April 7, 2014
A recent decision by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) serves as a reminder that, absent limitations established by the agency, discussions and a call for final proposal revisions allow offerors to revise any aspect of their proposals.
Medical Receivables Solutions, B-409358 (Comp. Gen. March 19, 2014) involved the Army’s award of an IDIQ contract with…
April 4, 2014
The DOD Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) is currently conducting an assessment to identify impacts experienced by industry resulting from contracting statutes that do not achieve the intended benefits, and has invited public comments identifying (i) particular impacts associated with specific statutes, as well as (ii) candidate DFARS and component supplements…
March 31, 2014
One of the long-recognized advantages of mentor-protege joint ventures is to enable a developing company to shore up and expand its past performance experience by claiming the past performance experience of its mentor. This advantage is particularly significant in view of the ever-increasing importance being accorded to past performance in best value procurements.
The Government Accountability…
March 31, 2014
In a recent case, a husband and wife were both sentenced to prison terms for their involvement in a conspiracy to steer military contracts. In United States v. Keith Johnson and Angela Johnson, No. 13-CR-00305 (E.D. Va. indictment filed July 16, 2013), the couple was charged in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and actual counts of wire fraud in connection with a Vehicle Maintenance…
March 25, 2014
DOD has issued a new Proposed Rule updating the Rules of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (“ASBCA”), in their entirety, and is inviting comments on or before April 29, 2014. The proposed changes update, revise and reorder the Board’s Rules, and attempt to resolve ambiguities and remove contradictions. Among other things, the proposed rule provides updated…
March 20, 2014
Michael Dunkel was sentenced recently to a 5-year prison term, followed by 2 years of supervised release, for fraudulently obtaining more than $4.4 million in government funds that should have gone to disadvantaged small businesses contractors.
Dunkel’s scheme, as set forth in the court documents, was fairly straightforward. According to those documents, Dunkel learned that Keith Hedman…
March 19, 2014
The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-240, § 1347(b)(3), authorized the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish mentor-protégé programs for HUBZone, Service Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVO) and Women-Owned small businesses, modeled on SBA’s existing 8(a) mentor-protégé program set forth in 13 C.F.R. § 124.520. Section 1641 of the National Defense Authorization…
March 19, 2014
The Government Contracts Monitor frequently addresses cases involving conflict of interests pertaining to government contractors. A recent case demonstrates that lawyers, and even judges, can also be involved in conflict of interest allegations related to procurements.
On February 6, 2014, the District of Columbia Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (“BEGA”) filed a…
March 12, 2014
Last June, the FAR Councils issued an Interim Rule aimed at clarifying that open-ended indemnification provisions in End-User license Agreements (EULAs), Terms of Service (TOS) and other agreements are not binding on the Government unless expressly authorized by law – and shall be deemed stricken from such agreements. On December 31, 2013, the interim rule became a Final…
March 11, 2014
The Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD IG) recently issued its Semiannual Report to Congress, covering the second half of FY 2013. The report summarizes the “achievements” of the DoD IG, as well as the military audit and investigative agencies. During the reporting period, the DoD IG identified $23.5 billion in potential monetary benefits and investigations conducted by the…
March 11, 2014
Contractors should be aware of two Rules recently adopted by DOD – both effective February 28, 2014. First, DOD adopted a final rule implementing statutory amendments enhancing whistleblower protections for contractor and subcontractor employees. Second, DOD issued an interim rule allowing its litigation support contractors access to a broad range of “litigation information,” including…
March 6, 2014
For more than eight years – since the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 – Congress has been incentivizing states to enact anti-fraud legislation modeled after the federal False Claims Act (FCA). While many states long ago enacted civil false claims acts that focused on Medicaid fraud, at least as of 2005 few states had broader statutes modeled on the federal FCA. This has changed and…
April 7, 2014
A recent decision by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) serves as a reminder that, absent limitations established by the agency, discussions and a call for final proposal revisions allow offerors to revise any aspect of their proposals.
Medical Receivables Solutions, B-409358 (Comp. Gen. March 19, 2014) involved the Army’s award of an IDIQ contract with…
April 4, 2014
The DOD Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) is currently conducting an assessment to identify impacts experienced by industry resulting from contracting statutes that do not achieve the intended benefits, and has invited public comments identifying (i) particular impacts associated with specific statutes, as well as (ii) candidate DFARS and component supplements…
March 31, 2014
One of the long-recognized advantages of mentor-protege joint ventures is to enable a developing company to shore up and expand its past performance experience by claiming the past performance experience of its mentor. This advantage is particularly significant in view of the ever-increasing importance being accorded to past performance in best value procurements.
The Government Accountability…
March 31, 2014
In a recent case, a husband and wife were both sentenced to prison terms for their involvement in a conspiracy to steer military contracts. In United States v. Keith Johnson and Angela Johnson, No. 13-CR-00305 (E.D. Va. indictment filed July 16, 2013), the couple was charged in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and actual counts of wire fraud in connection with a Vehicle Maintenance…
March 25, 2014
DOD has issued a new Proposed Rule updating the Rules of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (“ASBCA”), in their entirety, and is inviting comments on or before April 29, 2014. The proposed changes update, revise and reorder the Board’s Rules, and attempt to resolve ambiguities and remove contradictions. Among other things, the proposed rule provides updated…
March 20, 2014
Michael Dunkel was sentenced recently to a 5-year prison term, followed by 2 years of supervised release, for fraudulently obtaining more than $4.4 million in government funds that should have gone to disadvantaged small businesses contractors.
Dunkel’s scheme, as set forth in the court documents, was fairly straightforward. According to those documents, Dunkel learned that Keith Hedman…
March 19, 2014
The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-240, § 1347(b)(3), authorized the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish mentor-protégé programs for HUBZone, Service Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVO) and Women-Owned small businesses, modeled on SBA’s existing 8(a) mentor-protégé program set forth in 13 C.F.R. § 124.520. Section 1641 of the National Defense Authorization…
March 19, 2014
The Government Contracts Monitor frequently addresses cases involving conflict of interests pertaining to government contractors. A recent case demonstrates that lawyers, and even judges, can also be involved in conflict of interest allegations related to procurements.
On February 6, 2014, the District of Columbia Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (“BEGA”) filed a…
March 12, 2014
Last June, the FAR Councils issued an Interim Rule aimed at clarifying that open-ended indemnification provisions in End-User license Agreements (EULAs), Terms of Service (TOS) and other agreements are not binding on the Government unless expressly authorized by law – and shall be deemed stricken from such agreements. On December 31, 2013, the interim rule became a Final…
March 11, 2014
The Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD IG) recently issued its Semiannual Report to Congress, covering the second half of FY 2013. The report summarizes the “achievements” of the DoD IG, as well as the military audit and investigative agencies. During the reporting period, the DoD IG identified $23.5 billion in potential monetary benefits and investigations conducted by the…
March 11, 2014
Contractors should be aware of two Rules recently adopted by DOD – both effective February 28, 2014. First, DOD adopted a final rule implementing statutory amendments enhancing whistleblower protections for contractor and subcontractor employees. Second, DOD issued an interim rule allowing its litigation support contractors access to a broad range of “litigation information,” including…
March 6, 2014
For more than eight years – since the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 – Congress has been incentivizing states to enact anti-fraud legislation modeled after the federal False Claims Act (FCA). While many states long ago enacted civil false claims acts that focused on Medicaid fraud, at least as of 2005 few states had broader statutes modeled on the federal FCA. This has changed and…
