Government Contracts

Contractors are often concerned that filing a pre-award protest might hurt their relationship with the government customer and, as a result, sometimes take a risk in responding to what they think is an unclear or unattainable solicitation requirement. A recent GAO decision serves as a reminder that contractors who fail…

As the Government Fiscal “New Year” October 1st approaches, September typically finds government contracting officers exercising options for another year of contract performance. Years of working with government contract clients and teaching government contracting officers have shown me that, often, neither party understands how an option is legally exercised. Nor…

An unsuccessful offeror recently learned that, although an agency can voluntarily give unsuccessful offerors debriefing information that is more than what the debriefing rules require, doing so does not change the GAO deadlines that a protester must meet. The protest involved the DoD Enhanced Debriefing Rights. Unsuccessful offerors in DoD…

On Friday, July 27th from 8-10 am, Berenzweig Leonard, LLP will be hosting a panel discussion on the impact Bid Protests have on HR Strategy. The discussion will cover upcoming legislation, the impact that bid protests have on the workforce, and HR strategy. Panelists include: Laura Giangiuli (VP & HR,…

On April 2, 2018, the Department of Defense issued an extensive new set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding implementation of the DFARs Cybersecurity Clause (252.204-7012), NIST 800-171 and the Cloud Computing Clauses (252.229-7009 & -7010).  These FAQs shed further light on what the Department expects and will expect from…

On June 7, 2018, the Virginia Supreme Court issued an opinion that highlights a significant concern for subcontractors seeking to enforce a teaming agreement with its prime contractor, CGI Federal Inc. v. FCi Federal, Inc., No. 170617 (Va. June 7, 2018). The Court held that provisions in a teaming agreement about…

The best way a non-8(a) government contractor can get 8(a) work is to become part of an 8(a) Joint Venture (JV). But the admission ticket to this unique opportunity has a price: the 8(a) JV must provide “substantial benefit” to the 8(a). This means that the JV – particularly the…

As expected, the new government cyber requirements have become weapons for protests. It’s important for government contractors to see how GAO will handle these issues. In a recent GAO protest, a NOAA RFQ required that an offeror provide documentation that showed it had an awareness and capability for meeting the…

On June 13, 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a notification containing a warning that Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors have targeted Cleared Defense Contractors (CDC) for attack in the near future. APT actors attempt to infiltrate contractor network systems with phishing messages, watering hole redirects and…