Mary Ann Gilleece is a Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Holland & Knight LLP. Ms. Gilleece provides advice to domestic and foreign corporations on a wide spectrum of issues related to legislative, government contract and business matters. Ms. Gilleece is knowledgeable about the laws, regulations and internal government procedures concerning the government acquisition process. This knowledge, coupled with her experience in senior positions in the executive and legislative branches of government, enable her to assist clients in grappling with and successfully resolving complex business, legal, legislative and regulatory problems. Her approach is to negotiate a resolution to a company’s problem whether the issue is with the government or another contractor. She assists the company in developing a strategy that focuses on resolution and then guides the implementation of that strategy.

Ms. Gilleece’s clients are concerned with defense and civilian agency matters and encompass a wide range of business activities. These clients include manufacturers of major systems as well as smaller end items and component parts and providers of professional and technical services. She has assisted companies of all sizes including large, medium, small, small-disadvantaged and 8(a) as both prime contractors and subcontractors.

In 1972, Ms. Gilleece was appointed an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She then practiced law privately. Beginning in 1977, Ms. Gilleece served for six years as Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services. She was responsible for committee functions relating to federal contracting legislation and government procurement methods and the impact of the acquisition system on all sizes of federal contracts and programs.

From April 1983 to August 1985, Ms. Gilleece served as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (Acquisition Management). As Deputy Undersecretary, Ms. Gilleece managed a senior level professional staff and served as the principal advisor to the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in all matters concerning management and policy for the Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition and manufacturing processes. She also served on the Joint Contract Administration Coordinating Council. She directed the effort to make procurement system improvements embodied in Executive Order 12352 of March 17, 1982, on Federal Procurement Reforms. As the DOD member of the OMB Executive Committee on Procurement Reforms, she recommended acquisition changes necessary to make the government contract process better. Other major activities of her office included programs of Total Quality Management and the production capabilities of the U.S. industrial base. Matters related to the Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Office (SADBU) was coordinated through her office. Ms. Gilleece had primary responsibility for the formulation and execution of DOD international acquisition, objectives, policies, and programs for cooperation in research, development, production, and procurement with U.S. allies.

Ms. Gilleece has held positions of responsibility with certain companies. In September 1998, the Board of Directors of AverStar, Inc., Burlington, Massachusetts, elected Ms. Gilleece to the Board. The Board also elected her to chair the Audit Committee. AverStar was sold to Titan Corporation. AverStar, Inc. developed and tested mission critical software systems for federal government and commercial customers. She was elected to the Board of Directors of Fire Arms Training Systems, Inc., (FATS) a publicly traded company, sold to Meggitt, USA. FATS designed and sold virtual training systems that improve the skills of the world's military, law enforcement and security forces. FATS training provides judgmental, tactical and combined arms experiences, utilizing quality engineered weapon simulators. Ms. Gilleece was also elected to the Board of Directors of McDonald Bradley Corp., which was sold to Mantech Corp. McDonald Bradley, Inc., a client-centered information technology services company, specialized in creating order out of information technology chaos. The company provided three major services: Visual Intelligence Technology (Vista®); System Assurance (QV2®); Web Application Integration.
Ms. Gilleece has been an adjunct faculty member at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Ms. Gilleece has authored articles concerning federal government matters, including “Understanding How to Approach Congress” and “Lowest Bid - The Best Value?” Ms. Gilleece has been and continues to be a speaker at many meetings, seminars and symposiums.

Professional Honors & Awards

• The Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program, Chairman, 2010
• University of Connecticut Foundation Board of Directors and National Development Council, 2008-Present
• Dean's Advisory Committee, Suffolk Law School, 2008-Present
• Outstanding Alumni, Suffolk University, 1979
• Women in Defense, Honorary Lifetime Member, 1997
• National Security Industrial Association (NSIA), Honorary Lifetime Member, 1985
• Association of Old Cross, Honorary Lifetime Member, 1984

MEMBERSHIPS

• National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Board of Directors, Washington Chapter
• National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), National Board of Trustees and National Board of Directors
• USO of Metropolitan Washington, Board of Directors
• Professional Services Council - Government Affairs Committee, former Government Affairs Committee Chair
• National Contract Management Association, Board of Advisors, Fellow and former President, Washington Chapter
• American Defense Preparedness Association, Washington D.C. Chapter, Board of Directors, former member and former Chapter President
• American Bar Association, Section of Public Contract Law, Legislative Coordinating Committee, former Vice Chair
• Federal Bar Association, former President, Capitol Hill Chapter
• Suffolk University Alumni Association, former President

PUBLISHED ARTICLES & BOOKS

• "Congressional Appropriations," TCG Pulse, June 2009
• "President Obama's Acquisition Reform Agenda," Holland & Knight LLP, May 2009

Gary M. Butter
Vice Chairman

Gary Butter focuses primarily on high-tech patent preparation, prosecution and litigation. He also has significant experience in intellectual property due diligence and counseling, intellectual property licensing, and many other areas associated with a broad intellectual property practice.
Mr. Butter counsels both high-tech companies and individual inventors on all aspects of intellectual property protection, procurement, licensing, enforcement, risk analysis, and dispute resolution, and helps clients develop robust intellectual property protection programs. Although adept in many fields, his focus is primarily on legal matters that relate to computing, software, telecommunications, and mechanical technologies. In addition to his law practice, Mr. Butter is an assistant adjunct professor of patent law at Brooklyn Law School.

Prior to his legal career, Mr. Butter spent three years as an officer aboard the USS Billfish, a nuclear-powered attack submarine. This experience, along with eighteen months of formal technical naval training, gave him special insight into various engineering disciplines, including propulsion, power generation, atmosphere control, sonar, and weapons control systems. Currently, he is a captain in the United States Naval Reserve.

Roy E. Spicer
Director

Roy E. Spicer supervises the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) National Appeals Office located in Washington, DC.  He provides principle supervision and managerial over-site for 14 DAV National Appeals Officers and support staff engaged in the free professional representation of appellants before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.

Roy is a native of Clarksville, Tennessee.  He entered the military service in March of 1968.  He served in Vietnam with the United States Army as leader of a Recon Team until serious combat wounds led to disability retirement.  He is the recipient of the Combat Infantryman Badge, two Purple Heart Medals, the Bronze Star with “V” device, the Army Commendation Medal with “V” device, the Air Medal, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, the Parachutist Badge and two Presidential Unit Citations.

Following military disability retirement, Roy entered the DAV National Service Program in January of 1971.  He trained in the Louisville, Kentucky National Service Office, while studying at the University of Louisville.  He was assigned as an Associate National Service Office at the Veterans Benefit Office in Washington, DC in May 1972.  He was promoted to Assistant Supervisor of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania National Service Office in May 1973 and later Promoted to Supervisor of the Roanoke, Virginia National Service Office in November 1975.  In September of 1992, he accepted the Supervisor position at the St. Petersburg, Florida DAV National Service Officer.  In December of 1994, Roy accepted an appointment as Executive Assistant to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and relocated to Washington, DC.  He served in that capacity until August 1997.  In September 1997, Roy returned to DAV at its National Appeals Office, which he now supervises.

Roy is admitted to the Bar of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims as a non-attorney practitioner.  His accomplishments have been recognized by DAV at the Chapter, Department and National Levels.  Additionally, he has received honors from local, state and federal governments.

William S. Mailander, Esq.
Director

William Mailander, Esq., served as deputy general counsel for the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) since 2001. In this capacity he provided legal advice to the officers, directors, and staff of PVA and assisted the general counsel in managing the legal affairs of the corporation.

He began his career with PVA in 1992, when he was hired to represent claimants before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in cases assigned to PVA under the Direct Representation Component of the Pro Bono Consortium Program. Following graduation from high school, Mr. Mailander enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served from 1976 to 1979. He received three meritorious promotions through the rank of corporal and was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal.

He received a BA from New York University in 1984 and a JD from Temple University School of Law in 1988. He also received an MBA from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. Following graduation from law school and before coming to PVA, Mr. Mailander held positions as an attorney-adviser with the Board of Veterans' Appeals, the Coast Guard Chief Counsel's Office, and the Department of Veterans Affairs General Counsel's Office.

Mr. Mailander is a member of the Federal Bar Association and is the editor of the FBA Veterans Law Section newsletter. He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

He resides in Arlington, VA, with his wife, Rosalind. He was selected to serve as general counsel for the Paralyzed Veterans of America in March 2005.

Ronald B. Abrams, Esq.
Director

Ronald B. Abrams, Esq., director, Outreach and Education Components, was joint executive director and director of training for the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP). He began his career in 1975 in the Philadelphia regional office of the Veterans Administration, serving first as an adjudicator and then as a member of the rating board. Mr. Abrams transferred to the VA Central Office in 1977 as legal consultant to the Compensation and Pension (C&P) Service, where he was recognized as an expert in due process issues.

In that capacity Mr. Abrams helped to draft the VA Adjudication Procedures Manual, M21-1. He wrote and interpreted regulations and directives to be followed by VA staff and others, and both drafted and commented on legislation on VA's behalf. Mr. Abrams also worked in and was in charge of the C&P quality review section. As part of his work for the VA Central Office, he conducted national training sessions in adjudication and due process for VA staff.

Since joining the NVLSP, Mr. Abrams has conducted more than 100 training sessions for veterans service organizations, many state and county departments of veterans affairs, state bar associations, the Legal Services Corporation, the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, congressional caseworkers, and other veterans advocates. He has spoken on veterans law to meetings of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Mr. Abrams is the editor of The Veterans Advocate, a quarterly publication on veterans law and advocacy, author of Basic Training Course in Veterans Benefits, and a coauthor of the 2004 edition of The Veterans Benefit Manual: An Advocate's Guide to Representing Veterans and Their Dependents.

Barry A. Searle
Director Veteran’s Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission, American Legion

Mr. Searle has been the Director of the Legion’s national VA&R staff since June of 2009. In this position Mr. Searle is responsible guiding and overseeing all American Legion activities impacting the entitlement programs for veterans and their families.

A retired Active Duty and Reserve Component veteran with over 37 years service, his most recent posting was in 2007-2008, as Commander Regional Coalition Assistance Command East, Gardez Afghanistan, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star. Prior to that deployment he was the Team Chief for Medical Evacuation to CONUS Hospitals (MECH) Operations, Andrew’s Air force Base. During those two he and his team assisted over 10,000 returning wounded and injured warriors, and their families negotiate the complex evacuation system. Mr. Searle’s other awards include Combat Infantryman’s Badge, The Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Afghan Campaign Medal, and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Bosnia).

Mr. Searle holds a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the US Army War College, and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Communications from the University of Scranton, Scranton PA. He is a member of American Legion Post # 524 Forest City PA and a resident of Crofton Maryland.