Todd J Canni

Practice Areas

As Co-Leader of the Government Contracts team, Todd Canni is entrusted by government contractors to resolve their most important “bet-the-company” government contracts matters and unexpected “crisis” events. He advises contractors throughout the life cycle of a government contract from award through closeout and everything in between, including bid protests, debarment matters, civil False Claims Act investigations, civil investigative demands, government disclosures, complex contract disputes and building and enhancing ethics and compliance programs. Todd is widely known as one of the nation’s preeminent suspension and debarment lawyers and one of only a few debarment lawyers who previously served as a Department of Defense debarring official.

Todd has significant experience representing contractors during “parallel proceedings”, when the government pursues contractors seeking multiple remedies, including criminal, civil enforcement under the False Claims Act, contractual and/or suspension and debarment. He has successfully represented scores of contractors through government investigations and debarment inquiries, including large publicly traded contractors, small and medium sized contractors, contractor executives, owners and engineers. Todd also has successfully represented clients in qui tam litigation under the False Claims Act, including obtaining dismissal of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit at the motion to dismiss stage.

Todd has appeared before nearly every active civilian and DoD Suspension Debarment office, including the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Defense Health Agency, EPA, General Services Administration (GSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of the Interior, NASA, National Science Foundation (NSF), Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Veteran Affairs.

As the former Director, Suspension and Debarment Operations for the U.S. Air Force, Todd led the day-to-day operations of the suspension and debarment program, giving him an insider’s perspective on how the government investigates and prosecutes debarment cases and the actions necessary to resolve them. Whether it is a notice of proposed debarment, notice of suspension, show cause letter, Request for Information or administrative agreement, Todd is known for developing innovative solutions to ensure his clients sufficiently address the government’s concerns, demonstrate responsibility and remain eligible.

Todd has deep experience litigating matters in court and on appeal for his contractor clients, including at the GAO, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. District Courts and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Clients call upon Todd to defend and protect their most important awards from bid protest challenge, as well as to challenge improper agency awards to competitors. He is highly skilled at developing strong and innovative bid protests and resolving them quickly and efficiently through agency corrective actions. Among his many bid protest cases, from 2017 to 2019, Todd served as lead bid protest counsel for client ConServe in its successful bid protest challenging $2.8 billion contract awards by the Department of Education for debt collection services. This case was recognized as one of the top five cases to watch during that time.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association, Public Contracts Law Section

-- Suspension and Debarment Committee

- Vice Chair

- Co-Chair (former)