Maria L. Panichelli

Attorney at Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC

Maria L. Panichelli is a Partner in the Federal Contracting and Construction Groups of Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC. As a member of the Federal Group, Maria represents a national client base of prime and sub-contractors, with a focus on federal construction contracting, and small business procurement issues.

Maria’s practice spans a variety of federal contracting matters, including bid protests, REAs, contract claims, and appeals. She has represented clients before numerous Federal agencies, the Government Accountability Office, and various Federal and state courts, and has litigated cases covering a wide range of construction-related issues such as defective designs, defective specifications, differing site conditions, changes, suspensions, delays, and contract terminations. Maria frequently counsels clients with regards to compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations, Prompt Payment Act, and False Claims Act.

Maria also counsels clients in all aspects of small business procurement. Having acquired substantial experience with the government’s 8(a), SDVOSB, WOSB and HUBZone small business programs, Maria provides effective assistance to clients applying for small business status, or competing for small business program set-aside contracts. Maria further specializes in small business eligibility issues. She has successfully challenged negative agency findings with regard to clients’ SDVOSB and 8(a) eligibility, and successfully defeated size and status related bid protests brought by competitors. Maria has considerable experience drafting teaming and joint venture agreements, and advising small business clients with regard to potential affiliation problems and subcontracting requirements. Her small business practice also involves drafting corporate governance documents that will comply with small business program eligibility requirements.

Prior to joining Cohen Seglias, Maria handled complex commercial and corporate litigation before the Delaware Chancery Court.

Maria is active in a number of federal contracting- and/or construction-related professional associations, and is a frequent contributor to the Firm’s Federal Construction Contracting Blog. She works closely with several Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, providing educational content for a variety of government contractors. Maria is also a community partner at Govology, a legal content contributor to VetLikeMe, Targetgov, and Onvia, and a faculty member at the Government Contracting Institute.