Marta A. Thompson
Counsel
Areas of Focus
- Government Contracts
- Education
- False Claims Act/Qui Tam Defense
- Government Contracts & Grants Policy
- Claims, Disputes & Litigation
- Bid Protests
- Administrative & Regulatory Litigation
- Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection
- Lobbying & Public Policy
- Regulatory
- Emerging Technologies
- Health Care & Life Sciences
- Technology
- Autonomous Systems & Advanced Mobility
- Cost Accounting & Pricing
- Security Clearance
- Government Contracts Intellectual Property & Data Rights
- Contract & Grant Compliance and Administration
- Freedom of Information Act
- General Services Administration Contracting
- Government Contracts & Supply Chain
- State & Local Procurement
- Suspension & Debarment
- Government Contracts Mergers & Acquisitions
- Small Business Issues
- Semiconductors
- Metaverse
- Cloud Computing & Data Storage
- Aviation, Space & Defense
- CHIPS Act
- Space Law and Policy
- Represents clients in high-stakes government investigations, including FCA actions involving federal grants, contracts and cooperative agreements.
- Guides research and higher education institutions in responding to foreign influence investigations and other sponsored research inquiries by federal sponsors, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy.
- Counsels clients on the government’s small business set-aside programs in the context of size appeals, mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory compliance.
Marta has over a decade of experience in the government contracts and grants space, with a broad practice that involves representing clients in high-stakes government investigations, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and complex regulatory issues. In the investigations space, she routinely represents clients in the defense and life sector industries in False Claims Act (FCA) litigation, including major research institutions in cases involving allegations of grant fraud and undue foreign influence. In the transactional arena, she guides clients in buy-side and sell-side M&A, as well as private equity investments involving government contractors. She is also a member of the firm’s Space Law and Policy practice, advising both established and emerging companies in the space industry on issues related to cybersecurity, compliance, NASA and DOD funding agreements and federally funded research and development (R&D).
Marta maintains a robust pro-bono practice, frequently representing clients in asylum and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) proceedings. Marta’s legal career began before law school when she lived in Kigali, Rwanda, where she conducted genocide investigations for an international human rights organization.
- Represented research institutions in qui tam suits alleging improper effort reporting, indirect cost recovery and post-retirement benefit accounting.
- Successfully defended a Fortune 500 company in bid protests at GAO and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims involving a $1.5 billion Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract.
- Guided small business clients through SBA’s size and affiliation regulations and size protests at the SBA OHA.
List may include matters worked on prior to joining Akin.
EducationJ.D., The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, magna cum laude, 2012
B.A., Emory University, 2008
J.D., The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, magna cum laude, 2012
B.A., Emory University, 2008
Bar AdmissionsColorado
District of Columbia
Colorado
District of Columbia
- The Legal 500 US, Government Contracts, 2020, 2022 and 2024; Education, 2022- 2024 and Rising Star, 2023-2024.
- “The New Congress & Higher Education: An Anticipated Focus on China,” Akin Webinar, October 27, 2022.