VA Amends Rules on Price Adjustments, Comments on Its Use of the Vets First Authority and Cascading Set-Asides
On February 21, 2018, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued final rules to amend its regulations that pertain to Economic Price Adjustment clauses for firm-fixed-price contracts, identifying VA’s Task-Order and Delivery-Order Ombudsman; clarifying the nature and use of consignment agreements; adding policy coverage on bond premium adjustments and insurance under fixed-price contracts; and providing for indemnification of contractors for medical research or development contracts. These final rules adopt the proposed rule published on March 13, 2017, and will . . . Read More
LGBTQ Discrimination Claims Under Title VII Likely to Increase in 2018 After Second Circuit Ruling
This week, the New York-based United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit became only the second federal appellate court to rule that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of an employee’s sexual orientation. The Second Circuit’s decision in Zarda v. Altitude Express is only binding on employers in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. However, given the court’s influence and the changing tides on the issue, we anticipate the decision . . . Read More
Know Before You Bid on Contract Opportunities
Presented by Nichole Atallah and Peter Ford Click here to view the recorded session. Session Description: We often see what can go wrong in the bidding and procurement process long after a client submits a proposal or is awarded a contract. From awards challenged because companies did not confirm their set-aside status, to incorrect assumptions made about the cost of labor, mistakes made before you bid can be costly, and even devastating. This webinar discussed how businesses can proactively get out in . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for February 23, 2018
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Contractors on Board with Defense Department Budget Request The defense contracting industry has had a positive reaction to President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2019 Defense Department budget request. The requested $686 billion for fiscal year 2019 is the largest ever request for the Pentagon. The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) praised the administration for recognizing a growing defense spending need in the U.S. Spokesperson for NDIA, Evamarie Socha, stated, “NDIA welcomes the president’s fiscal year 2019 budget . . . Read More
SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals Clarifies the (Not So Obvious) Effect of Size and Status Recertifications
In a recent case with wide-ranging implications, the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) Office of Hearings and Appeals (“OHA”) confirmed the broad nature of SBA’s general rule that a contractor maintains its size and socio-economic status for the life of a contract. See In the Matter of Analytic Strategies, Inc., SBA No. VET-268 (Jan. 29, 2018) . As a quick primer, SBA regulations provide that, where a concern represented itself and qualified as small and/or for a certain socio-economic status (e.g., SDVOSB, HUBZone, EDWOSB/WOSB) at the time of its initial offer, it maintains that . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for February 16, 2018
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS 81 Firms Land Spots on $15B GSA Alliant 2 Small Business GWAC According to an article on govconwire.com , the General Services Administration has awarded 81 companies spots on the small business portion of a potential 10-year, $15 billion government-wide acquisition contract vehicle for information technology platforms and services. The agency noted the list includes some companies that were named “apparent winners” in the pre-award notice released in December as well as “contingent” awardees that were not listed in . . . Read More
Review of NAICS Codes Assignments Reveals Inconsistencies and Small Percentage of Successful Appeals
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) has released a report on its review of several issues related to the North American Industry Classification System (“NAICS”) codes. Although it found that there are some inconsistencies in the assignment of NAICS codes – and thus size standards – for substantively similar procurements, only about 20 percent of NAICS codes appeals are successful. This is likely due to the fact that, in order to win a NAICS code appeal, an appellant must demonstrate . . . Read More
Legal Advisor Newsletter – First Quarter 2018
In this Issue: PilieroMazza’s Bold Predictions for 2018 Cybersecurity Concerns in M&A Due Diligence Reading the Tea Leaves — NDAA 2018 How Many People Do We Employ? Critical Employment Law Considerations for Small Businesses Will 2018 Be A Good Time to Sell Your Company?
Cybersecurity Update
Last month many of you listened to the webinar Jon Williams and I did regarding the December 31, 2017, deadline to comply with the Department of Defense (DoD) Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.204-7012 and how to implement the security controls set forth in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171. Now that the deadline has passed and we’ve entered into a new era of being compliant with the rules, we thought it would be a . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for February 9, 2018
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS Pentagon Warns CEOs: Protect Your Data or Lose Our Contracts According to an article from Govexec.com, the Pentagon has issued a warning to defense-industry contractors, insinuating that they need to sharpen up their computer networks protection, or risk losing business. Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan was at the forefront of the push for greater security measures, stating, “The culture we need to get to is that we’re going to defend ourselves and that … we want the bar . . . Read More