Jessica Tillipman | Senior Editor
Jessica Tillipman is a senior editor of the FCPA Blog.
She’s the Assistant Dean for Government Procurement Law Studies and Government Contracts Advisory Council Professorial Lecturer in Government Contracts Law, Practice & Policy. She also teaches Anti-Corruption & Compliance, a course that focuses on anti-corruption, ethics, and compliance issues in government procurement, and regularly advises foreign governments and companies on anti-corruption and compliance issues.
Prior to joining GW Law, Dean Tillipman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Lawrence S. Margolis of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and was an associate at Jenner & Block, where she specialized in Government Contracts and White Collar Criminal Defense.
Dean Tillipman is also a co-chair of the American Bar Association, International Anti-Corruption Committee. She frequently organizes and presents at domestic and international government procurement and anti-corruption conferences and colloquia, and her legal commentary has been featured in numerous domestic and international media outlets. She has also published numerous articles that address legal and policy issues involving anti-corruption, government procurement, white-collar crime, and government ethics law.
Dean Tillipman is a member of the bars of the United States Court of Federal Claims, the state of Virginia, and the District of Columbia. She graduated cum laude from Miami University (Oxford, OH) in 2000 and obtained her JD, with honors, from the George Washington University Law School in 2003.
Recent Posts

MicroTech’s proposed debarment shows vulnerabilities in federal small business contracting programs
On December 27, the Washington Post reported that the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) had proposed MicroTechnologies LLC (“MicroTech”) for debarment (as well as MicroTech’s CEO and founder, Anthony Jimenez). The SBA is alleging that, among other things, MicroTech and Jimenez submitted “false and misleading statements” in connection with the company’s application to the SBA’s 8(a) Program.

DC event will honor Mark Pieth, examine OECD and UN anti-corruption efforts
Mark Pieth, Professor of Criminal Law at Basel University, Chairman of the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business TransactionsOn December 4, 2013, The George Washington University Law School will host a tribute to Mark Pieth for his 25 years serving as Chairman of the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions.

Automatic Cross-Debarment: A Comparative Discussion
As readers of the FCPA Blog know, the U.S. federal government has traditionally cross-debarred contractors across the federal government — once a contractor is debarred by one agency, that contractor is automatically debarred by all. Similarly, since 2010, the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have had a cross-debarment agreement in place, providing for the mutual enforcement of debarment decisions with respect to the four harmonized sanctionable practices, i.e. corruption, fraud, coercion, and collusion.

Marion Barry Censured …… Again
When I first read the headline last summer, I thought the article was written by “The Onion.” Titled Marion Barry lectures on ethics during chaotic Council session, it described a mind-blowing D.C. Council session during which Barry expressed anger over recent ethics scandals involving D.C. councilmembers.

The Congressional War on Contractors
Why is Congress always picking on government contractors? It seems like every few months, a member of Congress (or congressional committee) is giving a speech, holding a hearing or introducing a bill aimed at “bad contractors.” It makes sense—now that Congress has passed a budget, avoided sequestration, and successfully resolved the myriad problems plaguing the United States, Congress needs to go after the true cause of this country’s problems: government contractors.

Anti-Corruption (Back-to-School) Resource List
It’s that time of year again. Across the country, law students are thinking about paper topics for seminar courses and journal notes. Like last year, I am posting a list of resources that I provide to students every fall in the Anti-Corruption seminar that I co-teach with my colleague, Professor Chris Yukins.

Virginia’s Shamefully Inadequate Ethics Laws, Part III: Ethics Reform or Empty Promises?
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (photo courtesy of http://www.governor.virginia.gov(As I discussed in Parts I and II of this series, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli are embroiled in significant ethics scandals that involve Star Scientific and Jonnie R. Williams. While these matters may be painful for the parties involved, there is a silver lining to these troubling violations of the public trust: vocal and potentially influential calls for reform.

Virginia’s Shamefully Inadequate Ethics Laws, Part II: Disclosure Regime Deserves a Failing Grade
Yesterday, in Part I of my series on Virginia’s ethics laws, I discussed the corruption scandal threatening to end Governor Bob McDonnell’s political career. . . .

Virginia’s Shamefully Inadequate Ethics Laws, Part I: 145,000 Reasons Why Bob McDonnell’s Political Career May Be Over
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen (photo courtesy of www.governor.virginia.gov)In 2011, Phil Hamilton, a state delegate from Newport News, Virginia, was sentenced to 9-1/2 years in federal prison for bribery and extortion.

The SUSPEND Act: Improving the Suspension and Debarment System?
On February 5, 2013, Rep. Issa introduced the Stop Unworthy Spending (SUSPEND) Act–a discussion draft bill that proposes to overhaul the federal suspension & debarment system. The SUSPEND Act has triggered significant interest and debate within the procurement community. Indeed, last April, I co-authored a series with Lauren Youngman about the SUSPEND Act (see Part I, Part II, and Part III).