Department of Commerce Adds 6 China-Based Entities to Export Administration Regulations List

Department of Commerce Adds 6 China-Based Entities to Export Administration Regulations List On February 14, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ( 15 C.F.R. §§ 730 et seq. ) list ( Entity List ) by adding six China-based entities. The Biden Administration determined that those six entities were conducting business contrary to U.S. national security and / or foreign policy interests. Government contractors should be cautious when doing business with the following entities: Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Technology; . . . Read More

Crackdown on Pandemic Fraud: Impact on Small Business Government Contractors

On March 2, 2023, the White House announced that President Biden intends to ask Congress for $1.6 Billion to combat ongoing fraud related to COVID relief programs, referred to as “pandemic fraud.” This comes in the wake of “historic” levels of fraud that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, the full extent of which is still not fully known. In the White House’s announcement, it notes that the requested $1.6 Billion will be for President Biden’s three-part Pandemic Anti-Fraud proposal. These three . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – March 10, 2023

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . Upcoming Events: Register to attend PilieroMazza’s upcoming events here . Recent Thought Leadership: Check out PilieroMazza’s recent client alerts and blogs here . GovCon Live! Podcast: Listen to PilieroMazza’s Podcast Series “Commercial Businesses New to Government Contracting” here .   LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION The FCA at the Supreme Court, Part 2 of 4: Addressing the Standard for Knowingly Submitting a False Claim, 03.07.23, Matt Feinberg and Annie Hudgins The False Claims Act (FCA) is seeing quite a . . . Read More

2022 FCA Year in Review and Emerging Trends for 2023

Click here to view the recorded session. The Department of Justice (DOJ) recovered approximately $2 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and the False Claims Act (FCA) in Fiscal Year 2022, a sharp decline from 2021 and the lowest recoveries in over a decade. While the FCA remains the primary vehicle for the government to recover funds obtained by fraud or a material misrepresentation, are the 2022 statistics a sign of reduced enforcement or increased compliance? Join Matt Feinberg and . . . Read More

JD Supra Recognizes PilieroMazza as a Top Law Firm for Government Contracting Content

JD Supra’s  2023 Readers Choice Awards  recognizes  PilieroMazza  as the “Top Government Contracting Firm” for its consistently high readership and engagement numbers among its subscribers. Attorneys  Isaias “Cy” Alba, IV , and Kevin Barnett, members of the Firm’s  Government Contracts Group , were also listed in the top ten authors for government contracting content from a pool of over 2,000 authors writing about all aspects of government contracting. This is Cy’s third year on the top ten list. “Our attorneys take pride in the content we produce for the government contracting community,” remarked . . . Read More

Past Performance: How to Use Yours, Benefit from Others’, and Defend It from Attacks

Click here to view the recorded session. You have undoubtedly heard the stories, a contractor with a flawless record going back years gets one bad past performance record, maybe due to themselves or a subcontractor and now they are blackballed. While many in the government believe this is all exaggeration, contractors know that this situation can occur and that even a “satisfactory” rating can be the difference between winning and losing the next big contract. For this reason it is critical that . . . Read More

Government Contract Claims: Top 10 Things to Know About the Contract Disputes Act

Click here to view the recorded session. The adage that “you can’t fight City Hall” does not apply to federal government contractors. The Contract Disputes Act (CDA) provides the framework governing contract disputes between contractors and the government. Knowing contract terms is vital to better position contractors before moving forward with a claim and thus avoid losing the claim to technicalities and traps for the unwary. Join Lauren Brier and Dozier Gardner, attorneys in PilieroMazza’s Government Contract Claims & Appeals Group, to learn the top ten things every government . . . Read More

The FCA at the Supreme Court, Part 2 of 4: Addressing the Standard for Knowingly Submitting a False Claim

The False Claims Act (FCA) is seeing quite a bit of action at the Supreme Court this term, with multiple cases under consideration. This is the second installment in PilieroMazza’s blog series on “The FCA at the Supreme Court,” where we will examine active cases, comment on decisions once they are issued, and discuss ways defendants can protect themselves in FCA litigation. Part 1 of the series is available here . On January 13, 2023, the Supreme Court agreed to consider . . . Read More

Bloomberg Law: Cy Alba Discusses Debt Default’s Negative Impact on Government Contractors

Federal contractors would be among the first to experience serious financial consequences in the event Congress fails to raise the debt limit and government agencies can’t pay their bills as the fiscal year ends. . . . As a result, vendors [government contractors], particularly those with low cash reserves, would see dwindling bank accounts and be forced to take immediate action to stanch losses. Labor Concerns One common response to payment stoppages is for contractors to furlough or lay off . . . Read More

8 Key Takeaways from DOJ’s Annual Report on Fraud and the False Claims Act

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . .”  Charles Dickens’ famous line from A Tale of Two Cities may have been echoing in the ears of Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys a bit over the last month.  On February 7, 2023, DOJ issued its annual report on fraud and False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries for fiscal year 2022. After the agency recovered over $5.6 Billion in fiscal year 2021, the annual report disclosed what . . . Read More