Philip E. Beshara

Phil Beshara counsels clients at the cornerstone of the public and private sectors with government affairs and crisis management strategies to navigate legal, regulatory, and legislative challenges. Mr. Beshara has a decade of experience litigating across federal courts and tribunals on behalf of leading U.S. defense contractors, and has been “instrumental” in guiding clients through high-stakes Federal investigations and Congressional hearings.

Mr. Beshara has cultivated what has been described as a truly “Washington practice,” sought after for his political acumen and strong bipartisan relationships on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch by clients across the aerospace, defense technology, and FinTech industries. In 2024, Chambers USA profiled Mr. Beshara for his successful Federal Government Relations practice, highlighting one client’s praise for Beshara as “a fantastic part of the team, tailoring his advice for us a client” to achieve legislative solutions on Capitol Hill.

In 2022, Law360 named Mr. Beshara as one of only five “Rising Star” attorneys nationwide in government contracts, showcasing how Mr. Beshara “successfully delivered oral arguments in [Federal] court” on behalf of a global engineering company in the successful defense of an $82 Billion contract award by the Department of Defense—with the favorable decision affirmed by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. The publication also highlighted Mr. Beshara’s work on successfully overturning a $650 Million NASA contract for the International Space Station and asteroid detection, resulting in a landmark decision based on novel procurement integrity arguments. These and other successes achieved for government contractors in bid protests over the past decade have served as the bedrock of Mr. Beshara’s litigation practice.

Mr. Beshara’s investigation work has included Congressional and Federal agency inquiries involving leading government contractors, as well as confidential internal-company investigations for global technology companies. Recently, Mr. Beshara helped lead the preparation of a CEO through multiple rounds of televised Congressional hearings that were favorably received by legislators and staff.

Prior to joining the firm, Phil practiced in the National Security & Government Contracts practice of an AmLaw 50 firm in Washington. Before and during law school, Phil worked for a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and at the State level.

A proud first-generation college graduate, Mr. Beshara serves on the Georgetown Law Alumni Board, through which he advises on the trajectory of Georgetown Law for the next generation.

Education
● Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 2014, cum laude
● Ohio University, B.A., 2010, magna cum laude

Bar and Court Admissions
● District of Columbia Bar
● Commonwealth of Virginia Bar
● U.S. Supreme Court
● U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
● U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
● U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
● U.S. Court of Federal Claims
● Supreme Court of Virginia
● District of Columbia Court of Appeals

Accolades
● Chambers USA National Ranking in Federal Government Relations
● Law360 Rising Star in Government Contracts
● Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Government Relations
● Super Lawyers: Rising Star
● DC Courts: Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll

● Strategic & Legal Government Affairs
● Congressional Investigations & Advocacy
● Bid Protests
● Federal & State Agency Relations
● Government Investigations
● Internal Investigations
● Crisis Counseling
● Regulatory Compliance
● Foreign Military Sales
● Export Controls

• Led federal government relations efforts for industry trade association with the Senate & House Armed Services Committees, Senate Banking & House Financial Service Committees, and U.S. Treasury Department relating to national defense policy and anti-money laundering regulation.
• Led outside Congressional relations for 85,000-member organization’s work with the House & Senate Judiciary Committees on legislation concerning intellectual property, antitrust, and Artificial Intelligence issues.
• Counseled leading U.S. Foreign Military Sales contractor with navigating Senate Foreign Relations Committee to assist with program difficulties within the Department of Defense.
• Served as primary outside public policy counsel for a major telecommunications company.
• Represented government contractors in over 50 bid protest matters at the GAO, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and various federal and state agencies.
• Successfully delivered oral argument in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on behalf of global engineering company in the successful defense of $82 Billion Department of Defense contract with the favorable decision affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
• Helped aerospace contractor overturn $650 Million NASA contract in successful GAO protest based on novel procurement integrity grounds.
• Prepared CEO of Fortune 500 company to testify at widely-televised Congressional hearings.
• Prepared executive of major technology manufacturer for testimony at Export Control hearing held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs’ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
• Successfully protected defense technology company’s eligibility to receive small business set-aside contracts over competitor’s assertions of controlling private equity ownership in SBA size status protest.
• Managed team of 30+ attorneys representing Fortune 500 company’s response to parallel investigative and regulatory inquiries involving the U.S. Department of Justice, State Attorneys General, and various federal and state agencies.
• Conducted internal investigation on behalf of a major defense and Foreign Military Sale contractor in connection with federal civil fraud inquiry.
• Conducted multiple internal investigations on behalf of global technology company relating to inquiries from Congressional committees.
• Played critical role advising on regulatory, legal, and privacy implications in the successful launch of a major FinTech lending application.

• How Claims Court Ruling May Expand Bid Protest Avenues, Law360 (September 2022). Co-Authors: Andrew Shipley, Philip Beshara, and Jessica Aldrich.
• How Claims Court Ruling May Alter High-Dollar Procurements, Law360 (April 2022). Co-Authors: Andrew Shipley, Philip Beshara, and Jessica Aldrich. 
• Beware The Timeliness Trap When Protesting At The GAO, Law360 (April 2022). Co-Authors: Andrew Shipley and Philip Beshara.
• Bid Protests: A Guide to Challenging Federal Procurements, American Bar Association (May 2021) (contributing author). Co-Authors: Andrew Shipley and Daniel Chudd.
• NASA Contract Termination Presents Key Bid Protest Lessons, Law360 (October 2020). Co-Authors: Andrew Shipley and Philip Beshara.
• Protesting With Less Than A Full Deck At GAO, Law360 (January 2018). Co-Authors: Al Krachman and Philip Beshara.
• What cyber insurance can do for contractors, NextGov (July 2015). Co-authors: Philip Beshara and Justin Chiarodo.
• What to do if your office is subject to a fraud investigation, Fierce Health Care (May 2015). Co-Authors: Merle DeLancey, Steve Roman, and Philip Beshara.

• Nichols Liu Hires WilmerHale Atty To Lead Gov’t Affairs Group, Law360 (January 6, 2025).
• Nichols Liu Lands “Washington Advisor” to Defense Technology Companies (January 6, 2025).
• Government Relations: Federal – Philip E. Beshara, Chambers USA (2024).
• Rising Star: WilmerHale’s Philip E. Beshara, Law360 (June 30, 2022).
• Feature: Young & the Guest List, Washington Life Magazine (March 2020).

• Upcoming: Emerging Issues, Pub K’s Government Contracts Annual Review 2025 (February 12, 2025).
• Protecting Your Blind Side: A Lessons Learned Guide to Minimizing Contract Risk, Association of Corporate Counsel’s Government Contractors Form (October 17, 2018)