Sean C. Griffin

Of Counsel

• sgriffin@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

Sean C. Griffin is of counsel in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Litigation Department. Mr. Griffin's practice focuses on complex civil litigation, labor/employment litigation, and construction litigation.

Prior to joining Steptoe, Mr. Griffin served as a trial attorney in the US Department of Justice, where he litigated government contracts and construction cases.  He led a team of attorneys in a successful defense of a $46 million lawsuit involving the design and construction of a military weapons defense system.  Additionally, he obtained a defense judgment in a lawsuit involving the construction of a lock and dam on the Illinois Waterway and preserved the judgment on appeal.  Mr. Griffin also litigated and won several bid protests, and he argued numerous cases before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Since joining the firm, Mr. Griffin has litigated commercial litigation cases before state courts, federal courts, and arbitration panels.  His practice includes a broad range of complex breach of contract actions, often including allegations of fraud or breaches of fiduciary duty by corporate insiders.  For example, he represented a client seeking to recover its construction loan, which the defendants had diverted for unauthorized purposes through the use of corporate alter egos.  In another case, he defended a corporation’s board of directors against a shareholder suit alleging breach of fiduciary duty in a corporate sale context.  He also arbitrated a breach of contract matter regarding the supply of telecommunications services from the United States to India.

Outside the commercial litigation context, Mr. Griffin frequently litigates labor and employment cases.  He has obtained several favorable decisions for clients facing charges of race and gender discrimination before state agencies.  He represented a corporation in its successful efforts to enforce its employment contracts against its senior officers.  Mr. Griffin also represented a former corporate vice-president to recover stock options that his former employer owed him.  Additionally, he represented two former corporate officers in a successful defense of ERISA-related charges involving allegations of breaches of fiduciary duty.

Representative Matters

• Myers Investigative And Security Services, Inc. v. United States, 275 F.3d 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2002).
• Fields v. United States, 53 Fed. Cl. 412 (2002).
• Hawpe Const., Inc. v. United States, 46 Fed. Cl. 571 (2000), aff’d, 10 Fed. Appx. 957 (Fed. Cir. 2001).
• Fru-Con Const. Corp. v. United States, 44 Fed. Cl. 298 (1999), aff’d, 250 F.3d 762 (Fed. Cir. 2000).
• Ramcor Services Group, Inc. v. United States, 41 Fed. Cl. 264 (1998), aff’d, 185 F.3d 1286 (Fed. Cir. 1999).
• Knowles v. United States, 43 Fed. Cl. 515 (1999).

Select News & Events

• Steptoe Promotes 13 Attorneys in 2006

Professional Affiliations

• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, District of Columbia Bar Association
• Member, Virginia Bar Association