Professional Qualifications
Mr. Metzger’s clients include prominent U.S. and international firms in many technology-driven industries, and his work extends beyond government contracts to enterprise counseling, complex transactions, and IP litigation. His experience in government contract-related controversies includes bid protests, compliance and internal investigations, complex claims and disputes, cost-related controversies, cyber breach investigations, terminations, and defense of actions brought under the False Claims Act. He advises aerospace and defense companies on export controls and compliance and counsels industrial companies on U.S. trade practices and sanctions. After graduation from law school, Mr. Metzger was a Research Fellow, Center for Science & International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School (now, “Belfer Center”). He was honored by the Naval Sea Systems Command as a “plank owner” for his role in formation of the Standard Missile Company. As a Special Government Employee of the Department of Defense, Bob was a member of the Defense Science Board task force that produced the Cyber Supply Chain Report in April 2017.
Mr. Metzger is recognized for subject area leadership in cyber, supply chain and related security subjects and has many publications on these subjects. Named a 2016 “Federal 100” awardee, Federal Computer Week cited Bob for his “ability to integrate policy, regulation and technology” and said of him: “In 2015, he was at the forefront of the convergence of the supply chain and cybersecurity, and his work continues to influence the strategies of federal entities and companies alike.” Chambers USA (2018) ranks Bob among top government contracts lawyers and said that “[h]e is particularly noted for his expertise in cyber and supply-chain security with clients regarding him as the ‘preeminent expert in cybersecurity regulations and how they affect government contractors.’” Mr. Metzger has spoken several times at the world’s premiere security event, RSA Conference (USA). For RSAC 2018, Bob served on a panel on “First Recourse or Last Resort? The National Interest in Regulating the IoT” and moderated a second panel on “IOT and Critical Infrastructures: A Collision Of Fundamentals?.” For RSAC Conference 456263.1 2017, Bob moderated a discussion on “Cyber/physical Security and the IoT: National Security Considerations.”
The Legal 500 in 2016 cites Mr. Metzger as an “expert” in cyber and supply chain security; in prior years, he was recognized by The Legal 500 for telecommunications (litigation and appellate). Bob also is among the 49 U.S. lawyers rated as “Expert” in government contracts by Who’s Who Legal (2016, 2017). Bob was featured in the Government Contracts 2017 Discussion of Who’s Who Legal.
Mr. Metzger is admitted to the Bar of the State of California and the District of Columbia. He is the co-author (with Daniel Lyons) of “A Critical Reassessment of the GAO Bid-Protest Mechanism,” Wisconsin Law Review, Volume 2007, No. 6, 2008 and has been a Guest Lecturer at the George Washington University Law School on state and local information technology procurement. Bob is the Vice-Chair of the Cyber/Supply Chain Assurance Committee of the IT Alliance for Sector (ITAPs), a unit of the Information Technology Industry Council, a Vice-Chair of the Information Security Committee of the ABA Science & Technology Section, and a Vice-Chair of the Commercial Products and Services Committee of the ABA Public Contracts Law Section.
Mr. Metzger is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London. Academic publications on international security topics include articles in International Security and the Journal of Strategic Studies. Before joining RJO, Bob was a litigation partner at a number of internationally recognized firms, including Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (where he was co-chair of the government contracts practice), Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins, and a corporate partner at Pillsbury Winthrop.
Education
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
Editor, Georgetown University Law Journal
B.A., Middlebury College
Research Fellow, Center for Science & International Affairs
(now “Belfer Center”),
Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Bar Admissions
California
District of Columbia