Umer Chaudhry

Umer assists clients – foreign and domestic – in successfully navigating complex regulations in the government contracts and national security spaces. He represents companies and institutional investors in industries of significant strategic importance to national security, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and cybersecurity. 

Umer’s practice encompasses the following areas:  

• Procurement counseling: In his government contracts counseling role, Umer works with clients to provide tailored advice based on each client’s planned objectives, from pre-award strategic advice to post-award disputes. This includes helping clients with small business contracting, including the Small Business Innovation Research program, federal cybersecurity regulations and matters related to government cost accounting.

• Transactional support: In his corporate practice, Umer advises government contractors, private equity firms, and investors in M&A and venture capital transactions of all sizes. Given his deep understanding of issues at the intersection of government contracts and national security, Umer works to proactively flag risks and opportunities for clients throughout the transaction process, from initial due diligence to post-acquisition integration.

• Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS): Umer helps prepare mandatory and voluntary filings before CFIUS. He leverages his government contracts background when advising government contractors and their investors on the national security implications of foreign investments and government business relationships.

• Litigation: Umer defends and pursues bid protests on behalf of companies of all sizes. He also regularly assists clients in cost disputes with government auditing agencies.

Before his legal career, Umer helped develop the leading cloud-based government contracts market research tool for Bloomberg, integrating novel machine learning models into customer-facing products. Umer’s clients value his deep knowledge of core US procurement data reporting requirements related to the System for Award Management, USAspending.gov and the Federal Procurement Data System platforms.

Umer maintains an active pro bono practice and has represented clients in matters before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.