Stephen M. Sorett
FAX: 202.496.7756
Experience
Stephen M. Sorett focuses on all phases of government contracting with an emphasis on outsourcing, privatization, project finance transactions, grants and cooperative agreements. For many years he has dealt with all aspects of the public contracting process at the federal, state, and local levels of government; and his experience includes contract formation, administration, claims, appeals, audit resolution and overall project management of complex project.
Mr. Sorett has more than 35 years of acquisition experience in all phases of government contracting, having worked in government first at the U.S. General Accounting Office and then as an Assistant General Counsel for Grants at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, overseeing the construction grants and Superfund programs. He then entered the private sector with the international accounting firm of Touche Ross & Co. where he coordinated the privatization and infrastructure finance practice. After serving as the head of the legal department of AAI Corporation in Baltimore, a high-tech defense contractor, and then the Vice President of Contracts for ICF Kaiser International, Inc., Mr. Sorett became the Curriculum Director for George Washington University Law School's Government Contracts Program as well as its Environmental Program. He then became the Director of the Government Contracts practice at Grant Thornton, LLP before returning to the practice of law.
He is recognized for his work in the field of public contracts, privatization, outsourcing, grants, cooperative agreements and alternative service delivery and has actively participated in more than 300 such projects covering wastewater treatment works, drinking water systems, resource recovery plants, light rail and intermodal transportation projects, correctional facilities, medical systems, educational services, and municipal buildings. At the federal level, Mr. Sorett has served as Chairman of over a dozen national conferences on Federal Privatization including some hosted by the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships, an organization co-founded by Mr. Sorett in 1985.
Mr. Sorett is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in American Education.
Mr. Sorett graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in American Studies and received his law degree from George Washington University. He is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia and he is admitted to numerous Federal Courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Education
- J.D., George Washington University, 1976
- B.A., Yale University, 1971
Admitted
- Maryland
- District of Columbia
- U.S. Supreme Court
Publications:
- “A Crisis in the Fiscal Commons: The Impact of Federal Expenditures on State and Local Governments,” 10 Pub. Con. L. J. 341 (1978)
- “Federal-State Relations,” Chapter in Federal Grant Law, American Bar Association, 1978
- “Federalism Issues in the Context of Grants to State and Local Governments,” OGC Advisor, U.S. General Accounting Office, 1979
- "Model Procurement Ordinance," American Bar Association in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1982
- “Cleaning the Water When the Well Runs Dry,” Federal Bar Association Journal, April 1984
- “Defective Pricing and TINA,” American Bar Association Treatise on Procurement for State and Local Government, 1984
- “Debarment and Suspension,” Identify and Prosecuting Fraud and Abuse in State and Local Contracting, American Bar Association, 1984
- “Municipal Procurements: New Ideas for an Old Profession,” Clean Water Magazine, 1984
- “Legal Check List,” Clean Water Finance, 1984
- “Alternative Financing for Correctional Facilities,” American Bar Association, 1985
- “Action Steps for Infrastructure Financing,” Infrastructure Financing Alternatives, Touche Ross & Co., 1985
- “Competitive Transit Services Contracting Manual,” The Rice Center in conjunction with the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, 1988
- “The Authority of the Government to Contract for Goods and Services,” Chapter 1 of three volume treatise on Government Contracts, Matthew Bender publication, 1993
- “The Privatization Primer,” National Council for Public-Private Partnerships, 1995
- "Federal Budgetary Scoring: Issues and Alternatives," A White Paper sponsored by the ABA Public Contract Law Section [Privatization Outsourcing and Related Transactions Committee & Litigation and Public Contract Law Sections], 2008
Seminars and Presentations:
- Panelist, "Stimulus Package Creates Opportunities...But Beware of the Strings Attached," TechAmerica, July 17, 2009
Professional Activities:
- American Bar Association, Chair, Privatization Outsourcing and Related Transactions Committee
- National Council for Public Private Partnerships - Director
- Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce - Director
- Urban Land Institute - Council Member