Profile

Michael W. Mutek serves as Aerojet Rocketdyne's General Counsel, Defense.  He has had experience in government contracts, corporate law, intelligence, and national security law.  His practice spans the areas of government contracts, compliance and ethics, bid protests, claims, internal investigations and disclosures, formation and dissolution of teaming agreements, corporate law department management, and dispute resolution. 

Prior to joining Aerojet, Michael Mutek was in the government contracts practice group at Steptoe & Johnson, LLP.  Before that, Mr. Mutek served as the vice president and general counsel of Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services business, a $6 billion business unit of Raytheon Company.  In this capacity, he was responsible for all the legal affairs of the business, and worked on several successful acquisitions in order to help create a cybersecurity business at Raytheon.  During the 26 years Mr. Mutek spent at Raytheon, he held several other business unit general counsel and vice president positions, including vice president of contracts.  In his early career, he served as senior trial attorney on the Air Force’s Trial Team.

Mr. Mutek is a frequent writer and lecturer on government contracts and corporate law topics, and has testified on government contract issues before Congress.  He serves in the American Bar Association's (ABA's) House of Delegates and is a past Chair of the ABA's Section of Public Contract Law.  Mr. Mutek also is a Fellow of the Section of Public Contract Law and a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.  He chaired the ABA’s Services Contracting Best Practices Task Force, which published “Services Contracting Best Practices: A Guide to Successful Services Contracting.”  He is the author of “Contractor Team Arrangements – Competitive Solution or Legal Liability: The Deskbook for Drafting Teaming Agreements,” which was also published by the ABA.

Representative Speaking Engagements

Moderator, “It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Purchasing Function: Supply Chain Management Today,” Government Contracting in a Tech-Savvy World, ABA Section of Public Contract Law, Miami, October 31, 2014

Panelist, “What Are We Fighting For? Identifying and Resolving Common Subcontracting Issues,” ABA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, August 11, 2013

Panelist, “New Rules on Conflict of Interest: Are They Going to be Game-Changers or Just the Same Old Thing Wrapped Up in a Different Package?” Boards of Contract Appeals Bar Association, Washington DC, October 26, 2011

Moderator, “The Brave New World of OCI: Are You Ready?” Federal Procurement Institute, Annapolis, March 4, 2011

Panelist, “Preventing and Mitigating Organizational and Personal Conflicts of Interest,” American Conference Institute’s National Advanced Forum on Government Contracting Compliance and Ethics, Washington, DC, September 2009

Presenter, “Mandatory Cooperation: A Contradiction in Terms?” BCA Judges Association Annual Seminar, Alexandria, April 8, 2008

Selected Publications

• Author, “Contractor Team Arrangements – Competitive Solution or Legal Liability: The Deskbook for Drafting Teaming Agreements,” published by the American Bar Association
• Task Force Chair and Editor, “Service Contracting Best Practices: A Guide to Successful Services Contracting” published by the American Bar Association
• "DOD Rule Would Create Export Control Issues For Contractors"
  November 15, 2016, Law360
• "Proposed DFARS Rule Would Provide for Proposal Price Adjustments for IR&D Investments"
  November 15, 2016
• "New DFARS Rule Seeks to Increase “Effectiveness” of IR&D"
  November 14, 2016
• "DFARS Proposed Rule Provides Guidance on Indirect Offset Costs"
  November 10, 2016
• "Proposed DoD Rule on Protection of Unclassified Technical Data Would “Disqualify” Contractors with Export Violations"
  November 1, 2016
• "Three Recent Cybersecurity and Information Systems Management Rules Impact Government Contractors"
  October 31, 2016
• "District Court Determines Failure to Protest is not a Breach of a Teaming Agreement"
  October 27, 2016
• "Final FAR Rule Prohibits Awards to Contractors With Delinquent Taxes or Felony Convictions"
  October 17, 2016
• "DoL’s Final Sick Leave Rule Increases Federal Contractor Compliance Obligations and Costs"
  October 1, 2016
  "Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Final Rule and Guidance: Good News and Bad News"
  August 26, 2016
  "Conviction for Misrepresenting Socioeconomic Status: A Cautionary Tale"
  August 19, 2016
  "GSA’s New Transactional Data Reporting Rule Eliminates Existing Tracking and Disclosure Requirements"
  July 13, 2016
  "SBA Final Rule Increases Small Business Contracting Opportunities"
  July 5, 2016
  "New “Insider Threat” Programs Required for Cleared Contractors"
  June 9, 2016
  "Virginia Supreme Court Highlights Teaming Agreement Enforceability Issues"
  June 1, 2016
  "FAR Council Issues Rule on Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems"
  May 26, 2016
  "New Department of Defense Source Selection Procedures Released"
  May 3, 2016
  "Defense Industry Consolidation Concerns Noted in DoJ – FTC Joint Statement"
  April 19, 2016
  "Federal Government Contractors Face New Paid Sick Leave Compliance and Flow Down Obligations"
  March 15, 2016
  "Keep an Eye on Your OCI – Your Competitor Is!"
  March 2, 2016
  "Proposed FAR Rule Asks for Contractor Representation on 'Internal Confidentiality Agreements'"
  February 18, 2016
  "Teaming is Not Dead – But Contractors Must Heed Decisions on Enforceability"
  February 4, 2016
  "Proposed FAR Rule Implements the Small Business Jobs Act to Ensure Subcontractors are Promptly Paid"
  January 22, 2016
  "Federal Contractor Tax Delinquencies and Felony Convictions Addressed in New Interim Rule Regarding Debarment and Suspension"
  January 20, 2016
  "Viewing the History of Public Contracts through the Section “Window”"
  (4-part article) 2015, The Procurement Lawyer
  "Supply Chain Risk Management & Compliance"
  December 2015, Thomson Reuters
  "Final DFARS Rule is the Latest in a Series of Supply Chain Obligations Contractors Should Heed"
  November 17, 2015
  "DoD’s New Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Rule Aligns with the August DFARS Cyber Reporting Rule"
  October 8, 2015
  "The Government Contractor Supply Chain Toolkit"
  Steptoe & Johnson LLP (contributor)
  "New DFARS Cyber-Reporting and Cloud Rule Impacts Defense Contractors/Supply Chains"
  September 15, 2015
  "Proposed Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Rule and Guidance - We May Have Come a Long Way Since 2001, But Compliance and 'Blacklisting' Concerns Remain"
  June 24, 2015, The Government Contractor
  "Three Proposed FAR Rules Implement the Small Business Jobs Act, Provide More Small Business Opportunities"
  June 16, 2015
  "DoD Issues Interim Offset Costs Rule"
  June 4, 2015
  "Proposed Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Rules and Guidance Raise Compliance and "Blacklisting" Concerns"
  June 4, 2015
  "Final Trafficking In Persons Rule Creates New Compliance Component For U.S. Government Contractors" Michael J. Navarre, Michael W. Mutek   March 18, 2015, The Government Contractor
• “Government Concerns Over Contractor Team Formation: Is the Message Consistent?” The Procurement Lawyer, Winter 2005
• Implementation of Public-Private Partnering,” Public Contract Law Journal, Summer 2001
• “The Coalition for Ethics and Compliance Initiatives: Renewed Advocacy for Employee Confidentiality and Self-Evaluative Privileged," Co-author with Paul Fiorelli, The Procurement Lawyer, Winter 2001