November 18, 2013
In a recent case, United States v. Precision Image Corporation, Inc. and Chih-Kwanh Hwa, No.13-CR-00226, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, the owner of a circuit board supplier was sentenced to prison for selling Taiwanese-manufactured circuit boards to the U.S. Navy. Chih-Kwanh Hwa, Precision Image’s owner, successfully bid on $180,034 of Navy contracts for circuit…
November 12, 2013
In the recent case of TrustComm, Inc., B-408456 (Comp. Gen. Sept. 20, 2103), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided another reminder that prevailing on a size protest before the Small Business Administration (SBA) may not alter the contract award if SBA’s size protest decision comes too late.
The case involved a 100% small business set-aside for communications equipment for Coast…
November 12, 2013
The answer: because the Wage and Hour Division says so. In what could be construed as a deliberate attempt to over-inflate wage rates for Davis Bacon Act (“DBA”) wage determinations, the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) – in Coalition for Chesapeake Housing Development, ARB No. 12-010 (Admin. Rev. Bd. Sept. 25, 2013) - recently approved the use of “super groups” of…
November 11, 2013
In a recent criminal case, a former Boeing Procurement Officer and the subcontractors he worked with were charged with mail and wire fraud in connection with the government contracts version of an “insider trading” scheme. In United States v. Anderson, et. al. No. 4:13-CR-403, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the government alleged that Deon Anderson, Boeing’s former…
November 5, 2013
On October 29, 2013, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) issued a proposed rule incorporating a newly created “Proposal Adequacy Checklist” into the NASA FAR supplement (NFS). NASA intends for the rule to ensure that offerors submit thorough, accurate and complete proposals by self-validating the adequacy of those proposals and improve the quality of initial submissions. The…
November 1, 2013
A recent decision of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides a reminder of how protesters can win the battle but still lose the war – through no fault of their own. The case, Strategic Technology Institute, Inc., B-408005.2 (Comp. Gen. Oct. 21, 2013), involves the United States Coast Guard’s cancellation of a solicitation for analytical support services under a very unusual set of…
October 31, 2013
In a recent case, a former Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division pled guilty to making prohibited post-employment contacts with government officials after he was hired as a consultant for a company under investigation by the FBI. In United States v. Kenneth Kaiser, No. 13-CR-10264, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Mr. Kaiser pled guilty to one count…
October 28, 2013
Relevant experience and past performance are key ingredients in the evaluation of proposals. In this world of constant mergers, acquisitions (asset purchases and stock purchases) and related novations of government contracts, the question is often exactly what experience can and should be counted by an agency when it evaluates proposals? The answer is not always clear. Take for example, two…
October 25, 2013
As previously reported here, President Obama issued an Executive Order on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity which, among other things, directed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) to a develop a Cybersecurity Framework that would reduce cyber risks to the nation’s critical infrastructure. NIST recently released its Preliminary Cybersecurity…
October 24, 2013
In a recent case that received national media attention, a Commander and Captain-select in the U.S. Navy was arrested on an allegation of conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with lucrative port contracts overseas. The case is United States v. Leonard Glenn Francis and Michael Vannek Khem Misiewicz, No. 13-MJ-03457, United States District Court for the Southern District of California…
October 18, 2013
The Court of Federal Claims recently reminded us that courts do not answer abstract legal questions. They only adjudicate concrete disputes involving at least two opposing parties – parties that are adverse. “Something real must be at stake, and the parties’ interests with respect to that real thing must be antagonistic.” Brookfield Relocation, Inc. v. United States, No. 13-592 (Fed. Cl. Oct. 4,…
October 17, 2013
A new interim rule amends the FAR cost principles to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (“NDAA FY13”) addressing the allowability of legal costs incurred in connection with legal proceedings based on whistleblower complaints. More particularly, the rule revises the cost principle at FAR 31.205-47 (Costs related to legal and other…
November 18, 2013
In a recent case, United States v. Precision Image Corporation, Inc. and Chih-Kwanh Hwa, No.13-CR-00226, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, the owner of a circuit board supplier was sentenced to prison for selling Taiwanese-manufactured circuit boards to the U.S. Navy. Chih-Kwanh Hwa, Precision Image’s owner, successfully bid on $180,034 of Navy contracts for circuit…
November 12, 2013
In the recent case of TrustComm, Inc., B-408456 (Comp. Gen. Sept. 20, 2103), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) provided another reminder that prevailing on a size protest before the Small Business Administration (SBA) may not alter the contract award if SBA’s size protest decision comes too late.
The case involved a 100% small business set-aside for communications equipment for Coast…
November 12, 2013
The answer: because the Wage and Hour Division says so. In what could be construed as a deliberate attempt to over-inflate wage rates for Davis Bacon Act (“DBA”) wage determinations, the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) – in Coalition for Chesapeake Housing Development, ARB No. 12-010 (Admin. Rev. Bd. Sept. 25, 2013) - recently approved the use of “super groups” of…
November 11, 2013
In a recent criminal case, a former Boeing Procurement Officer and the subcontractors he worked with were charged with mail and wire fraud in connection with the government contracts version of an “insider trading” scheme. In United States v. Anderson, et. al. No. 4:13-CR-403, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the government alleged that Deon Anderson, Boeing’s former…
November 5, 2013
On October 29, 2013, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) issued a proposed rule incorporating a newly created “Proposal Adequacy Checklist” into the NASA FAR supplement (NFS). NASA intends for the rule to ensure that offerors submit thorough, accurate and complete proposals by self-validating the adequacy of those proposals and improve the quality of initial submissions. The…
November 1, 2013
A recent decision of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides a reminder of how protesters can win the battle but still lose the war – through no fault of their own. The case, Strategic Technology Institute, Inc., B-408005.2 (Comp. Gen. Oct. 21, 2013), involves the United States Coast Guard’s cancellation of a solicitation for analytical support services under a very unusual set of…
October 31, 2013
In a recent case, a former Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division pled guilty to making prohibited post-employment contacts with government officials after he was hired as a consultant for a company under investigation by the FBI. In United States v. Kenneth Kaiser, No. 13-CR-10264, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Mr. Kaiser pled guilty to one count…
October 28, 2013
Relevant experience and past performance are key ingredients in the evaluation of proposals. In this world of constant mergers, acquisitions (asset purchases and stock purchases) and related novations of government contracts, the question is often exactly what experience can and should be counted by an agency when it evaluates proposals? The answer is not always clear. Take for example, two…
October 25, 2013
As previously reported here, President Obama issued an Executive Order on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity which, among other things, directed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) to a develop a Cybersecurity Framework that would reduce cyber risks to the nation’s critical infrastructure. NIST recently released its Preliminary Cybersecurity…
October 24, 2013
In a recent case that received national media attention, a Commander and Captain-select in the U.S. Navy was arrested on an allegation of conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with lucrative port contracts overseas. The case is United States v. Leonard Glenn Francis and Michael Vannek Khem Misiewicz, No. 13-MJ-03457, United States District Court for the Southern District of California…
October 18, 2013
The Court of Federal Claims recently reminded us that courts do not answer abstract legal questions. They only adjudicate concrete disputes involving at least two opposing parties – parties that are adverse. “Something real must be at stake, and the parties’ interests with respect to that real thing must be antagonistic.” Brookfield Relocation, Inc. v. United States, No. 13-592 (Fed. Cl. Oct. 4,…
October 17, 2013
A new interim rule amends the FAR cost principles to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (“NDAA FY13”) addressing the allowability of legal costs incurred in connection with legal proceedings based on whistleblower complaints. More particularly, the rule revises the cost principle at FAR 31.205-47 (Costs related to legal and other…
