HKA EXPANDS ITS U.S. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS COMPLIANCE PRACTICE WITH SIX NEW HIRES

LONDON and PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- HKA, a leading global consultancy in risk mitigation, dispute resolution, expert witness, and litigation support services, expands its existing market-leading expert services for U.S. Government Contract disputes, investigations, and compliance by welcoming six new colleagues to its practice based in Washington, DC.

These experts will bolster the firm's government contracts compliance service offering, improving HKA's ability to assist clients who provide services for the U.S. government across a multitude of industries, particularly architecture and engineering services, energy, and not-for-profit organizations.

HKA's compliance offering assists contractors in the full life cycle of a project, focusing on the complexities of government cost accounting and reporting, negotiated and commercial pricing issues, government audits, business systems designs and assessments, internal control development, indirect rate structures, and prevailing wage compliance.

With the additional expertise from the new team, HKA enhances its ability to assist clients by drawing on their years of experience to design and implement practical solutions to government compliance requirements. The team's regulatory expertise focuses on the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), and the Uniform Guidance, as well as FAR supplements (e.g., Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)).

Greg Bingham, Jeff DuVal, and Jim Thomas, Partners and Government Contracts Leads, said: "We are thrilled to welcome our new colleagues to HKA. Their expertise in government contracts compliance and risk management significantly supplements our capabilities and complements our existing market-leading government contract dispute and investigation services."

"We are excited to join the extremely talented and highly respected HKA Government Contracts team," added Jamie Sybert, Partner. "As part of the HKA team, we will be able to continue to provide our clients with the expertise and experience they have come to rely on."

About the new government contracts compliance team

Jamie Sybert, Partner, has more than 25 years of experience in government accounting and compliance. Before joining HKA, Jamie led and helped grow Grant Thornton's government contractor solutions practice. She has provided advisory services for new entrants to the government contracting industry and has expansive experience assisting established contractors with complex regulatory issues. Her experience includes designing indirect rate structures, conducting internal reviews of control systems and frameworks, risk assessments, and compliance risk planning, as well as audit preparation and responses, restructuring and termination proposals, mandatory disclosure government accounting and contract support, due diligence support, and providing advice to achieve FAR, DFARS, and CAS compliance.

Matt Danner, Director, has more than 15 years of experience identifying, quantifying, and managing risk for government contractors and federal grant recipients. Matt's expertise includes business system processes, controls and compliance, government cost accounting and price-to-win strategies, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) due diligence.

Karl Fultz, Director, has more than15 years of experience in a wide range of government compliance and risk assessment services. Karl has assisted clients with governance framework design and evaluation, out-sourced and co-sourced internal audit services, program management, estimate-at-completion (EAC), CAS, the FAR, DFARS, business system assessments and integrations, corrections actions, indirect rate cost structures and forecasting, financial audit support, and financial reserve assessments.

Rachelle Jackson, Director, has more than 11 years of experience serving organizations that receive federal funding. Rachelle has assisted clients with complex issues that arise throughout the U.S. government contract and grant lifecycles. She has worked with both civilian and defense agencies, gaining expertise across a wide range of industries, and is well-versed in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 200, the FAR, and CAS. 

Erin Thode, Manager, has more than seven years of experience assisting clients across various industries in navigating compliance issues related to the FAR, CAS, DFARS, and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Erin has helped develop policies and procedures, conducted financial statement audits, and assisted in indirect rate restructuring for clients, as well as Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) and Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) preparations for not-for-profit organizations.

Tim Pergolin, Senior Associate Consultant, has more than four years of experience in a range of government contract services. Tim has helped clients conduct business system assessments and audits to assess compliance with contractual requirements and the FAR and DFARS. He also assisted in the remediation of identified gaps in policies, procedures, and systems and specializes in procurement and accounting systems.

"HKA's service offering in government contract disputes and investigations is unmatched in the industry thanks to a strong core of highly experienced experts. Our team also draws upon the expertise and resources from our forensic accounting, commercial damages, and construction quantum experts, meaning we have the capability to manage clients' most challenging and complex cases," said Frank Giunta, Partner and Regional CEO, Americas. "With the addition of our six new colleagues specializing in compliance and risk management for government contractors, we are setting a new bar for firms providing comprehensive government contract services."

About HKA's Government Contract services

HKA entered the U.S. government contract space in 2019 with the acquisition of The Kenrich Group. The team has grown to nearly 40 professionals—including nine partners—providing services to the aerospace and defense, technology, media and telecoms, life sciences and healthcare, and professional services sectors.

We have a successful track record advising government contractors and their counsel on a wide variety of matters. Our experts are experienced in finding practical, cost-effective solutions to our clients' challenges thanks to their deep understanding of the business and regulatory environments in which government contractors operate.

Services include:

• Request for equitable adjustment (REA) and certified claim preparation/review and assistance with appeals of Contracting Officer's Final Decision (COFD)
• Prime contractor and subcontractor disputes
• Termination settlement proposal (TSP) preparation and assistance in reviewing and analyzing TSPs prepared by other parties
• Bid protest assistance
• Bribery and anti-corruption services
• Compliance and risk management services
• Investigations (e.g., False Claim Act)
• Grants and agreements (e.g., Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance compliance evaluations)
• Expert testimony of the above-listed services

ABOUT HKA

HKA is a leading global consultancy in risk mitigation, dispute resolution, expert witness, and litigation support services.

As trusted independent consultants, experts, and advisors, we help clients manage disputes, risk, and uncertainty on complex contracts and challenging projects. Our advice is impartial, incisive, and authoritative.

For more information about HKA, visit hka.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter, @HKAGlobal), and Facebook.

CONTACT

Andrew Katz, [email protected], +1 215 962 1136

SOURCE HKA Global