.C. Bar Government Contracts Steering Committee.

Before joining Blank Rome, Robyn represented construction clients in federal contracting matters. During law school, she was a research editor for the George Mason Law Review. She interned with the Honorable R. Terrence Ney of the Fairfax County Circuit Court, and with the administrative judges at the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

We took some time to chat with Robyn to see how she is settling into her new position, and to learn more about her, including what she enjoys doing outside of work!

Continue reading “Meet Our Newest Partner, Robyn Burrows”

Blank Rome Attorneys Appointed to American Bar Association’s Public Contract Law Section Leadership for the 2023–2024 Term

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that nine attorneys from the firm’s nationally recognized Government Contracts group have been appointed to leadership roles in the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) Public Contract Law Section for the 2023–2024 term, marking the highest number of ABA Public Contract Law Section leadership positions held by our attorneys in the firm’s history.

Visit our website to learn more about their roles and the Section of Public Contract Law.

Blank Rome’s Government Contracts Practice and Attorneys Highly Ranked in Chambers USA and The Legal 500

On the heels of Law360’s recognition of Blank Rome’s Government Contracts Practice as a 2022 Practice Group of the Year, the practice was recently highly ranked by two prestigious legal rankings publications:

Chambers USA 2023

We are thrilled to share that Blank Rome’s Government Contracts Practice was elevated to Band 2 in Government Contracts: The Elite, USA in the recent Chambers USA 2023 rankings, placing our team among the very top group of fewer than 50 law firms in the nationwide rankings. 

Chambers quoted a reference as saying that Blank Rome has “…a good mix of associates and partners with expertise in a wide variety of areas. The firm is a one-stop shop for government contractors’ legal needs.”

To view all of Blank Rome’s Chambers USA 2023 rankings, please visit our website.

The Legal 500 United States 2023

Blank Rome was again highly ranked among top nationwide firms as a “Recommended Firm” in the area of “Government Contracts” in The Legal 500 United States 2023.

“While each member of the team has their own special talents and areas of specialization, as all great teams do, without fail, they unselfishly work together to achieve the client’s goal, in this case, zealously advocating on behalf of their client. From contract formation to interpretation to litigation, they handle the full spectrum and they do it as one, cohesive, disciplined, fighting unit.” ―Testimonial given to The 2023 Legal 500 United States

To view all of Blank Rome’s Legal 500 United States 2023 rankings, please visit our website.

Two Recent Blank Rome Team Recognitions

We’re pleased to share two recent accomplishments of our Government Contracts attorneys.

They’ve Got Next: Government Contracts Fresh Face Elizabeth Jochum

Blank Rome partner Elizabeth N. Jochum has been featured in Bloomberg Law’s “They’ve Got Next” series, which spotlights young lawyers who are “raising the bar in various practice groups.”

Elizabeth is one of five attorneys featured in the government contracts installment. The featured attorneys “work at the intersection of litigation, regulation, and government procurement” as they navigate and defend clients against bid protests.

Read more, including an excerpt of Elizabeth’s “They’ve Got Next” spotlight, as published in Bloomberg Law, on our website.

Justin A. Chiarodo Named to Law360’s 2023 Aerospace & Defense Editorial Advisory Board

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that partner Justin A. Chiarodo, who serves as chair of our firm’s Aerospace, Defense & Government Services industry team and Government Contracts practice group, has been named to Law360’s 2023 Aerospace & Defense Editorial Advisory Board.

Learn more about the board and Justin on our website.

Dominique L. Casimir Named Section Chair’s Special Recognition Award Recipient by the ABA Section of Public Contract Law

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that partner Dominique L. Casimir, who serves as co-chair of the firm’s General Litigation group, received the American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law‘s (“the Section”) Section Chair’s Special Recognition Award. 

Please visit our website to learn more about Dominique’s award.

Law360: Gov’t Contracts Group of the Year: Blank Rome

Law360, February 17, 2023

Blank Rome’s Government Contracts group was recently named a 2022 Practice Group of the Year by Law360, which honors “the attorney teams behind litigation wins and major deals that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.” Blank Rome is one of five firms recognized in the Government Contracts practice group category nationwide. 

Read the group’s full Practice Group of the Year profile, as published in Law360, on our website.

Blank Rome’s Black History Month D.C. Easel Project—and a Surprising Connection between the Defense Industry and the 1963 March on Washington

Justin A. Chiarodo and Robyn N. Burrows ●

In honor of Black History Month, we wanted to highlight one of the most impactful traditions in our Washington, D.C., office: the Black History Month D.C. Easel Project, in which Blank Rome attorneys, staff, and clients work together to create easels depicting notable historic events and figures from D.C.’s rich African American history. Thanks to the leadership and innovation of our partner Saminaz Akhter, the Easel Project has deepened our awareness and appreciation of the significant contributions Black people have made in our Nation’s Capital (you can learn more about the program in this video).

The theme for last year’s easels was civil demonstrations and protests, including the 1919 Red Summer riot, the 1939 Marian Anderson concert at the Lincoln Memorial, the 1958/59 Youth March for Integrated Schools, the 2020 George Floyd protests, and the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Our research on the origins of the 1963 March on Washington revealed a surprising connection to the defense industry that we wanted to spotlight for our “Sustained Action” readership.

The seeds for the March on Washington were sown decades earlier, when A. Phillip Randolph (head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and an early leader of the civil rights movement) proposed a mass march on Washington, D.C., to highlight segregation and discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces and the defense industry.

Continue reading “Blank Rome’s Black History Month D.C. Easel Project—and a Surprising Connection between the Defense Industry and the 1963 March on Washington”

Amplifying Our Clarion Call

Justin A. Chiarodo, Dominique L. Casimir, and Krystal Studavent Ramsey  ●

We are thrilled to kick off our new Government Contracts Navigator blog series, “Sustained Action: DEI in Government Contracting,” which shines a light on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and progress in the government contracts industry and at Blank Rome. As we wrote back in 2020, working to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a one-time exercise but a practice—one to which we are committed for the long run.

We approach this effort fully embracing that we bring our own backgrounds, journeys, and perspectives to a complicated area, and that fostering an environment of mutual respect and the free exchange of ideas is critical to promoting the understanding of different viewpoints and implementing solutions that make a difference.

“Sustained Action” is our next step in this journey. This post focuses on our recent participation in the American Bar Association Public Contract Law Section’s (“ABA PCL”) 10 Day Tune Up, and other initiatives we are driving at Blank Rome in 2023. The 10 Day Tune Up was a follow-up program to the successful 2020 program that we wrote about previously, the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit-Building Challenge© (“21-Day Challenge”).

Continue reading “Amplifying Our Clarion Call”
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