Government Contracts Legal Forum

Increased Debarment for Small Business Misrepresentations?

Richard W. Arnholt — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:55:35 -0500

Section 1683 of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 4310, as approved last week by the House Committee on Armed Services, proposes an amendment to the Small Business Act to clarify that misrepresentation as to small business status in order to obtain certain prime contracts or...

Rehabilitation Or Punishment? -- The Evolution of Suspension and Debarment

Alexina Jackson — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:51:33 -0500

Recent legislative trends appear to be squarely at odds with the stated purpose of suspension and debarment. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) describes a process focusing on “present responsibility,” an express acknowledgement of the potential for contractor...

CISPA Faces Uphill Battle

Kate Molony — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:24:15 -0500

Proponents of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (more commonly known as CISPA) won a small battle last month when the House of Representatives passed the proposed bill by a vote of 248 to 168, with 42 yays from Democrats. Yet the war for comprehensive cybersecurity legislation...

Suspension and Debarment - Why can't you be more like the Air Force?

Bob Wagman — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:05:47 -0500

Although not conveyed in those exact words, that sentiment was expressed at several points by Chairman McCaskill during a hearing on April 17 before the Senate Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on The Comprehensive...

C&M Lawyers Conduct Live Webinar on Government Contract Changes on Wednesday, May 16

J. Chris Haile — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:05:10 -0500

At 1 p.m. (Eastern) on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, Crowell & Moring government contracts attorneys Chris Haile and Brian Tully McLaughlin will be conducting a webinar entitled “Government Contract Changes: How They Impact Your Bottom Line” on behalf of L2 Federal Resources....

Pressure Grows for DoD to In-House Certain Federal Contracts

Raja Mishra — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:09:11 -0500

The Department of Defense (“DoD”) continues to contract out work that should be handled by federal employees, according to a new Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) study, which finds shortcomings in DoD’s tracking and management of such “inherently...

Physical Possession Not Required to Demonstrate a Paper Proposal Is "Under the Government's Control" Prior to Submission Deadline

Sarah Gleich — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:20:19 -0500

In a recently unsealed decision, Judge Damich of the Court of Federal Claims sustained a pre-award protest by The Electronic On-Ramp, Inc. (“EOR”), finding that the Defense Intelligence Agency (“DIA”) improperly rejected EOR’s bid as late where, although an electronic...

C&M Lawyers to Conduct Live Webinar on the Buy American Act, Trade Agreements Act and Other Domestic Preference Restrictions

Adelicia R. Cliffe — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:09:01 -0500

At 1 p.m. (Eastern) on Thursday, April 5, 2012, Crowell & Moring government contracts attorney Addie Cliffe and international trade attorney J.J. Saulino will be conducting a webinar entitled “Navigating the Buy American Act, Trade Agreements Act and Other Domestic Preference...

Congress Considers Tough Anti-Human Trafficking Rules for Contractors

Raja Mishra — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:14:43 -0500

Government contractors could soon be required to create anti-human trafficking compliance plans and face stiff penalties, including criminal charges, for using trafficked labor. On March 27, 2012, anti-trafficking bills were simultaneously introduced in both chambers of Congress following recent...

D.C. District Court Holds That It Lacks Jurisdiction Over In-Sourcing Claim

Grant J. Book — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:38:13 -0500

Just a quick in-sourcing update for today. On March 19, 2011, in Fisher-Cal Industries, Inc. v. United States, et. al, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued an opinion dismissing plaintiff’s in-sourcing claim. No 11-791 (D.D.C. Mar. 19, 2012). As...

C&M Lawyers to Conduct Live Webinar on Government Contracts Intellectual Property Rules

Jonathan M. Baker — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:31:47 -0500

At 1:00 p.m. EDT on March 29, 2012, Crowell & Moring partner John McCarthy and Jon Baker will conduct a webinar on behalf of L2 Federal Resources entitled “Intellectual Property Rights in Government Contracts: Overview and Recent Changes.” This 90-minute webinar will provide an...

Attempting to Broaden the Mandatory Suspension & Debarment Net: McCaskill - Webb Senate Bill 2139

Alexina Jackson — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:50:12 -0500

In January and February, my colleague, Bob Wagman, wrote about complications related to provisions on suspension and debarment in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-74) (1/18/12) (2/23/12). The provisions in the 2012 Appropriations Act were all premised on the...

Commercial Items: New Requirement for Higher-Level Approval of Commercial Services

Alexina Jackson — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:12:38 -0500

On Monday, DoD issued a final rule in a continuing effort to reduce the potentially inappropriate use of commercial item contracts. DFARS: Commercial Determination Approval, 77 Fed. Reg. 14,480, (Mar. 12, 2012) (to be codified at 48 C.F.R. pt. 212). The rule, most notably, modifies DFARS...

DOJ Renews Effort on Parallel Civil, Criminal, Regulatory and Administrative Proceedings

Raja Mishra — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:14:46 -0500

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently issued a DOJ-wide memorandum urging federal government attorneys to coordinate when conducting parallel civil, criminal, regulatory and administrative proceedings. Holder wrote that parallel criminal and civil investigations would deter...

Imposition of Substantial Penalties Under The FCA Where No Damages Are Found Violates Eighth Amendment

Dalal Hasan — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:10:10 -0500

Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in U.S. ex rel. Bunk v. Birkart Globistics GmbH & Co., et al. (a qui tam case in which the government did not intervene) declined to impose statutory penalties on the jury’s finding of 9,136 false claims (invoices...

Suspension and Debarment - Agencies grapple with the statutory exclusion for felony convictions in the FY 2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act

Bob Wagman — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:30:57 -0500

In our earlier post, we discussed the provisions sprinkled throughout the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-74) that prohibit certain agencies from using federal appropriated funds “to enter into a contract . . .[with] any corporation that was convicted of a felony criminal...

Proposed Defense Budget Reflects National Security Priorities

Kate Molony — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:12:07 -0500

In an effort to comply with the 2011 Budget Control Act, the Department of Defense has proposed a “difficult but manageable” budget that will save approximately $259 billion over the next five years, totaling $487 billion in savings within a decade. Coordinated with President...

Come join Crowell & Moring on February 15, 2012, as it hosts the ABA's "Cyber on the Hill" with Congressman Jim Langevin

David Z. Bodenheimer — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:42:28 -0500

Congressman Langevin (RI-D) serves as one of the leading experts and thought-leaders on Capitol Hill on cybersecurity developments and initiatives. He is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the bipartisan House Cybersecurity Caucus and previously co-chaired the Center for Strategic and...

C&M Attorneys to Conduct Live Webinar on Organizational and Personal Conflicts of Interest, Regulatory Requirements, and Compliance Strategies

James G. Peyster — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:13:19 -0500

At 1pm EST on February 9, 2012, Crowell & Moring government contracts attorneys Peter Eyre and James Peyster will be conducting a webinar entitled “Conflicts of Interest in Government Contracting: Reducing Risk in an Age of Increased Visibility” on behalf of L2 Federal...

Bill Would Authorize New "Preferences" and Calls for Stick to Ensure Agencies Award Contracts to Small Business Concerns

Tiffany Wynn — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:45:00 -0500

On Wednesday, Congressman Bill Owens (D-NY) introduced the Small Business Growth and Federal Accountability Act of 2012 (H.R. 3779). The bill is designed to ensure that government agencies provide more work for small business concern by authorizing blanket preferences and providing for...