Over the last few years, the government has shifted away from lowest price technically acceptable valuations placing a larger importance on past performance. The past performance requirement can sometimes create obstacles for firms who lack the required substantive past performance bonafides. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision offers another avenue as the agency attributed the past performance of two joint venture (JV) partners who previously worked as a prime and subcontractor on similar contracts to their Mentor-Protégé JV. Continue Reading Joint Venture Past Performance Can Be Gleaned from Previous Prime-Sub Relationships
Register Now | Subcontract Negotiation Strategy and Best Practices Webinar
All government contractors routinely review and negotiate subcontractor agreements. Whether you are the prime or the subcontractor, these agreements are critical for delivering solutions to government customers and capturing federal compliance requirements.
Please join our panel of Bass, Berry & Sims Government Contracts experts – Richard Arnholt, Todd Overman, and Sylvia Yi – along with our in-house colleague, Chad Pryor, Chief Counsel, Public Sector at TTEC, to discuss the art of negotiating subcontractor agreements and best practices for ensuring a successful relationship for both parties.
The webinar will take place on Monday, March 6, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET. Click here to register.Continue Reading Register Now | Subcontract Negotiation Strategy and Best Practices Webinar
Task Orders May Carry Implicit Size Recertification Requirements
Generally, when a business is awarded a multi-year IDIQ contract, it retains its “small” business designation unless a contracting officer (CO) requires the business to recertify its size status, and has since grown larger than the small business threshold. A recent decision from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) throws a wrench into that general understanding when OHA found an implicit recertification requirement absent an express requirement or CO demand.Continue Reading Task Orders May Carry Implicit Size Recertification Requirements
Attention SBIR Applicants…Remember that Affiliation Rules Still Apply
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program has an interesting construction. With seemingly no competition to bring size protests and the successful completion of a previous grant before a second grant, the unusual process can make participants forget that normal Small Business Administration (SBA) size regulations still apply. A recent SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) decision reminds SBIR awardees to comply with all affiliation rules and ownership requirements or risk losing follow-on SBIR awards.Continue Reading Attention SBIR Applicants…Remember that Affiliation Rules Still Apply
Inflationary Relief for Government Contractors from National Defense Authorization Act
I examined how and whether the newly passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will provide inflationary relief for government contractors in a recent article for Reuters. Government contractors who had firm fixed price contracts awarded in the last two years are finding that the work performed now is more expensive due to rising inflation costs.Continue Reading Inflationary Relief for Government Contractors from National Defense Authorization Act
New Legislation Strengthens Disclosure Requirements for Potential Organizational Conflicts of Interest
On December 27, President Biden signed the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act into law. The legislation, ushered through Congress by a bipartisan group of backers, strengthens existing regulations around federal contractor conflict of interest mitigation and provides new requirements for agencies to follow to sniff out potential conflicts of interest. Continue Reading New Legislation Strengthens Disclosure Requirements for Potential Organizational Conflicts of Interest
Register Now | PubK’s GovCon Annual Review Conference 2023
I am looking forward to presenting a panel titled “Mergers and Acquisitions” for the 2023 PubK’s GovCon Annual Review Conference alongside Susan Gabay (Houlihan Lokey) and Damien Specht (Morrison Foerster LLP). Our session will take place virtually on January 11, 2023, at 4:00pm ET.
For more information and to register, please click here.
Inflation Relief on Its Way for Government Contractors?
Unprecedented inflation levels have caused substantial hardship on government contractors during the last year – especially those with firm fixed-price contracts. Fortunately, meaningful help may be on its way. The Senate recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of Fiscal Year 2023, which authorizes future spending of appropriations and outlines Department of Defense (DOD) policy priorities for the next fiscal year.Continue Reading Inflation Relief on Its Way for Government Contractors?
Government Executive Article on Proposed Climate Reporting Rule
Following the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council’s proposed rule requiring federal contractors to disclose climate emissions, I was quoted in a Government Executive article offering perspective on the proposal from leaders in the contracting community.
Continue Reading Government Executive Article on Proposed Climate Reporting Rule
New SBIR and STTR Programs that Promote Small Business Innovation
I authored an article published by Law360 discussing the recent reauthorization of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology (STTR) programs. Touted as “America’s Seed Fund,” these programs seek to foster a healthy environment for small business startups to innovate and provide a path to private-sector commercialization of new technologies.
Continue Reading New SBIR and STTR Programs that Promote Small Business Innovation