Michael A. Branca
Michael A. Branca is Co-Managing Partner of Peckar & Abramson’s Washington, D.C. office and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. He focuses his practice on construction and government contract law. Mike routinely represents general and prime contractors, construction managers, and other members of the construction and government contract industries. Given his depth of experience, he is able to provide an impressive range of services to his clients, including the review and negotiation of contract documents, prosecution of bid protests, project counsel support and guidance, and the preparation and litigation of claims.
Michael A. Branca
Co-Managing Partner, Washington, DC
Executive Committee
Washington D.C.
P +1 202.293.8815
F +1 202.293.7994
"Working with clients to solve complex problems is the most satisfying part of serving the construction and government contract industries."
Bio
Michael A. Branca has been involved with a wide variety of projects, both public and private. In the public arena, Mike has provided counsel on high profile federal health care facilities, courthouses, and military construction projects, civil works to include dam construction and remediation, rail, bridge and highway projects, and solar power facilities. In the private sector, in addition to all manner of general building projects, Mike has extensive experience providing counsel, arbitrating and litigating substantial claims on power generation facilities, including nuclear, fossil, hydroelectric, and solar.
Mike was elected a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers in 2019. He has been recognized since 2007 as one of the leading lawyers in the field of Construction Law by Chambers USA. Mike has been noted by one Chambers source as having “a niche specialty relating to federal acquisition regulations.” One client reported that Mike was “very knowledgeable in how federal law applies to federal projects” and was “deemed to be a go-to lawyer for projects that involve the Navy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”
Mike is a past editor of the Construction Lawyer, the flagship publication of ABA Forum on Construction Law. He is also a past chair of the Board of Governors of the Construction and Public Contract Law Section of the Virginia State Bar. Mike has edited and authored numerous books on a variety of topics relating to construction law, including Lead Editor and Author of the Third Edition of the Forum’s Federal Government Construction Contracts.
Highlights
Admissions
• Commonwealth of Virginia
• District of Columbia
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
• United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia
• United States District Court for the District of Columbia
• United States District Court for the District of Maryland
• United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuits
• United States Court of Federal Claims
Memberships
• American Bar Association (Forum on Construction Law)
• Virginia State Bar (Board of Governors, Construction and Public Contract Law Section)
• American Road and Transportation Builders Association
• Washington Building Congress
• Association of General Contractors (Virginia Chapter)
Education & Courses
• University of Virginia, B.A
• Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, J.D, with distinction
Awards & Recognitions
• Chambers USA, Construction Law, Washington, DC, 2008-2026
• The Legal 500: United States, “Leading Partner,” 2021-2026
• Lexology Index Thought Leaders: USA, 2026
• Lexology Index: Construction, 2025-2026
• Lexology: Client Choice Award, 2025
• Who’s Who Legal - Thought Leader: USA, 2024
• Who’s Who Legal: Construction, 2013-2024
• Who’s Who Legal - Thought Leader: Construction, 2022-2023
• Washington, DC Super Lawyers, 2010, 2013-2026
• Washington, DC Super Lawyers, Top-100 Attorneys, 2021, 2024-2026
• Best Lawyers, “Lawyer of the Year” in Litigation - Construction – Washington, D.C. region, 2027
• Best Lawyers, 2018-2027
• Fellow, American College of Construction Lawyers, Inducted 2019
• BTI Consulting Group, Inc. Client Service All-Star, 2016, 2026
Publications & Presentations
• “Chapter 12: Corporate Compliance and Ethics Programs for Construction Enterprises,” False Claims in Construction Contracts, 2nd Edition (co-author), July 2025
• “Preparing for the Threat of New Tariffs: Three Clauses to Look for in Your Federal Construction Contracts,” P&A Presidential Action Alert, February 2025
• “From Acts to Action: Navigating Federal Requirements,” AGC Federal Contractors Conference, June 2024
• “A Journey Through Delay and Pricing Claims Against the Government,” ABA Forum on Construction Law 2023 Fall Meeting (presenter), September 2023.
• “Navigating the Impact and Negotiating for the Future – Labor and Material Escalation,” Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Metro Washington Presentation (presenter), August 2022
• “Killer Contract Clauses,” Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Metro Washington Presentation (presenter), April 2022.
• “Federal Government Contracting: Year in Review,” P&A Webinar (moderator), January 2021.
• AGC Federal Contractors Conference, (speaker) June 2020.
• “Presenting and Proving Delay and Disruption Claims,” 4th Annual Federal Government Contracting Seminar 2019: Government Contracts Trial Practice Tune-Up (panelist), September 2019.
• “Managing Subcontractors on Federal Contract Delay Claims,” 2018 Construction Superconference (presenter), December 2018.
• Federal Government Construction Contracts, third edition, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry (author and lead editor), 2017.
• “Public Contracting Under The Trump Administration,” P&A Peer Conference (speaker), April 2017.
• “The 2017 Regulatory Road Ahead: What Construction Contractors Need to Know,” P&A and AGC Joint Seminar (presenter), January 2017.
• Virginia Construction Law, Thomson West (co-author), 2008.
News & Events
• Eleven P&A Construction Attorneys Recognized in Lexology Index Thought Leaders: USA – Most in the Country
• Construction Super Conference – “Float Like a Butterfly: A Practical Framework for Managing Float and Taking the Sting Out of Schedule Impacts”
• Peckar & Abramson Named to BTI Client Service A-Team; Michael A. Branca, Christopher J. Olsen Recognized as All-Stars
• Peckar & Abramson Again Tops Construction Law Rankings in Best Lawyers 2027
