Marie Adamson Collins
Dispute Resolution Officer

Appointed in May of 1998 as a Dispute Resolution Officer (DRO) in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition (ODRA), Ms. Collins has over 20 years of experience in federal Government contract law.  As a DRO, Ms. Collins has broad experience using collaborative methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to assist the parties in achieving voluntary resolutions in a manner that best suits the parties’ needs.  Ms. Collins also serves as a hearing officer and conducts adjudicatory proceedings in protests and contract disputes, and prepares findings and recommendations, on which FAA final orders are based.  These decisions are available on the ODRA Website:  http://odra.faa.gov.

Prior to her appointment as a DRO, Ms. Collins served as Assistant General Counsel of the General Services Administration from August 1987 until May 1998.  During that time, Ms. Collins provided legal advice on a broad range of issues relating to contract formation, administration, and procurement policy.  Ms. Collins also represented the GSA in a broad range of matters before the General Services Board of Contract Appeals (GSBCA) and defended Federal Supply Schedule protests before the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Ms. Collins is a graduate of Indiana University (B.A., Political Science, 1984) and the Indiana University Law School (J.D. 1987), where she was a Managing Editor of the Indiana Law Journal.  Ms. Collins is admitted to the Illinois Bar and has served as a Vice Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Public Contract Law Section Bid Protest and Alternative Dispute Resolution Committees.  She also served as a Program Co-Chair of the 11th Annual Federal Procurement Institute Program “Mitigating Business Risks and Legal Liabilities in Federal Contracting” sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law and National Contract Management Association.  Ms. Collins is a co-author of the article “The FAA ODRA: A Tenth Anniversary Report,” published in the Spring 2008 Edition of The Procurement Lawyer, issued by the ABA Section of Public Contract Law.  She also is a co-author of the article “The FAA’s Unique Disputes Process: A Primer,” published in the Air & Space Lawyer, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2008, published by the American Bar Association.  Her e-mail address is: Marie.Collins@faa.gov.