The Procurement Playbook

Sea Sheppard Conservation Society (“Sea Sheppard”) recently found itself in the unfortunate situation of being in an auction bidding war against a single ineligible bidder in a General Services Administration (“GSA”) auction, resulting in Sea Sheppard having to pay a substantially higher sum for two vessels than if only eligible buyers had been allowed […]

Back in January, we wrote about the dramatic spike in bid protests sustained at GAO during the first quarter of fiscal year 2016.  At the time we noted that GAO was on pace to shatter the prior year’s number of bid protest sustains.  Today, GAO released its Bid Protest Annual Report […]

On Nov. 22, 2016—just 10 days before the rule was scheduled to go into effect—U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant entered a nationwide preliminary injunction preventing implementation of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule increasing the minimum salary level required to qualify as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards […]

On Wednesday, November 16, Howard Roth will present an interactive workshop at the Tri-Cities Regional Chamber of Commerce that will provide essential information small businesses need to know to protect their business.  Learn about recent updates including the SBA’s new Mentor/Protégé Program, Affiliation rules and Teaming/Joint Venturing.  To register for […]

In base operating support (BOS) services contracts, end users and Contracting Officer’s Representatives can call in maintenance requests for the BOSS contractor to perform.  When these requests are within the scope of the contract, the contractor can usually proceed with the work.  However, if the request exceeds the scope of […]

On October 21st the Department of Defense (DoD) proposed an amendment to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) intended to address “a more transparent means of documenting the impact of costs incurred during the undefinitized period of an undefinitized contract action on allowable profit.” (DFARS Case 2015–D024.)  In other […]

A recent Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals (PSBCA) decision provided an important reminder for everyone that even if you deliver the mail, you cannot ignore your other chores—particularly taking out the trash. In Bryant Commercial Postal, LLC v. United States Postal Service, PSBCA No. 6633, a case that sounds […]

Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit handed down an opinion in Rothe Development, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Defense affirming a lower court’s 2015 decision denying a challenge to the constitutionality of Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) 8(a) business development program (“8(a) Program”). However, reading the majority and […]

James F. Nagle will give a special presentation at The Seminar Group’s upcoming 23rd Annual Washington Construction Law conference on September 15 at the Hilton Seattle. In Jim’s federal construction law presentation, he will provide an update on the False Claims Act, new programs  from the Small Business Administration and other new developments affecting […]

On September 15, join Adam Lasky, partner in Oles Morrison’s Government Contracts Practice Group, along with Laurie Davis, senior contracting officer of Naval Sea Systems Command, as they discuss lessons learned from bid protests concerning cost or price realism analysis. In this webinar, Adam and Laurie will show procurement officers and contractors how they […]

In the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Business Development’s most recent report to Congress, SBA’s statistics reflect that approximately 23 percent of companies that complete the 8(a) program either cease to exist, substantially curtail operations, or have no available information within three years of graduation from the program. […]

This week, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) published its long awaited final rule providing for a major expansion of its mentor-protégé program.  These regulations, which represent monumental changes to the federal contracting landscape (for small and large businesses), will go into effect August 24, 2016.  In the coming days and weeks we […]

Last week, the Supreme Court issued its much anticipated opinion in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Escobar.  As we discussed in a prior blog, the Universal Healthcare case presented two important questions regarding the scope and breadth of the False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et […]

Recently, the Department of Energy (DOE) released a Federal Register notice proposing an amendment to the DOE Acquisition Regulation (DEAR) to clarify Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 22.12, Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts.  The proposed amendment explains that FAR Subpart 22.12 shall apply to DOE’s management and operating (M&O) […]