Nicholas Hoffman
MICHELLE D. HERTZ
VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL COUNSEL & CORPORATE SECRETARY
CGI FEDERAL
Michelle D. Hertz was appointed Managing Counsel of CGI Federal Inc. (“CGI Federal’), a secure U.S. subsidiary of CGI Group Inc., in April 2010 and Corporate Secretary for CGI Federal and its wholly-owned subsidiaries in December 2011. Promoted to Vice President in May 2012 and General Counsel in January 2014, Ms. Hertz reports directly to the President of CGI Federal, serves as CGI Federal’s Ethics Officer, and leads CGI Federal’s Legal, Compliance, and Contracts Department. Ms. Hertz advises CGI Federal on all legal matters concerning its operations and the CGI Federal Board of Directors on legal issues arising from government relations, corporate governance, and federal government compliance issues. Ms. Hertz also oversees CGI Federal’s Ethics and Trade Compliance Programs. Additionally, as Corporate Secretary, Ms. Hertz prepares Board agendas, records meeting minutes and Board resolutions, and maintains the corporate records and minute books.
Ms. Hertz has more than 25 years of experience in the federal government contracts arena in government, private practice, and private industry. Prior to joining CGI Federal, Ms. Hertz served as Senior Counsel at DynCorp International; VP-Federal Contracts and Division Counsel for Michael Baker Corporation; an Associate in the Government Contracts Practice of Holland & Knight LLP; and a Contracting Officer with Naval Air Systems Command.
ExecutiveBiz: What legal barriers do you see as ones that can be changed to facilitate more public-private collaborations?
Michelle Hertz: Perhaps the most significant barrier to public-private collaborations in the federal marketplace is the opportunity cost associated with conducting the effective, high-level communications needed to create tailored, win-win arrangements that consider both the government’s long-term objectives and private firms’ business risks/rewards in a highly-regulated, multi-jurisdictional environment. This barrier is especially challenging in federal sectors such as cybersecurity where emergent public needs and private technology innovation/obsolescence can exceed the pace of regulatory changes and legal/financial risk mitigation techniques.
