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Christie Alvarez

Christie Alvarez

Associate
About

Christie Alvarez focuses her practice in the area of government contracts. She has extensive firsthand experience and insight into the source selection process, bid protests and claims, post-award contract management, termination settlements, and M&A transactions dealing with a variety of agencies and industries.

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Christie was a Senior Government Contracts Attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Energy. While there, she served as litigation counsel for several multi-billion dollar bid protests at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and advised Contracting Officers and Senior Department Officials on cradle to grave contract matters.

In 2017, Christie was appointed by the Honorable Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General to the U.S. Department of Justice, as the Department of Justice Fellow to the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). In that role, she led the development and implementation of the Enterprise Risk Management System for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Inspector General, and spearheaded a legislative initiative on behalf of the entire Inspector General Community to combat fraud, waste and abuse.

Christie also spent over eight years as a Contracting Officer for the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She held an Unlimited Warrant and performed all aspects of the solicitation, award and post-award management of several complex mission support single and multiple award contracts.

Bar admissionsDistrict of ColumbiaNew York

EXPERIENCE

Christie regularly helps small businesses and fortune 100 companies alike identify and address government compliance issues and business risks in M&A transactions involving both US and foreign government contracts. Matters often include identifying and addressing facility and personnel clearance concerns, intellectual property rights allocation, small business notification requirements, and Buy American Act/Trade Agreements Act compliance. If a buyer does not meaningfully assess these issues and risks during the pre-closing diligence phase of an M&A transaction, it may acquire assets with hidden liabilities and, therefore, substantially diminished value.

Christie also regularly assists clients at all stages of litigation in bid protests and Contract Disputes Act matters before the United States Government Accountability Office, the Boards of Contract Appeals and the United States Court of Federal Claims. Christie's representative litigation matters include the following:

  • Successfully challenged a $1B contract awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection ("CBP") for medical screening services for persons in CBP custody the Southwest Boarder.
  • Obtained favorable results of a multi-million contract claim surrounding a $30B Department of Defense contract.
  • Successfully challenged, at the US Court of Federal Claims, the State Department's arbitrary and capricious decision to eliminate a client from competition for a multi-million dollar guard services contract for a U.S. Embassy. Importantly, the decision ultimately had the affect of renewing this client's opportunity to bid on several additional embassy contracts, collectively valued at $150 million.
  • Successfully challenged a $400 million contract awarded by the US Army for intelligence analysis services.
  • Obtained a court decision vacating a determination of the Small Business Administration Office of Hearings and Appeals finding our client to not be a small business.
Education
  • J.D., Law, George Mason University
  • M.B.A., Accounting and IT Management, Seton Hall University
  • B.S., Finance, Seton Hall University

Civic and Charitable

  • Ukrainian American Youth Association member (1995 – present) and camp counselor (2003-2006)

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