PilieroMazza Legal Advisor – Third Quarter 2014
In this issue; Avoiding Pitfalls with Restrictive Covenants in Employment Contracts What Is Enough Consideration of Small Business Interests? – GAO Denies Protests Against GSA Consolidation of Small Business Contracts SBA Proposes New Regulations Which Permit Advisory Small Business Size Decisions
Be more. Do more. Advancing the Missions of Others through Community Service
By Kimi Murakami What can you do to give back to the community? What do you have to offer others? Law firms with a conscious, like PilieroMazza, encourage their employees to ask themselves these questions and to participate in giving back to their communities through pro bono services, financial donations, participation of their time and other resources to causes that they believe in. The platforms for giving back to the community take on a variety of forms at PilieroMazza. Finding . . . Read More
Federal Circuit Permits the Department of Veterans Affairs to Ignore the Rule of 2 for FSS Orders
By Alex Levine A recent Federal Circuit decision could have substantial implications on whether the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) choses to set aside work for veteran-owned small businesses (“VOSBs”) and service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (“SDVOSBs”) when ordering goods and services off of a Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”). Under applicable statutory and regulatory authority, the VA is obligated to award contracts of a certain dollar threshold on the basis of a competition restricted to small business concerns owned and controlled . . . Read More
It’s Not Just About Being Disadvantaged: An Overview of the SBA’s Potential for Success Requirement for 8(a) Program Entry
Gaining entry to the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) 8(a) Business Development Program (the “8(a) Program”) is not just about proving a social and economic disadvantage. If you are a small business owner thinking about applying to the 8(a) Program, there is another eligibility requirement you need to understand: potential for success. A business applying for 8(a) status must possess reasonable prospects for success competing in the private sector before it can be admitted to the 8(a) Program. What does that . . . Read More
Recent Supreme Court Decision Reaffirms Tribal Sovereign Immunity for Commercial Activities Conducted Off-Reservation
In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that, absent a waiver or Congressional action to the contrary, the doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity applies to lawsuits arising from a tribe’s commercial activities, even if they take place off of Indian lands. Kiowa Tribe of Okla. v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc., 523 U.S. 751, 758 (1998). Since that decision, commercial enterprises owned by Indian tribes have entered into increasingly varied lines of business and have enjoyed increasing amount of success. With that success . . . Read More
The New Rules: Changes That Every Small Business Contractor Needs to Know
Pam Mazza and Cy Alba presented a workshop at VETS2014, the Veterans Entrepreneur Training Symposium in Reno, Nevada.
Inflation Adjustments Coming to Small Business Size Standards
On June 12, 2014, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim rule, which goes into effect on July 14. This new rule increases the size standards applicable to nearly every NAICS code used in Federal Contracting (some were not adjusted, especially cases where the size is set by statue). This was the first time that the SBA adjusted any of the size standards to account for inflation since 2008. Given that many sectors of the economy are starting to . . . Read More
Small Business Investors Have Rights, Too – Megan Connor, Set-Aside Alert
WOSB and EDWOSB Programs: Getting Certified and Staying Compliant
Pam Mazza was a presenter at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization 13th Annual DOE Small Business Forum & Expo at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida.
FAR Amended to Clarify Contractor Responsibilities Pursuant to the Defense Base Act
By Nichole DeVries The Department of Defense, the General Services Administration and NASA issued a final rule on May 30, 2014, which amended the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to clarify contractor and subcontractor responsibilities to obtain workers’ compensation coverage, or to qualify as a self-insurer under the terms of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), as extended by the Defense Base Act (DBA). The most significant change to the FAR impacts the employer’s responsibility for carrying out DBA . . . Read More