John W. Polk
Special Counsel

703-760-0402
jpolk@BerenzweigLaw.com

John Polk is an experienced litigator who has practiced civil and business litigation, government contracts law, and white-collar criminal law for more than 34 years, both in the federal government and in private practice.  He was previously the Director of the Office of Fraud Remedies for the Air Force, a federal position with significant responsibility over the way government contractors do business with the federal government.  
John has extensive trial court and appellate court experience and has tried over 100 cases, many of them jury trials, and has argued more than 80 appellate cases.  Ninety-two of Mr. Polk's cases are in the published reports and can be found on LEXIS.  He practices Government Contracts, Civil Litigation, and White Collar Crime for Berenzweig Leonard.

Government Contracts:
John Polk's government contracts experience is extensive.  In his position as the Director of the Office of Fraud Remedies for the Department of the Air Force, John managed the Air Force's program for combating fraud by government contractors, which included civil actions, criminal prosecutions, and administrative remedies, such as suspension and debarment.  John was the Air Force's principal point of contact on fraud matters with the Department of Justice and with other federal departments and agencies, and he worked on many complex cases involving large defense contractors. He has a special expertise in issues concerning contractor responsibility.  John was also the primary author of the Air Force's Fraud Remedies Reference Guide.  

Prior to this position, John was an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of the Air Force. He was the principal Air Force attorney responsible for litigating bid protests arising in acquisitions of automated data processing systems, and he advised the Secretary of the Air Force on legal and policy issues concerning the formation, administration and termination of government contracts.

Civil Litigation:
For over 16 years, John Polk was an attorney with the Washington, D.C. office of the national law firm Baker & McKenzie, where he represented clients in many types of matters, with an emphasis on corporate, contract and commercial litigation, including securities fraud, corporate governance, government contracting, and intellectual property. Mr. Polk also did white-collar criminal defense.

Former Prosecutor:
For almost 12 years, John Polk was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, where prosecuted criminal cases and litigated many types of civil cases on behalf of the United States and its departments and agencies, including government contracts, torts, civil rights, and employment discrimination.

Bar Admissions: Admitted to bar, 1972 Virginia; 1973 District of Columbia; U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Federal Claim, U.S. Tax Court.

Education: Juris Doctor, Georgetown University Law Center, 1972; Master of Arts, University of Michigan, 1966; Bachelor of Arts, Bucknell University, 1965.

Member: Arlington Bar Association.

Practice Areas: Civil litigation, government contracts, government contractor responsibility, business litigation, white collar crime.