Watson & Associates, LLC

Staff Bios

At the law firm of Watson & Associates,LLC our team of Federal Government Contract Attorneys, and Colorado business law  attorneys, have a unique combination of backgrounds and experience to manage your case through to a successful completion. We are consistently seeking out new talent with diverse backgrounds to give you a competitive edge in federal procurement.  Our offices are located in Washington, DC and Colorado. Providing sound legal advice and building trusting and long-lasting relationships are the backbone of of the practice.

Theodore P. Watson—Founder and managing member of Watson & Associates, LLC, Mr. Watson handles business and corporate law; contract law and litigation; government contract law; and employment law issues.  As a retired Air Force member, Mr. Watson’s many years of experience as a federal contracting and small business official working for the U.S. government give clients a significant advantage and brings unique perspective to the table—especially when doing business with the federal government. He is known for aggressive representation in government contracting and protection of small business rights in fraud, improper prime and subcontracting relationships, False Claims and other contractor relationships. In addition to provide strategic executive level advice, his goal is to provide clients with sound direction, aggressive representation and to build trusting relationships. His broad spectrum of real-world experience also enhances Mr. Watson’s diverse skill set. Full bio…

Wojciech Z. Kornacki is Of Counsel to Watson & Associates, LLC and practices in the Firm’s Washington, DC Office. He provides federal government contract law and litigation services and has earned a reputation as a tenacious and zealous advocate for his clients in the areas of litigation and appeals, False Claims Act Violations of Prime and Subcontractors. Mr. Kornacki is known for aggressive litigation and zealous representation in federal procurement matters.  Over 75% of the General Courts-Martial he has defended have remarkably resulted in retention. His Federal Procurement clients have enjoyed accurate and timely legal advice and zealous representation at the Armed Services Board for Contract Appeals.  Mr. Kornacki served a combined eight years in the United States Army, of which 5.5 years he served as a Judge Advocate. Full Bio

Sharon O. Steele, Esq. is a government contracts attorney and serves as Of Counsel to Watson & Associates, LLC in its Washington, DC office. She focuses her practice on government contracting, risk management, small business development, investigations, export compliance, anti-corruption/FCPA relationships of contractors that defraud the government, internal controls and procurement in support of small businesses, federal contractors and multi-national corporations.Prior to entering private practice, Sharon developed extensive defense industry experience as a corporate counsel, Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer with various federal contractors such as: KBR, SAIC, Lockheed Martin, Sterling Software. As a result, large corporations and small businesses benefit from her experience in handling international procurement issues and investigations up to the congressional level. Full Bio..

Mr. Abramson has extensive experience in large and complex transactional and legal matters brought before the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and other federal courts and agencies.  These include federal contract disputes such as post-award organizational conflict of interest claims under FAR Part 9.5, as well as trademark, copyright, patent litigation, trade secret, false advertising, unfair competition, antidumping, and International Trade Commission Section 337 actions. Full Bio..

Heidi M. Ernst is Of Counsel to Watson & Associates, LLC in the firm’s Denver office. Ms. Ernst is a former procurement official in the federal government.  Her positions included Chief of Procurement and Head of the Government Contracting Activity for the National Park Service, in the Department of the Interior.  As the Bureau Procurement Chief (BPC), Ms Ernst was an agent of broad thinking in interpreting and applying law, regulation and policy; in developing workable solutions; and in establishing positive and effective customer relationships. Full Bio..

As a government contracts attorney, Gabriel Rutherford is Of Counsel to Watson & Associates, LLC and practices in the Firm’s Washington, DC Office. Focusing specifically on federal laws, Mr. Rutherford counsels clients and corporations on a variety of issues including federal government regulation and compliance, contract, and procurement policy processes at the federal level. He helps clients identify and understand possible conflicts so as to avoid costly litigation. Mr. Rutherford also advises clients regarding regulatory requirements to ensure their compliance with other contractual obligations. Full bio..

Ashley L. Oliver, an associate attorney at Watson & Associates, LLC, concentrates her practice in the areas of federal procurement law, government contracts, and business litigation.  Ms. Oliver serves as part of the Watson team by conducting sound legal research and authority to support clients’ interest when drafting bid protests to aggressively represent clients’ appeals.  She serves a critical role when the firm contests government contract agency decisions before the Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.  Ms. Oliver’s strengths in meticulously analyzing client proposals against the RFP solicitation criteria and her intense s familiarity with the FAR regulations have helped her to make compelling arguments that federal agencies have acted arbitrarily, capriciously, and contrary to law. Full bio..

Darryl Goodwin—As government-contract consultant with Watson & Associates, LLC, Mr. Goodwin’s experience is instrumental in providing our attorneys and clients with insight from the perspective of a federal contracting officer. An expert in bid proposals, Federal Acquisitions Regulation, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) schedules, federal procurement, and termination issues, Mr. Goodwin brings 30 years of government contract experience (as a Contracting Officer) in construction, engineering, information technology (IT) services, and services and supplies. Full bio…

Christopher R. Shiplett is a government contracts attorney and serves as Of Counsel to Watson & Associates, LLC in its Washington, DC office. He focuses his practice on government contracting, software and technology licensing and procurement, intellectual property, and litigation.

Mr. Shiplett has advised government contracts clients in a variety of transactional and dispute related matters. Mr. Shiplett has represented clients in both the Armed Services and the Civilian Boards of contract appeals. He has represented government contractors as both protestor and intervenor at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”). He has negotiated prime contracts and negotiated and drafted sub-contracts both as first tier entity negotiating with the subcontracotr and as the subcontractor negotiating with the prime.  Full bio…

Michael Shariff—Of Counsel to Watson & Associates, LLC, Mr. Shariff works with clients in intellectual property (IP) cases and issues related to patent preparation, patent portfolio management, and IP advice. When working to help clients bring new products to market, Mr. Shariff’s services include filing patent applications, conducting patent research and investigations, and assisting clients with design-around, re-examination, and patent litigation. Full bio…

John Dougherty is an experienced Colorado commercial law lawyer and trial attorney that provides in-depth legal advice and representation litigator that represents clients in various types of complex commercial litigation including business disputes, employment and unfair competition issues, trade secret litigation, Colorado construction law , bankruptcy adversary proceedings, Colorado real estate disputes and business torts litigation. John‘s litigation experience includes 260 court hearings and at least 18 significant trials. John also assist with the firm’s government contracts law practice.

As a trial attorney, he has obtained judgments close to $1Million and even successfully litigated small business cases against large plaintiffs. Full Bio…

Joyce Woody—Administrative Assistant to Watson & Associates, LLC, Ms. Woody has extensive experience with the support services for federal government and federal contracting. Ms. Woody exhibits extreme attention to detail and a great degree of professionalism—she ensures that clients receive the high-level service they expect. Her federal government experience with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) provide insight that is invaluable to our team, and give us a unique perspective that other firms cannot achieve.  Full bio…

Government contractors across the country and Colorado businesses rely on the team’s expertise in order to make sound decisions. We believe in building trusting relationships and being honest and up front with our clients.

Contact us for immediate assistance at (866) 601 -5518. or our Washington, DC office at 202.827-9750.

Colorado Supreme CourtU.S. Supreme CourtSecretary of StateColorado Better Business BureauSBA