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Erin J. Greten*

Of Counsel

Erin Greten is a member of Baker Donelson's Disaster Recovery and Government Services Team and focuses her practice on disaster response and recovery assistance laws, contracting, and public policy. Her experience provides her with in-depth knowledge of FEMA's programs and a broad, practical understanding of federal operations, including audits, administrative procedures, and financial processes.

Professional Biography


Mrs. Greten serves clients by applying her knowledge of FEMA programs and federal law to identify creative ways to leverage, maximize, and maintain disaster assistance. She primarily represents public and private non-profit entities throughout the country, guiding them through the complex federal and state regulatory frameworks to secure and retain federal funding.

Mrs. Greten focuses largely on compliance, but she also devotes a significant amount of her time representing clients in dispute resolution, both informally or formally through the appeals and arbitration process. As former agency regulatory counsel, Mrs. Greten also enjoys providing written comment in response to agency requests for public input on draft regulation, policy, or issues of concern. She is passionate about advocating for positive, systemic change by raising awareness of the real-world struggles faced by her clients in their attempts to recover from disasters using federal assistance.

In addition to her practice, Mrs. Greten has served as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School since 2022. She teaches a full-semester course, "Law of Emergencies: Natural Disasters, Climate Crises, Pandemics, and Beyond," which teaches students about the legal framework and implementation challenges faced by federal, state, local, individual, and private sector entities before, during, and after destructive events.

Prior to joining Baker Donelson, Mrs. Greten served as the career senior executive Chief Counsel of the First Responder Network Authority, where she proactively managed and resolved legal issues of all types for the federal agency responsible for the nationwide public safety broadband network known as FirstNet. Prior to that role, Mrs. Greten served as FEMA's Associate Chief Counsel for Regional & Field Operations, where she oversaw the delivery of legal services during all presidentially declared disasters and emergencies nationwide, as well as in FEMA's ten regional offices. She also served as Deputy Associate Chief Counsel for Recovery, where she was the principal legal advisor for FEMA's disaster recovery programs (Public Assistance, Individual Assistance, Fire Management Assistance Grants, Community Disaster Loans, etc.), and served as Assistant Chief Counsel for Regulation & Policy, where she developed, implemented, and managed FEMA's regulatory program. Before joining FEMA, Mrs. Greten worked with the U.S. Coast Guard as a regulatory attorney and practiced commercial litigation at a private law firm.

  • Successfully appealed a FEMA ineligibility determination for a private non-profit health care provider and provided subsequent compliance guidance and claim support for dozens of claims filed in multiple FEMA regions. This resulted in our client receiving hundreds of millions in COVID-19 FEMA Public Assistance funding for the majority of its submitted projects.

  • Provided procurement, environmental, and program compliance advice to U.S. territory clients severely impacted by the 2017 hurricane season. Services included the review and revision of high-dollar procurement actions for compliance with FEMA requirements; advice regarding various issues of FEMA eligibility; and the development of new policies and the improvement of existing policies and procedures to mitigate future compliance issues.

  • Regularly draft, review, and revise procurement policies, requests for proposals, invitations to bid, and contracts for compliance with federal procurement standards under 2 C.F.R. Part 200. Collaborated with two different California firms to develop procurement policies and template contracts for subrecipients in California implementing two different types of wildfire mitigation programs using state grants.

  • Represented a Colorado county impacted by wildfires in an arbitration before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, resulting in full award of all costs claimed for removal of hazardous trees along private roads.

  • Successfully appealed a borrower's U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness dispute regarding the applicant's non-profit status and accounting practices, resulting in full forgiveness of the loan by the SBA.

  • Advised a non-profit FEMA grant recipient as it developed a novel disaster preparedness subgrant program.

  • Assisted a private non-profit applicant following the Maui Wildfire and helped them understand and comply with emergency assistance requests and the FEMA claims process.

  • Supported multiple for-profit lending institutions seeking to understand the FEMA Public Assistance program as they evaluated borrower risk.

  • Favorably settled a FEMA arbitration involving application of the Public Assistance 50 Percent Rule, with FEMA agreeing to fund replacement and financing costs incurred by a Florida city to replace the dock attenuator system for the city's marina; a revision from the original "repair-only" determination worth approximately $6 million.

  • Recipient – Baker Donelson Washington, D.C. Office Pro Bono Award (2023)
  • FEMA Administrator's Award for Innovation (2013)
  • DHS Service Award for Superior Mission Achievement (2010)

Education

  • Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense/Security, Executive Leadership Graduate, 2011
  • Catholic University of America, J.D., 2001
  • James Madison College, Michigan State University, B.A., 1997

Admissions

  • Maryland, 2001
  • Michigan, 2017
  • Virginia, 2019
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 2005

Disclaimer

*

Baker Donelson attorney admitted to the practice of law in Maryland, Virginia, and Michigan; not admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia.

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