BLOG: Better Late Than Never, But Never Late Is Better: Understanding FAR’s Government Control Exceptions to Late Proposals
PilieroMazza attorneys have seen a number of government contractor clients encounter the same problem: They timely emailed a proposal to a government agency, but, for reasons unknown, the proposal was delivered late or was never received by the Contracting Officer (“CO”). There, the CO normally enforces the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s (“FAR”) strict “Late is Late” policy and rejects the proposal. Fortunately, in certain circumstances, it is possible to employ the Government Control Exception to salvage allegedly late proposals; however, the Government Accountability . . . Read More
BLOG: Cybersecurity, Implied Certifications, and the False Claims Act
As I am sure many of you know and have read about already, the first False Claims Act (“FCA”) case, US Ex rel. Markus v. AeroJet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., et al., No. 2:15-cv-2245, has been filed in the Eastern District of California by a disgruntled former Director of Cyber Security Compliance and Controls, and it survived a motion to dismiss in May of this year. When the existence of the AeroJet case is layered over the U.S. Supreme Court’s findings in Universal Health Servs., . . . Read More
BLOG: Trends in Mergers and Acquisitions
Trends in Mergers and Acquisitions“What’s market?” is an important question for the buyer and seller to ask in a merger and acquisition (M&A). Along with counsel from a skilled M&A attorney, having a basic understanding of what terms are typical in the current M&A market will help businesses that are in the market to buy or sell a business (1) better analyze the reasonableness of specific terms offered by the other side and, if an offered term is not typical, . . . Read More
BLOG: How Government Contractors Can Take Advantage of CPARS Trends to Win (and Maintain) Federal Contracts
On July 18, 2019, the Professional Services Council hosted an important event covering Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (“CPARS”) trends, their impact on contractor past performance ratings, and the consequence they have on winning federal contracts. As one of the speakers at this event, PilieroMazza’s Samuel Finnerty offered recommendations on what government contractors can do now to proactively engage and manage their CPARS ratings and position themselves for future growth. One of the most interesting trends discussed was the sharp decline . . . Read More
BLOG: Department of Defense Sets Course on Cybersecurity Evaluation and Enforcement
On a limited budget, government contractors need to be compliant with a litany of statutes, regulations, and industry standards in order to remain competitive in the marketplace. This has become particularly true in the cybersecurity context. With no overarching federal law for cybersecurity standards or privacy protection (though the U.S. Senate is in the process of discussing a bipartisan privacy bill as they have done, unsuccessfully, in prior legislative sessions), rulemaking authorities have taken it upon themselves to create industry . . . Read More
BLOG: Impact of California Consumer Privacy Act on Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses
The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) will go into effect on January 1, 2020. Similar to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), CCPA creates significant compliance challenges for government contractors and commercial businesses doing business in California, with several states following suit. Under CCPA, fines from the Attorney General for businesses that do not comply could be as high as $7,500 per violation, with CCPA also granting consumers the right to bring private action, exposing companies to actual and . . . Read More
BLOG: Long-Awaited Proposed Rule for Lower-Tier Subcontracting Plan Credit Finally Arrives to the FAR
The FAR Council is beginning to catch up with the SBA’s allowance that prime contractors with small business subcontracting plans may take credit for lower-tier small business subcontracting—albeit, three years behind schedule. PilieroMazza attorneys will monitor and report on these developments, which could affect prime contractors and their subcontracting plan reporting, as well as their ability to win and maintain government contracts. In 2016, SBA issued its final rule implementing directives found in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to . . . Read More
BLOG: SBA Issues Proposed Rule Changing Receipts Calculation to 5 Years, Implementing Small Business Runway Extension Act
On June 24, 2019, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published its long-awaited proposed rule changing the period of measurement for a receipts-based size calculation from three years to five years. This change was prompted by the Small Business Runway Extension Act (the Runway Act), which became law on December 17, 2018. SBA was slow to implement this change because SBA believes that the Runway Act amended a section of the Small Business Act that does not apply to SBA. “Nevertheless,” SBA says, . . . Read More
BLOG: Learn from Others’ Mistakes and Avoid an FCA Claim
The recent settlement reached by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Cúram Software Ltd. (Cúram), and the Department of Justice provides a useful lesson for government contractors—especially contractors in the healthcare industry. The $14.8 million settlement follows allegations that Cúram-IBM violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by making material misrepresentations in a proposal to support the development of Maryland’s Health Insurance Exchange website and IT platform. Specifically, Cúram made a presentation in which it stated that its software could make eligibility . . . Read More
BLOG: Use It Or Lose It – U.S. Supreme Court Holds Employers Who Wait Too Long to Raise EEOC Claim Objection to Title VII Discrimination Lawsuit May Forfeit Objection
Recently, in Fort Bend County, Texas v. Davis, the U.S. Supreme Court was faced with a jurisdictional question: If a plaintiff fails to exhaust her remedies by first filing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) claim, is she jurisdictionally barred from suing her employer for discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”)? In typical lawyerly fashion, the Supreme Court drew a distinction between “mandatory” and “jurisdictional” and answered with an “it depends.” This blog addresses the . . . Read More