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Daniel Abrahams

Founding Partner

Mr. Abrahams is a founding partner of Abrahams Wolf-Rodda, LLC, a boutique government contracts and wage & hour law firm in the Washington DC metropolitan area. The practice includes traditional government contracts work (bid protests, claims, compliance advice, prime-sub disputes, etc.) and a wage & hour practice (spanning the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Service Contract Act, the Davis-Bacon Act, various Executive Orders, and state wage laws).  In the latter, Mr. Abrahams represents mostly employers in class and collective actions, individual lawsuits, federal and state wage investigations, and self-audit compliance.  In his boutique practice, however, Mr. Abrahams is now available to represent  individual workers  in their wage & hour  disputes.  Mr. Abrahams also has been retained to be an exemption classification consultant and expert witness in wage and hour disputes.

Mr. Abrahams was formerly a partner at Brown Rudnick LLP for almost 10 years and was at Epstein Becker & Green, PC for almost 25 years. He is the former Chairman of the American Bar Association, Public Contract Law Section, Employment Safety & Labor Committee. He is also a former adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School where he taught a course called “Federal Labor Standards.”

Starting in 1985, Mr. Abrahams co-authored more than nine books in the fields of government contracts and wage and hour law.  His wage & hour publications include the: Fair Labor Standards Handbook for State, Local Governments and Schools; Employer's Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act; FLSA Employer Exemption Handbook; and Public Employer's Guide to Payroll Administration. In 2011, Mr. Abrahams also co-authored three booklets: Smart Guide to FLSA Exemptions; Do I have to pay My Employees for This? FLSA Working Time Essentials; and FLSA Overtime Basics. In the government contracts field, Mr. Abrahams co-authored the: Government Contracts Compliance Guide; Public Official’s Guide to e-Government; and Government Contractor’s Guide to Employment Law Compliance. Overlapping the government contracts and wage & hour field, Mr. Abrahams co-authored two Federal Publications (now West) Briefing Papers: The Service Contract Act; and The Davis-Bacon Act.

Mr. Abrahams teaches regularly for Federal Publications Seminars on the Service Contract Act and the Davis-Bacon Act. He has been a continuous speaker at ThomsonReuter’s Year in Review Conference and its predecessors since the late 1980s.

REPRESENTATIVE ENGAGEMENTS

Dan’s public or reported wage and hour and government contracts cases include:

  • Appeal of SecTek, Inc. (USDOL 2/21/17 and 5/8/18) discussed at 60 The Government Contractor para. 236 (2018) (granting contractor appeal and directing the Government to include CBA-based WD in contract and pay price adjustment)

  • Munilla Construction v. Navy, case no. 16-1684C (Ct. of Fed. Cl. 2017) (successful defense of bid protest at Court of Federal Claims on behalf of intervener/awardee after also prevailing at GAO in Comp. Gen. Dec. B-414092 (GAO 2016))

  • Appeal of SecTek, Inc., case no 5084R (CBCA 2016) (successful motion for reconsideration, dismissal, and a new appeal opportunity in contract claim)

  • VMT Long Term Care Mgmt., Inc., nos. D-1356 & 1439 (DC Contract Appeal Board 2015) (Defeat of agency claims for repayment of $2M of money related to SCA back pay settlement with the US Department of Labor)

  • Paradigm Technologies, Inc., Comp Gen. Dec. 409221.2 (GAO 2014) (successful protest)

  • Electronics Consulting Services , Inc., Comp Gen. Dec. B-407273.35 (GAO 2013) (successful protest leading to agency corrective action)

  • Seaward Services, Inc., Comp. Gen. Dec. B-408034 (GAO 2013) (successful protest leading to agency corrective action)

  • St. John v. Tatitlek Support Services, Inc., case no. 5:08-cv-1909 JZ (C.D. CA 2011) (settlement of approximately 2,000 member class action settlement under CA wage laws)

  • Cubic Simulations Systems, Inc. v. Intelligent Decisions, Inc., case no. 11-CIV-4808 (LAP) (S.D.NY 2011) (successful defense, settlement and dismissal with prejudice of injunctive action over teaming agreement in SDNY, EDNY, and AAA)

  • Sierra Lobo v. ASRC Aerospace, case no. 53 117 Y 0033 09 (2011) (Arbitration defense at American Arbitration Association over termination of subcontract)

  • Appeal of ARCTEC Services, ASBCA Nos. 56444, 56631, and 57193, (ASBCA 2011) (assisted in recovery of severance cost claim)

  • Clements v. Serco, case no. 06-4316 and 07-4005 (10th Cir. 2008) (filed amicus brief for Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce)

  • March 2008 settlement of a collective action arbitration filed on behalf of 6,000 federal employees of an US Government executive agency

  • Kalinoski v. CINRAM Manufacturing Inc., case no. 3:08-cv-00041-TIV (M.D. PA 2/18/2008) (voluntary dismissal by plaintiff)

  • Mersnick v. USProtect Corporation, case no. C-06-03-993 RMW (N.D. CA 12/18/2006 and 9/17/2007) (granting partial dismissal of class/collective action).

  • Rome Research Corp. v. United States of America, case no. 1:06-cv-377 (Ct. of Fed. Cl. 8/13/2007) (settlement of price adjustment claim)

  • GHS Health Maintenance Organization, Inc., d/b/a as BlueLincs HMO v. United States, case No. 01-517C (Ct. Cl. 2007) and case No. 2007-5143 (Federal Circuit 2008) (successful claim for reimbursement of by FEHBP contractor)

  • Matter of S4, Inc., Comp. Gen. Dec. B-299817 (GAO 2007) (successful protest)

  • VT Griffin Services, Inc. v. Field Support Services, Inc., case no. AW-06-3387 (S.D. MD 2007) (Defense and settlement of claims)

  • Matter of James C. Trump, Comp. Gen. Dec. B-299370, (GAO 2007) (Successful defense of A-76 protest)

  • Lear Siegler Services, Inc. v. Rumsfeld, 457 F.3d 1262 (Fed Cir. 2006) (successful appeal of claim)

  • Davis v. Lenox Hill Hosp., 204 WL 1926086 & 1926087 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (FLSA class action defense and settlement)

  • FC Business Systems, Inc., Comp. Gen. Dec. B-278730, (GAO 1998) (successful protest)

  • Custom Printing Company, Comp. Gen. Dec. 275798.3 (GAO 1997) (successful protest)

  • Digital Equipment Corp. v. GSA, GSBCA No. 12891 (GSBCA 1994) (successful protest)

  • Communications Technology Applications, Inc., ASBCA No. 4173 (ASBCA 1992) (successful claim overturning of default termination)

  • Communications Technology Applications, Inc., GSBCA No. 10172-C and

  • 9978-P (GSBCA 1990) (successful protest)

recent blog posts

Featured
Daniel Abrahams
The Ten Percent Man: Conformance of Team Leader Positions Under the Service Contract Act
Daniel Abrahams

There is an answer on how to conform a wage rate for team leaders under the Service Contract Act. You just how to know where to look. DOL suggests you pay them 110% of the journeyman rate.

Daniel Abrahams
Daniel Abrahams
Heed the Lesson – Service Contractor Misses an Opportunity to Fix a Problem During Collective Bargaining.
Daniel Abrahams

A service contractor loses a pension tail liability claim, which with a little planning and a small change to their collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") may have been avoidable.

Daniel Abrahams

EDUCATION

Mr. Abrahams has a Master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and later attended the George Washington University Law School where he was the Notes Editor of the George Washington Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif.

Honors & Awards

  • Notes Editor, The George Washington University Law Review

  • Order of the Coif

  • AV© Preeminent, Highest Possible Rating in Legal Ability and Ethical Standards, Martindale-Hubbell, 2003-2018

  • Former Chairman, American Bar Association, Public Contracts Law Section, Employment Safety & Labor Committee