On July 25, 2016, the federal Small Business Administration issued a final rule – effective August 24, 2016 – establishing a mentor-protégé program for all small business concerns. Although this new program resembles the existing mentor-protégé program for 8(a) firms, it is a distinct program that permits all small business concerns to participate in mentor-protégé...
Author: blawgger
O’Riordan Bethel Wins Key Ruling on Veteran-Owned Business Set-Asides
Here is an interesting and important bid protest case that a team from O’Riordan Bethel won earlier this year in the Small Business Administration’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. The holding of the case was that a mentor-protégé joint venture formed under Section 8(a) does not qualify for a set-aside as a service-disabled veteran-owned small...
Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Reap Big Win at U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on June 16 that when Congress wrote “shall,” it meant “shall.” The result of its decision in Kingdomware Technologies Inc. v. United States will have major implications for the federal contracting efforts of veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and may well give VOSBs a big boost in their constant efforts...
Contractors Need to Scrutinize Unanimous Supreme Court Ruling on FCA Issue
By Pamela J. Bethel Government contractors and subcontractors need to carefully scrutinize the Supreme Court’s important June 16 ruling on a key False Claims Act. In a unanimous decision that has delighted lawyers for claimants under the FCA, the Court endorsed a potent theory of FCA liability known as “implied false certification.” The closely watched...
Baltimore Sewage Project Is Great Opportunity for City, and for Contractors
Earlier this month, Baltimore City reached an agreement with federal and state environmental agencies that commits the city to greatly reduce the amount of sewage that overflows in Baltimore within less than five years. The agreement is a modification to a 2002 consent decree between the Maryland Department of the Environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection...
Our Client, Dr. Kimberly Brown, Featured in Newspaper Profile
Our client, Dr. Kimberly Brown, who is president and CEO of Baltimore-based Amethyst Technologies, was featured in an article in the Baltimore Times on May 13, 2016. Dr. Brown founded the company in 2006, and it now has annual revenue of about $2 million and clients that include the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research,...
OSHA Penalties to Increase With Inflation — After 25 Years
We recently wrote about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new rules on inhalable silica, which will take effect in June. By August, another important change in OSHA enforcement will also take place – one that any company regulated by OSHA needs to be aware of. For the first time in more than 25 years,...
Construction Industry Note: New OSHA Rule Gets Tough on Workplace Silica
By Carol L. O’Riordan Any company that is in the construction industry needs to be aware of a new rule on occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica that was just issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). On March 25, 2016, OSHA set forth its long-awaited final rule setting tougher standards for occupational...
What Are the Real Issues With Minority Contracting?
Governing magazine, a prestigious nonpartisan publication that covers state and local government issues, just published in its April 2016 issue a critical article that indicates that in some parts of the country, programs intended to help women- and minority-owned contractors are failing to do so successfully and that often, these contracts actually benefit nonminority companies....
M. Luis Construction Opens New Facility
The O’Riordan Bethel Law firm congratulates its client the M. Luis Construction Co. on the opening of a new asphalt facility in Glen Burnie, Md. For the owners of the M. Luis Construction Co., Cidalia Luis-Akbar and Natalia Luis, this marks their second asphalt manufacturing facility in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The new plant will...