Ronald S. Perlman is a Partner in the Washington, DC office of Holland & Knight where he is a member of the Government Contracts Practice Group. Mr. Perlman was elected to the Board of Directors for the National Defense Industrial Association, and serves as Vice-Chair of the Small Business Division and as Chair of the Defense Manufacturing Communications Committee of the Manufacturing Division of NDIA. Mr. Perlman is a Fellow of the National Contract Management Association.
After serving with the government (the Air Force and then the General Services Administration) for the commencement of his career, Mr. Perlman has represented both large and small companies in contract negotiations, claims, disputes and protests. He had experience at the United States Court of Federal Claims, the Government Accountability Office and various boards and courts. His practice of government contract counseling and litigation work includes experience with many federal agencies, including: the Department of Defense (Air Force, Army, Marines, Coast Guard and Navy), Departments of Commerce, Energy, Transportation, Labor, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, Federal Aviation Association, Social Security Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Small Business Administration and the U.S. Postal Service.
Mr. Perlman's recent representations include:
- The successful 2009 Presidential Inauguration sound system contractor protest, based on an organizational conflict of interest.
- A large construction company in bid protests in the General Accounting Office and at the United States Court of Federal Claims, challenging the award of a construction contract by the Architect of the Capitol.
- A ship operating contractor defending against an allegation of being other-than-small in connection with a more than $100 million Navy contract.
- An environmental remediation firm in a size protest at the Small Business Administration, challenging the award of a remediation contract by the Department of Energy.
- The manufacturer of explosive containment vessels in a bid protest at the General Accounting Office, challenging the award of a contract for explosive containment vessels by the United States Air Force.
- Counseling an industrial manufacturer on required terms and conditions for the sale of metal bellows to the United States Air Force
- Counseling a nonprofit applied research and development professional services organization with the drafting and negotiation of a software license agreement with the Office of Naval Intelligence.
- Defending the small business certification of a client that was awarded a contract to provide engineering services to the Department of Energy against claims of affiliation with a large business.
- The largest Northern Ireland aircraft manufacturer, in a multimillion-dollar contract claim against the Army in the Court of Federal Claims with respect to constructive changes and cost increases on an aircraft remanufacturing contract.
- Counseling a minority-owned (8(a)) small businesses in marketing goods and services to the United States government.
Before entering private practice in 1980, Mr. Perlman represented the U.S. Air Force and the General Services Administration as a government attorney. He was assistant staff judge advocate at the Armament Development and Test Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and the staff judge advocate of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research in Washington, D.C. In addition, he served as a senior trial attorney for the General Services Administration, litigating major cases.
Mr. Perlman has taught programs on government contract issues for the Air Force, NASA and the Central Intelligence Agency, among others. In addition, he has written several articles on federal contract law with articles published in federal publications and National Contract Management Magazine, including the Briefing Paper "Sole Source Contracts," the only work of its kind on this critical topic.