Eric Whytsell is a Member in the Manufacturing, Construction, and Education industry groups, focusing primarily on government contracts and intellectual property. He practices out of the Firm’s offices in Denver, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., and is the Managing Member of the Denver office.
Eric is the head of the Firm’s Government Contracts practice group. As such, he’s the perfect person to help his clients identify opportunities and resolve problems that arise when doing business with the government. He represents a wide variety of clients, including major multinational corporations, mid-size and small businesses, and other entities, across a variety of industry sectors, including defense, software and technology, research and development, IT services, construction, transportation, aerospace, financial, health care, biotech, manufacturing, and higher education.
Eric advises clients on a full range of federal, state and local procurement matters. In addition to helping clients understand and assess the potential benefits and risks presented by government contracts, Eric represents clients in connection with contract capture, negotiation, and performance issues, bid and size protests, contractor and government claims involving changes, adjustments and terminations, internal investigations, suspension and debarment, and responses to audits. He regularly works with government contractors and subcontractors to ensure compliance with requirements concerning business ethics and conduct, procurement, labor standards, data security, security clearances, export controls, and sourcing restrictions. Eric also advises on teaming, joint ventures and subcontracting arrangements and compliance with small business and socio-economic programs.
Eric also advises government contractors and commercial companies on an array of contracting and subcontracting matters, especially those relating to the development, protection, licensing, and other exploitation of intellectual property assets. He has extensive experience negotiating contracts with government agencies, prime contractors and subcontractors, and commercial firms for commercial products and services, and counseling software, technology, and IT services firms about the commercialization of intellectual property and the unique risks and obligations involved in government contracting.
Eric enjoys taking a complicated problem and breaking it down to its simplest form, making it clear for all involved to see and understand the issues. This involves figuring out the best way to communicate his client’s needs to other parties and decision-makers, sifting through the relevant legal considerations, and translating them into useful information that allow his clients to make smart decisions. Eric’s experience allows him to craft persuasive narratives and advocate for his client’s best interest. Basically, Eric’s plan of action is to focus on his client’s bottom line and help his client get what it needs to conduct its business successfully.
Along with representing and counseling clients, Eric serves on the governing Council of the American Bar Association’s Public Contracts Section. He has written extensively on government contract matters and frequently lectures and conducts training on federal procurement, contractor compliance, intellectual property rights in government contracts, and export controls. He also edits the Firm’s Government Contracts Monitor blog, which publishes articles about government contract issues weekly.
In his spare time, Eric is an amateur photographer whose work has appeared in the National Park Trust Annual Report and other publications.
