By Grace Mahan Because a high level of detail allows for substantive comparison between different bids, it is important both in securing contract awards and in the process of protesting awards after unsuccessful bids. A recent GAO protest ruling, Beacon Grace, LLC, recently highlighted the importance of detail in the government contract bidding process. In...
Author: blawgger
The Danger of the “Plug Number” and a Simple Strategy to Avoid Death by Mistake
By Grace Mahan Ideally, prospective contractors make bids for government contracts without error. However, whether because of a clerical oversight or off-the-mark subcontractor bids, mistakes do occur. Often, errors in bids for government contracts result in the forced removal of a bid, or worse, the retroactive reversal of an award. However, as highlighted by a...
A Change That Would Simplify and Improve SBA’s HUBZone Program
By Carol L. O’Riordan A HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zone) is a geographic area that benefits from a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) program that was established in 1998. The program helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities. The SBA regulates and implements the HUBZone program by...
Our Latest Article: When Desperate Situations Call for Immediate and Targeted Response
Managing Partner Carol L. O’Riordan recently wrote an article in the National Law Review about how small law firms can bring in former government employees and other specialists to help them in their government contracts cases, especially suspension and debarment cases, thus serving their clients better and reducing costs. The article describes a distinctly new...
Good News for Small Businesses — Primes and Subs — on Federal Contracts
By Pamela J. Bethel We have good news for small businesses that contract with the federal government. The government’s policy encouraging prompt payment to small business subcontractors has been extended to December 31, 2017. In a memorandum issued on January 11, 2017, by the Office of Management and Budget, OMB Director Shaun Donovan ordered that the...
New Bill Would Change the Face of Federal Regulation
By Carol L. O’Riordan On January 5, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, pretty much along party lines, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. This bill, if enacted into law, would dramatically change the way that federal regulation of industry operates. The vote was 237 to 187, with all...
SBA Rule Allows Prime Contractors to Claim Credit for Small Lower-Tier Subcontractors
By Taimur Rabbani The Small Business Administration recently issued a rule to allow a large, prime government contractor with an individual subcontracting plan to receive small-business credit for subcontracts issued to small businesses at any tier. The rule has significant implications for businesses performing on unrestricted federal contracts – at all tiers. The final rule,...
Will Obama’s ‘Midnight Regulations’ Affect Your Business?
By Carol L. O’Riordan Welcome to the world of “midnight regulations” – a regulatory phenomenon that occurs from time to time in Washington, D.C., when one administration leaves office and a new one comes in. The Hill reported on January 19, 2017, just a day before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, that many federal regulatory...
D.C. Appeals Court Upholds Large Attorney’s Fee Award in Construction Case
By Carol L. O’Riordan Concluding a long-running dispute between two construction companies that had engaged in a joint venture to renovate a D.C. public school, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled on October 6, 2016, that the James G. Davis Construction Co. must pay $775,000 in attorney’s fees to its former joint venture partner, HRGM...
Appeals Court Upholds 8(a) Program Against Constitutional Challenge
By Pamela J. Bethel The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has upheld the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) business development program, which provides for contracting preferences to small business owners, against a constitutional challenge that the program involves impermissible racial classifications. The decision in Rothe Development, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Defense and...