Clients across a range of industries turn to William Kirkwood to navigate the complexities of government contracting. He draws on more than two decades of experience, including as an executive with leading defense contractors, to guide clients through the full life cycle of government contracts and grants. William has particularly deep experience in the aerospace and defense, health care, manufacturing, and energy industries, and advises companies on capturing opportunities, negotiating favorable terms, and resolving disputes.
William's clients value his ability to translate dense regulatory requirements into practical solutions. He has represented businesses in high-stakes bid protests and contract disputes, including securing and defending multi-billion-dollar federal and state contracts. He also advises on compliance with U.S. procurement and grant regulations, domestic preference laws, cybersecurity requirements, data rights and intellectual property, foreign military sales, labor regulations, and more.
Before private practice, William held senior roles with top-tier defense contractors, where he managed portfolios of global contracts worth billions of dollars and built and led teams that integrated compliance seamlessly with business operations. That experience gives him a unique perspective into how clients can strengthen their compliance and capture strategies, streamline performance, and avoid pitfalls in working with federal and state agencies. He provides clients uniquely valuable insights aimed at improving the effectiveness of their efforts to capture and perform federal contracts and grants. In addition, his broad experience with complex, high-value federal, state, and international programs have helped him to develop exceptional negotiation skills which he uses to deliver win-win solutions for his clients. Throughout his experience, he has built strong relationships with many industry executives as well as U.S. and international government agencies. He also maintains an active top secret security clearance, enabling him to provide counsel to clients on sensitive and classified programs.
William is a frequent speaker and writer on government contracts topics, including comparative international procurement laws and evolving federal cybersecurity requirements. His work has appeared in leading journals in the U.S. and Europe.
William earned a Master of Laws in government procurement law from The George Washington University Law School, a law degree from Touro University, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut.