Senate Passes Historic COVID-19 Stimulus Package: Billions Set Aside for Small Businesses
On March 25, 2020, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), and the House of Representatives is expected to similarly pass the CARES Act on March 27, 2020. The legislation represents an unprecedented stimulus package as the government attempts to mitigate the economic damage associated with the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Below is a summary of some of the central components of the stimulus package that focus on economic relief for small businesses. . . . Read More
BLOG: Employers: A Briefing on Federal Agencies’ Responses to COVID-19
Federal, state, and local governments are working around the clock to implement various measures in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Additionally, a number of federal agencies and departments are also taking action in response to the outbreak. For employers across the nation, it is undeniably an unstable and unclear time, with no concrete signs of when there will be a sense of normalcy again. However, in the meantime, we compiled a list of some of the agencies with brief . . . Read More
BLOG: COVID-19 and Material Adverse Effect Provisions in Acquisition Agreements
The coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to create extensive uncertainty for individuals and businesses. For parties actively pursuing an M&A transaction, COVID-19 presents the buyer and seller with additional risks both pre- and post-closing, including impacting the valuation of the target company, increasing exposure to liabilities relating to performance and payment obligations, expanding risk of claims from employees and other personnel, among other extraordinary risks that may result in delay or, in the worst cases, termination of the transaction. Traditionally, acquisition agreements include . . . Read More
Breaking Down SBA’s COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan
UPDATE: Since this alert was posted, all states and territories received an EIDL decaration. Also note that loan terms will change with the CARES Act. Please follow the linked text to PilieroMazza’s Client Alert “ Senate Passes Historic COVID-19 Stimulus Package: Billions Set Aside for Small Business ” for recent developments. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses has caused the Small Business Administration (SBA) to institute an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program aimed at aiding those affected by the pandemic. Whether you’re a government contractor . . . Read More
COVID-19 Emergency Sick and Family Leave: What Employers Need to Know
The United States Senate just rubber stamped the House version of emergency measures to help employees and families in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during this National Emergency. The law includes provisions you have likely been following closely. President Trump is expected to sign the bill this evening and it is expected to go into effect on April 2. Below, we’ve broken down what employers need to know now to prepare their business for sick and family leave in the era of . . . Read More
BLOG: Raytheon Challenges CO Intellectual Property Decision in COFC
In a recent Court of Federal Claims (COFC) case, [1] Raytheon Corporation (Raytheon) challenged a federal agency order that a Government Purpose Right (GPR) legend be affixed to documents purportedly containing technical data. COFC held that the contracting officer’s (CO) decision that the documents contained technical data and the CO order to affix a GPR legend constituted a claim under COFC jurisdiction.This demonstrates that government contractors may challenge similar intellectual property disputes in COFC, despite an adverse final decision from a . . . Read More
BLOG: 4 Things to Know About DOJ’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been increasing scrutiny of anticompetitive conduct in public procurements over the past several years, and this trend is certain to continue in light of DOJ’s formation of a new Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF), announced in November 2019. What should government contractors know about the PCSF? Here are four key takeaways regarding the PCSF’s activities to help government contractors understand and prepare for increased enforcement of antitrust laws. The PCSF is an interagency partnership across the . . . Read More
BLOG: Reselling Laptops and Tablets to the Federal Government Just Got Easier
The Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a class waiver of the non-manufacturer rule (NMR) on March 9, 2020. Effective April 8, 2020, it waives the NMR for commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) laptop and tablet computers. The waiver is great news for small business resellers in the IT industry because the waiver will make it easier for these small businesses to comply with the NMR when reselling COTS laptops and tablets to federal agencies. For some background, the NMR is an exception to . . . Read More
BLOG: “Constructive Demotion” Claim Under Title VII Gains Traction in 4th Circuit District Courts
While the viability of a claim of “constructive demotion” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) has yet to be determined by the Fourth Circuit, a series of cases in district courts within the Circuit suggest that such might not be the case for long. In one such recent case, Judge Conrad of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia denied a defendant truck driver training company’s motion to dismiss a constructive . . . Read More
BLOG: Purchase Agreement Components, Part 1: Options for Forms of Purchase Price Consideration in Acquisition Agreements
Whenever parties enter into negotiations to buy and sell a target company, one of the first points of discussion is the purchase price. In particular, the purchase price discussion often reflects the amount of cash that will be paid by the buyer to the seller at closing, and, in fact, nearly all acquisitions involve cash as all or part of the purchase price consideration. However, a cash payment at closing is not the only type of consideration that is common . . . Read More