Leidos’ legal department, led by general counsel Jerry Howe, handled many legal challenges over the past year, including defending the company’s contract wins against bid protests filed by competitors at the U.S. General Accountability Office. The company defended a bid protest of its major contract win with NASA’s end-user services and technology program, under which the company provides and manages IT services that support NASA’s scientific and research efforts. The value of this deal comprises “more than $2.9 billion over a 10-year period of performance,” the company said. The company also defended a second big contract win with the Air Force Air Combat Command. That project supports the warfighter’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission through intelligence gathering. According to the company, that deal has a total ceiling value of approximately $900 million. Lisa Helem caught up with Howe for a Q&A.

In Leidos’ defense of the two major bid protests from this year over the NASA and Air Force contracts, were there particular strategies that led to success? These were both “kitchen sink” protests with many distinct grounds for protest. Our strategy was to remain steadfast, marshal the facts, and defeat the protesters’ arguments one by one. More than anything, we remained legally aligned with our government customers as they fought off the protests.