Patrick Kernan

Mr. Patrick Kernan is a Washington, DC based attorney with over 25 years of experience as a complex commercial, construction, and government contracting attorney. In 2012, Mr. Kernan left public service for the private sector. Since that time, he has been assisting businesses throughout the country. He has litigated bid protests, claims before the court of federal claims and boards of contract appeals, commercial disputes in federal court, and contracting debarments before federal agencies, among a large variety of litigation matters.

Mr. Kernan’s public service spanned from the United States Army Judge Advocate General Corps, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security. While at these institutions, Mr. Kernan served in multiple government contract legal roles such as the Chief of Procurement and Fiscal Law for the Multi-National Corps – Iraq, where he managed a team of attorneys tasked with improving contracting practices on billions of dollars of contracts for all forces in Iraq. At DHS, Mr. Kernan was a senior attorney in the commercial law section advising the government on contract formation, bid protests, and claims. He was also Chief Counsel to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Transformation Program, leading a team providing legal advice on the full range of legal issues encountered by this billion-dollar business and information technology transformation program. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kernan litigated claims and bid protests with the U.S. Army Contract Appeals Division. Mr. Kernan served two tours of duty in Iraq. He was also the Staff Judge Advocate (Managing Attorney) for the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force–Arabian Peninsula in Balad, Iraq. For his service in Iraq, Mr. Kernan was awarded the Bronze Star, the Iraqi Campaign Medal (with a service star), the War on Terrorism Medal and the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Mr. Kernan held a variety of leadership posts in the JAG Corps. Most notably, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the JAG Corps and Chief of Criminal law in the 82nd Airborne Division.

He is a graduate of Hamilton College (B.A. Economics) and Wake Forest University Law School. He received his L.L.M., with a focus on government contracts, from the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. He is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., U.S District Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court.