Wiley Rein Practice Statistics: 2012

Each year, we try to track the percentage of our practice's time devoted to different categories of matters. While this is by no means precise, as there is much overlap, and many matters are listed in a catchall “Government Contracts Advice” category, the results are informative and often somewhat surprising. For example, although we handled 153 protests this year—including significant precedential victories at both the Court of Federal Claims and the Government Accountability Office—protests made up only 17 percent of our work this year. By far the largest portion of our time in 2012 was spent on investigations/mandatory disclosures/subpoena responses/suspension and debarment, which accounted for 37 percent of our billings and 94 separate matters.

Below is a summary of the percentage breakdown among major categories:

• The Contractor or Government Claims/Appeals category includes conducting trials and proceedings at the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and the Court of Federal Claims in addition to preparing and negotiating claims. To offer a sense of the amount of fluctuation year to year, in 2011 this category made up 29 percent of our billings.
• The “Other” category includes, among other areas, Transactional Advice/Acquisitions, Data Rights and Intellectual Property, GSA Schedule and Commercial Item Contracting, Termination Advice and Prime/Sub Disputes, although many of these are also captured in the broad Government Contracts Advice category.

Of course, 2013 is a new year with different challenges, such as the possibility of sequestration, which could again lead to a different breakdown.