Marlena F. Ewald serves as Vice Chair of Fluet’s Government Contracts Practice as well as Head of the firm’s Government Contracts Regulatory Compliance section. Ms. Ewald represents, advises, and counsels companies and individuals primarily in corporate and government transactional matters. Her practice includes government contracting, commercial contracting, sensitive government inquiries, internal investigations, corporate transactions, and employment matters.

Ms. Ewald advises clients on all aspects of government contracts including compliance with government regulations (FAR/DFARS), bid protests, board appeals, internal investigations and disclosures, acquisitions and novations, and related employment and corporate work. Ms. Ewald particularly enjoys working with small businesses and their large business partners to optimize development and growth through joint venture agreements, mentor-protégé agreements, teaming agreements, and other contracting opportunities. Ms. Ewald also helps clients prepare and negotiate a variety of agreements, including but not limited to, subcontracts, master services agreements, consulting agreements, licensing agreements, settlement agreements, separation agreements, employment agreements, entity formation documents, and asset sale agreements.

Prior to joining Fluet, Ms. Ewald was in-house counsel at a government contractor that provided financial management technology services to various government agencies. Ms. Ewald’s corporate and government experience provides her with a unique ability to guide government contractors through growth, merger, sale, acquisition, and novation processes.

Ms. Ewald earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Hispanic Studies from the College of William & Mary, and she graduated from Georgetown University Law Center while working full-time. Ms. Ewald is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Representative Matters

• Awarded the Civilian Service Achievement Medal by the Secretary of the Army for her work assisting an independent panel examining the command, culture and climate at the Fort Hood Army Installation.
• Counseled and assisted a client in the defense industry with a multi-million dollar Other Transaction Agreement for a unique prototype project with the U.S. Government.
• Led a comprehensive independent external investigation after reports of wrongdoing and assisted in the enhancement of corporate practices and procedures.
• Negotiated a six-figure settlement totaling 97% of SDVOSB client’s initial settlement request after the client’s prime contract was terminated by the government customer (despite the government initially taking the position no settlement costs were due).
• Obtained a successful outcome after filing a bid protest at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) for a client in the aviation and technology sectors that resulted in the agency agreeing to voluntarily terminate a proposed sole source award and evaluate the work for competition, due to counsel’s persuasive argument that the agency failed to consider changes in the marketplace which had increased availability of the products sought.
• Conducted due diligence on a government contractor target and provided strategic compliance advice to an investor purchasing all of the assets of the government contractor in a multi-million-dollar deal.

Experience

• Counsel, GCE
• Judicial Intern, Court of Federal Claims

Education

• J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
• B.A., the College of William & Mary

Certifications, Licenses, + Awards

• Virginia Bar
• The United States Court of Federal Claims
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
• DCA Live Emerging Woman Leader in Law (2023 + 2024)