Ogletree Deakins Expands Government Contracting and Compliance Capabilities for Full Lifecycle Support

ATLANTA – May 21, 2026 – Ogletree Deakins, one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management, is pleased to announce that Jim Murphy, office managing shareholder in Washington, D.C., has been selected as co-chair of the firm’s newly renamed Government Contracting and Compliance Practice Group. This change coincides with the expansion of the group’s resources to deliver integrated compliance solutions across the full lifecycle of government contracting.

The Government Contracting and Compliance Practice Group has long represented and advised employers in connection with Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) compliance and audits. Now, the group has consolidated resources from across the firm to provide an integrated service offering that includes support for Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) compliance, as well as the growing array of workforce mandates federal contractors must navigate. The group handles issues of FAR compliance, allowability, mischarging, organizational conflicts of interest, cybersecurity, federal ethics laws, gift and travel rules, prevailing wage obligations, military leave (USERRA), and many other adjacent areas.

“The regulatory scrutiny that federal contractors face now reaches beyond contract performance to encompass many day-to-day employment decisions and practices,” said Jim Murphy, co-chair of the Government Contracting and Compliance Practice Group. “From a compliance and risk management standpoint, it no longer makes sense for a contractor to split its compliance strategies between employer obligations and contractor obligations.”

Adding Murphy to serve as co-chair alongside Scott Kelly, shareholder in Birmingham and Washington D.C., and Joseph Ashman, shareholder in Richmond, rounds out a strong leadership team for the Government Contracting and Compliance Practice Group’s capabilities. Prior to joining Ogletree Deakins, Murphy worked as senior counsel at Northrop Grumman and then led the labor and employment law team at General Dynamics Corporation for 10 years.  Ashman is a former U.S. Army Captain who represented and advised contractors on federal procurement matters at Wiley Rein before embarking on a 12-year stint as senior trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice. Most recently, he served for six years as Associate General Counsel at Booz Allen Hamilton, a top federal contractor in the national security arena. Kelly leads the firm’s Workforce Analytics & Compliance team and co-chairs its Pay Equity Practice Group, combining legal strategy and data analytics to design, defend, and conduct selection procedures, compensation systems, and privileged pay equity reviews. He has guided employers through executive orders, FAR workforce mandates, OFCCP compliance evaluations, and systemic discrimination investigations, and serves as management co-chair of the ABA Labor and Employment Law Section’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Committee.

“Bringing Jim on as co-chair allows us to provide even stronger support to the federal contractors who are now in the crosshairs of federal enforcement initiatives,” said Joseph Ashman, co-chair of the Government Contracting and Compliance Practice Group. “He brings extensive litigation experience and a unique perspective from multiple in-house counsel roles with Fortune 100 companies. His insights, paired with those of the cross-functional attorneys we’ve added as advisors to this group, revolutionize the way we support contractors today.”

Key group members include: Whistleblower Defense and Inspector General Investigations (Jane Norberg, former Chief of the SEC’s Office of Whistleblower); Workforce Compliance, Analytics, and Regulatory Audits (Chris Near and Lauren Hicks, former OFCCP District Director); Military Workforce and USERRA (Amy Quick Glenos and Jay Patton); Cybersecurity and Safeguarding Covered Defense Information (Ben Perry); Prevailing Wage Obligations (Bob Roginson, former Chief Counsel to the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and Cameron Ellis, former DOL trial attorney); Global Deployment and Cross-Border Employment (Shirin Aboujawde, former in-house counsel for a U.S. defense contractor, alongside Simon McMenemy in London and Ulrike Conradi in Berlin); Drug-Free Workplace Compliance (Tae Phillips); and Federal and State Compliance Reporting (Kiosha Dickey and Janet Lewis).

In other firm news, Ogletree Deakins recently selected new leaders to strengthen four other practice and industry groups. The new co-chairs are Corie Anderson, shareholder in Minneapolis, in the Manufacturing Industry Group; Scott Kelly, shareholder in Birmingham and Washington, D.C., in the Pay Equity Practice Group; Todd Duffield, shareholder in Atlanta, in the Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group; and Brian Bumgardner, shareholder in Raleigh, in the Life Sciences Industry Group. More details on those moves can be found in the firm’s Media Center.

About Ogletree Deakins
With more than 1,100 attorneys in 60 offices worldwide, Ogletree Deakins is one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management. We handle all types of employment-related legal matters, including traditional labor and employment, workplace safety, employee benefits, and business immigration matters. Guided by our Client Pledge, we focus on understanding clients’ business and objectives, collaborating and anticipating needs, harnessing technology and innovation, communicating effectively, and providing quality representation with exceptional value. www.ogletree.com