WASHINGTON, D.C., November 2 LAWFUEL – Law, legal, attorney, law firm– Piper Rudnick partner Carl Lee Vacketta, chair of the firm’s Government Contracts practice group and a nationally respected leader in that practice area, has been named one of the Leading Lawyers in the greater D.C. area in government contracts law by the publication Legal Times, Piper Rudnick has announced.
Mr. Vacketta was one of 12 attorneys Legal Times named to its 2004 short list of the leading practitioners of government contracts law in the District.
“We are absolutely delighted that the Legal Times has recognized Carl’s experience and leadership,” said Theodore Segal, managing partner of Piper Rudnick’s Washington office. “For many years we have recognized Carl’s enormous understanding of this practice area and his devotion to client service. And, like many clients, we respect and admire Carl not only for his professional accomplishments but also for his deep kindness and generosity. He is a superb attorney and a great human being.”
David Kuckelman, general counsel of Smiths Aerospace, told the Legal Times of Mr. Vacketta, “He just knows as much about government contracts as anyone in the world.”
Legal Times notes that it chose its Leading Lawyers based on its reporters’ knowledge of the practice area in Washington; suggestions solicited from readers; and extensive interviews with dozens of experts with knowledge in the field. The publication commented, “From Post-It notes to telecommunications services to airplanes, the government buys it all—and Carl Vacketta helps make it happen.”
The publication also cited two other Piper Rudnick attorneys, Gregory Smith and Richard Rector, who focus their government contracts practices on counseling and litigation. Legal Times commented that they each “win high praise from clients.”
About Carl Lee Vacketta
Carl Lee Vacketta has practiced in government contracts law for 38 years. He chairs the 18-member Government Contracts practice group at Piper Rudnick, concentrating his practice on counseling and transactional work, primarily the General Service Administration’s Multiple Award Schedules Program. It is through this system that most commercially available products are sold to the federal government. This year alone the government will spend around $40 billion buying products through the GSA Multiple Award Schedules Program.
Mr. Vacketta has also led teams of attorneys, accountants, and engineers in the investigation and preparation of multimillion-dollar claims for major shipyards and for aerospace, power generating, electronics, and telecommunications companies.
Mr. Vacketta is admired throughout the profession as a leader, mentor, prolific writer, speaker, and teacher. For 32 years, he has served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. For the past ten years, he has been editor in chief of the American Bar Association’s Public Contract Law Journal. Since 1992, he has served on the advisory board of West Group’s The Government Contractor.
Along with Piper Rudnick, Mr. Vacketta jointly endowed the Piper Rudnick – Carl Vacketta Lecture Series on Government and the Law at his alma mater, the University of Illinois College of Law. He has also endowed a chair at that school, the Carl Vacketta Professorship of Law.
On October 15 this year he was elected to the University of Illinois Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Vacketta is also extensively involved in pro bono work, and particular cites his service on the board of the Capitol Area Food Bank.
Before entering private practice, Mr. Vacketta served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Corps as a captain, teaching procurement law.