Professional Background
Before opening his own law practice in San Diego, Jack was Corporate Counsel at SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation), serving as the senior commercial and government contract lawyer for the company. Jack was earlier Group Counsel to Hughes Aircraft Company, and an attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Pierson, Ball & Dowd (now Reed, Smith).
Jack began his career as a lawyer with the US Department of Defense. He was counsel to the US Army Materiel Command for nearly ten years, including five years as the general counsel of an Army research and development laboratory. In these positions, Jack negotiated, drafted, or reviewed thousands of government and commercial contracts. He also helped formulate acquisition policy, both for government and industry.
Military Service
Jack’s served for four years during the Viet Nam war as a Captain in the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He tried several hundred courts-martial, both as prosecutor and defense counsel.
Education
Jack has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Fordham College and a law degree from Fordham Law School. He was a New York State Regents Scholar, a U.S. Army ROTC Scholarship winner, a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student, and a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Army ROTC. Jack was an elected member of university student government. He was also an officer in the National Society of Pershing Rifles, the premier fraternal organization associated with Army ROTC, and was the Superior ROTC Cadet in his freshman class.
Jack did postgraduate work in government contract law at George Washington University School of Law in Washington, DC. He was also the Distinguished Graduate of the Procurement Attorney’s course at the US Army JAG School. He was also Honor Graduate of the US Army Logistics University acquisition management course. He is also a graduate of the USC School of Business Advanced Management Program.
Professional Affiliations & Teaching
Jack was a long-time member of the American Bar Association. He was Vice Chair of the ABA Public Contract Section’s Strategic Alliances, Teaming and Subcontracting Committee. He co-authored the ABA’s Guide to Fixed Price Supply Subcontract Terms and Conditions (1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th ed.) He also co-authored the Guide To Service Subcontract Terms and Conditions for the ABA.
Jack was named a Fellow of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) in honor of his contributions to the field of public contracting. He was awarded the designations of NCMA Certified Commercial Contracts Manager (CCCM) and Certified Federal Contracts Manager (CFCM). He also served on the Board of Directors of the San Diego Chapter of NCMA.
Jack served as a member of the Advisory Board for San Diego State University Contract Management certificate program. He taught three contract-related courses for SDSU. He also taught courses for the paralegal program at the University of California, San Diego.
Jack was also a member of the Defense Acquisition University Alumni Association.
Jack is a member of the California bar (inactive) and is retired from the New York and District of Columbia bars. He is also admitted to the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States Supreme Court.
Community Service & Avocations
Jack served for several years on the City of Los Angeles Minority Business Opportunity Committee, training minority- and women-owned small businesses in methods to win public contracts.
Jack is a volunteer docent for the California State Parks at Torrey Pines California State Reserve, where he leads visitors on nature walks. Jack was named Docent of the Month at Torrey Pines State Reserve in February 2009. In 2010, he was named a Life Member of the Docent Society.
Jack was previously a volunteer docent with the National Audubon Society in Los Angeles, where he led nature walks for inner-city grade school children.
Jack is a member of the Palomar Audubon Society and the San Diego Audubon Society chapters, and has led bird walks for both chapters. He has also been a trip leader for the San Diego Bird Festival. He has also led the Audubon Christmas Bird Count in several areas of San Diego over the past several years.
Jack's hobbies include studying the works of Shakespeare; he leads a biweekly Zoom group dedicated to studying and reciting Shakespeare's works. He is also interested in language, and has studied Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, and Italian.