The Procurement Playbook

A federal judge in the Western District of Washington has ruled that tribal employees may still be liable in their individual capacities under the False Claims Act, even if Native American tribes themselves are protected from such suits by sovereign immunity. This interpretation could have important implications for Alaska Native-owned […]

In Roy Allen Slurry Seal, Inc. v. American Asphalt South, Inc., (2017) 2 Cal.5th 505, the California Supreme Court recently ruled that disappointed bidders could not state a claim for the tort of intentional interference with prospective economic advantage against companies that obtain public contracts based on business practices that […]

Contractors often sign modifications and change orders without being fully aware of the rights they may be waiving under the modifications’ terms. While the federal government’s standard modification form (Standard Form 30) does not contain waiver language, government agencies generally add such language to ensure that the modification forecloses future […]

In what appears to be the first litigation concerning “intergovernmental support agreements” (IGSA), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Red River Waste Solutions, Inc., B-414367 (March 21, 2017) declared that it has jurisdiction to review the award of IGSAs (in this particular case an IGSA for garbage collection services). Section 331 of […]

Unlike bid protests filed at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), there is no automatic Competition in Contacting Act (“CICA”) stay that applies to protests filed at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”). Instead, a protester wishing for the contract award to be halted during the pendency of a COFC protest has […]

Last month, we wrote about the House passing a resolution (H.J. Res. 37) pursuant to the Congressional Review Act to repeal the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule (commonly known as the contractor “Blacklisting” rule). At the time we predicted the resolution would also pass the Senate and be signed by President Trump. On March […]

It is not uncommon for a disappointed offeror in a fixed-price procurement to be astonished at how low the awardee’s proposal price ends up being. This astonishment can lead to the desire to file a bid protest based on the argument that the awardee’s price is unreasonably low. Unfortunately, in many of […]

Communication is key to any protest or lawsuit.  While it is common for parties in a legal dispute to hold their cards close to the vest, significant problems arise when strategic discretion becomes closer to manipulation of facts.  In Level 3 Communications, LLC v. United States, the United States Court of Federal […]

Oles Morrison attorney, Adam K. Lasky,  has been invited to present at the Alliance Northwest 2017 Conference on Thursday, March 19 at the Washington State Fairgrounds Showplex. His presentation, “A Contractor’s Guide to Mitigating Negative Past Performance Reviews” will provide contractors with a roadmap for dealing with negative past performance reviews, […]

Back in October 2016, we wrote about the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule (commonly known as the contractor “Blacklisting” rule) and how its implementation had been temporarily halted by a federal court in Texas.  The Blacklisting rule would have allowed agencies to essentially debar contractors on a contract-by-contract basis […]

President Trump’s Executive Orders have been front page news for the past week, many of which have been quite controversial. Yesterday the President issued another Executive Order that, although unlikely to garner major media buzz, may be the most impactful yet for government contractors. The Presidential Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and […]

In the Size Appeal of Gregory Landscape Services, Inc., the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) Office of Hearings and Appeals (“OHA”) heard an appeal following a Size Determination in which the SBA Area Office held that Gregory Landscape Services, Inc. (“Appellant”) was not a small business under the applicable size standard associated with the subject procurement. […]

While the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA or Board) has jurisdiction over contract claims, the ASBCA does not have jurisdiction over fraud.  This can lead to competing cases in multiple jurisdictions if the government has a claim of fraud against a contractor while the contractor is pursuing a […]

As past performance reviews become an increasingly important part of the bid evaluation process, the performance assessments catalogued in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (“CPARS”) will have greater significance than ever before. CPARS reviews generally set forth the Government’s evaluation of a contractor’s performance based on several factors, including […]

Recently, the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) issued a proposal that would align its size standards for determining whether a business qualifies as a “small business” with the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) current SBA Loan Program standards. Such a change would decrease inconsistencies among the entities, and potentially increase EXIM lending […]