Government Contracts Legal Forum - page 4

This week’s episode covers DOJ, IDIQ, and GAO case law news, and is hosted by partner David Robbins. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without. Listen: Crowell.com | PodBean |… Continue Reading

Source: Fastest 5 Minutes, The Podcast Gov’t Contractors Can’t Do Without – Government Contracts Legal Forum

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has seemingly slipped a noteworthy change into a technical correction published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2018.  Indeed, this “technical correction” actually appears to be an attempt to overturn the impact of a decision that the Office of Hearing and Appeals (OHA) issued in January 2018 – In The Matter of: Analytic Strategies, Inc., No. VET-268 – which held that under SBA’s recertification rules, a SDVOSB maintains its size and socio-economic status for the life of the multiple-award contract unless a contracting officer requests recertification in connection with a specific task order.

Source: Changes to the Size and Socioeconomic Status Recertification Regime Lead to Questions and Confusion – Government Contracts Legal Forum

Contractors looking for updates to the statutory allowable cost limits on employee compensation may be looking in the wrong place.  But what was once lost can easily be found, at least for the moment, by simply navigating to a different website.

Source: Hidden in Plain Sight: Where, Oh Where, Have the Compensation Caps Gone? – Government Contracts Legal Forum

Last week, the Government Contracts Group wrapped up its 34th annual Ounce of Prevention Seminar, “Diving Into Uncharted Waters,” last week. The speaker panels featured Crowell & Moring lawyers from various practice groups, government officials—including GSA Administrator Emily Murphy—and in-house counsel, and focused on a variety of timely issues including False Claims Act enforcement, ethics and compliance, bid protests, cybersecurity and privacy, and international issues affecting government contractors. The panel sessions were live-tweeted from the @GovConCrowell Twitter handle, and check out the #cm2018oops hashtag for more recaps.

Source: Government Contracts Group Concludes Successful 34th Annual OOPS Event – Government Contracts Legal Forum

In AlliantCorps, LLC, B-415744.2, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied a protest by AlliantCorps, LLC (Alliant) alleging violations of the Procurement Integrity Act (PIA) by the Department of the Navy (Navy) following Alliant’s prior protest of a task order award to DKW Communications, Inc. (DKW).  Alliant asserted that DKW improperly received Alliant’s bid and proposal… Continue Reading

Source: Incumbent Employees’ Self-Disclosure of Salaries is Not a Procurement Integrity Act Violation – Government Contracts Legal Forum

With even DoD officials acknowledging cyber threats ranging from exfiltrating our top military secrets (“the terabyte of death” per DISA’s Director) to seizing control of SECDEF’s car to sinking Navy vessels with critical infrastructure attacks, both federal agencies and government contractors are in the pressure cooker.  For contractors, bad cybersecurity not only opens the door to cyber espionage and privacy breaches followed by costly clean-up and lost trade secrets, but now – with the latest DoD guidance – may put critical contract awards at risk.  Join us this Thursday, May 17, at 1:00 PM Eastern, as Crowell & Moring attorneys Paul Rosen, Evan Wolff, David Bodenheimer, and Michael Gruden lead a discussion highlighting recent developments impacting the volatile privacy and cybersecurity sector.  Specific topics include:

Source: OOPS 2018 Preview: Contractors and Cybersecurity – Government Contracts Legal Forum

This week’s episode covers DFARS and SBA Mentor Protégé Program news and is hosted by partner Peter Eyre. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.

Source: Fastest 5 Minutes, The Podcast Gov’t Contractors Can’t Do Without – Government Contracts Legal Forum

With over 1,700 government contracts M&A deals since 2015, M&A continues to be a significant factor in shaping the federal contracting market.  Join us on Thursday, May 18,2018, at 9:15 AM Eastern, as Crowell & Moring attorneys James Stuart, Karen Hermann, and Judy Choi along with special guest Tim Garnett, a Manager Director of Avascent, discuss key market trends as well as the latest developments and considerations in the government contracts transactions.  Specific topics include:

Source: OOPS 2018 Preview: 2017 M&A Highlights and Trends to Watch – Government Contracts Legal Forum

In Matter of: First Fin. Assocs., Inc., B-415713, Feb. 16, 2018, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied a protest filed by First Financial Associates, Inc. (FFA)  against an award by the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service (DHS/USSS) to FEEA Childcare Services, Inc. (FEEA) for the administration of a childcare subsidy program.  FFA alleged that their proposal was not evaluated consistently with the RFP’s evaluation criteria regarding the protection of personally identifiable information (PII) incident reporting requirements.

Source: How Quickly Should Contractors Report Data Breaches? GAO Denies Protest Finding 12 Hours Is Not Fast Enough – Government Contracts Legal Forum

Are we experiencing a shift towards a higher bar for pursuing False Claims Act Cases?  Department of Justice guidelines may signal a new direction from the last two decades of DOJ FCA enforcement history through policies that reign in relators and articulate some boundaries for cases pursued by DOJ.  Meanwhile, Escobar progeny continues to develop  and refine the materiality requirement under the FCA.  Join us on May 17, 2018, at 8:30 AM Eastern, as Crowell & Moring attorneys Brian Tully McLaughlin, Mana Lombardo, Jason Crawford, and Nkechi Kanu lead a discussion highlighting recent developments impacting FCA investigation, enforcement, and litigation under the False Claims Act.  Specific topics include:

Source: OOPS 2018 Preview: False Claims Act Investigations, Enforcement, and Litigation Trends – Government Contracts Legal Forum