The Procurement Playbook

With every new administration, there is both great uncertainty and opportunity in federal government contracting. To help you navigate the rough seas of doing business with the federal government in the Trump administration, Oles Morrison is partnering with the AGC of Alaska and Alaska PTAC to host a half-day seminar/webinar […]

It is no secret that the False Claims Act (“FCA”) is the government’s primary anti-fraud tool and that recoveries under the statute have hit record highs in recent years.  For example, since 1987, FCA recoveries have totaled $56 billion with no single year since 2010 falling below $3 billion.  Moreover, most of […]

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 amended the Truth in Negotiations Act’s cost or pricing data report threshold, effective July 1, 2018, for all Department of Defense (DoD) procurement contracts, if no exceptions apply.  The TINA amendment raises the threshold for submitting certified cost or pricing data […]

While FAR 52.242-14 (the “Suspension of Work Clause”) and FAR 52.242-15 (the “Stop-Work Order Clause”) both allow a contracting officer to require a contractor to stop all, or any part, of the work at the Government’s convenience, they contain some key differences that prudent contractors should know to protect their […]

Despite recent political shifts away from globalization, international trade – particularly U.S. exports – will remain a substantial component of the U.S. economy. Companies doing business in the U.S. and overseas must be up to date on U.S. export control regulations. An important component of these regulations are the Export […]

It seems like a yearly ritual.  The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (“SASC”) drafts and passes a version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) that includes reforms aimed at curtailing bid protests, while the House Armed Services Committee (“HASC”) drafts and passes a version of the NDAA that […]

In its annual report to Congress, the Defense Contract Audit Agency (“DCAA”) released impressive metrics about its progress during the 2017 fiscal year. For many years, DCAA has struggled to manage a substantial number of backlogged incurred cost audits—most of which extended back several years, including some which extended back […]

Back when Congress passed the FY2017 NDAA, they included a provision (Section 1822) requiring SBA to create a pilot program to provide opportunities for qualified subcontractors to obtain past performance ratings. Specifically, Congress mandated that SBA create a 3-year pilot program whereby small business concerns without a past performance rating […]

The Department of Defense (“DoD”) recently issued a final rule regarding contractor disclosures of defective pricing issues on DoD contracts, which can arise where the contractor’s certified cost or pricing data is inaccurate, incomplete or is not current.  In such cases, these errors and omissions can result in significant contract […]

Often times the most difficult part of the government contract claims process is checking all the procedural “boxes” of a certified claim.  Failure to file a claim within six years of accrual, request a contracting officer’s final decision, or include a wet ink signature are just a few of the procedural […]

When do agency Boards of Contract Appeals have jurisdiction to hear a federal contract dispute under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) when the dispute is with a surety that issued a bond on the project?  Answering this question is key to avoiding a government motion to dismiss for lack of […]

On May 1, 2018, Oles Morrison partner Adam Lasky will be on a panel discussing “Tips for Avoiding Litigation on Federal Construction Projects,” together with Paul Varela (Varela, Lee, Metz & Guarino), Neil O’Donnell (Rogers, Joseph O’Donnell, PC), and Jennifer Fiore (Dunlap Fiore, LLC), at the AGC Federal Contractors Conference 2018.  Adam and the panel […]

In the RAND Corporations’s 2018 report on DoD bid protests, RAND highlighted some concerning statistics regarding bid protests filed by small businesses. RAND discovered that more than 50% of protests were being filed by small businesses (more than double the percentage of prime contract dollars going to small businesses), and […]

As we were reviewing the regulatory agendas of various federal agencies for upcoming regulations that might impact federal contractors, we noticed that the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) most recent regulatory agenda included an upcoming proposed regulation entitled “Consolidation of Mentor Protégé Programs and Other Government Contracting Amendments.”  Specifically, SBA’s […]

For years bid protest filings at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have been done by e-mail (or even fax, mail or hand delivery).  In January 2014, Congress directed GAO to establish a electronic filing and document dissemination system (not unlike the PACER system used by federal courts), and authorized GAO […]