Key Ruling on Native American Sovereign Immunity Stands—for Now

The Fourth Circuit case Williams v. Big Picture Loans [1]  is being hailed as a major victory for Native American sovereign immunity rights. For entities owned by Native American tribes, the case stands as an important ruling for determining arm-of-the-tribe sovereign immunity. The case may be appealed to the Supreme Court. Background The Lac Vieux Desert Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (the Tribe) formed two business entities under tribal law: Big Picture Loans, LLC, to serve as an independent lending entity . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – August 26, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS & ADVISORY SERVICES GAO Defers to SBA on When Runway Extension Act Applies, August 20, 2019, Emily Rouleau Last year, Congress passed—and President Trump signed—the Small Business Runway Extension Act (the “Runway Extension Act” or the “Act”), which changed the time period for determining a company’s size based on average annual receipts from the previous three years to the previous five years. This summer, the . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – August 19, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link .  SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS & ADVISORY SERVICES   General Services Administration – According to Law360, GSA is seeking up to $20 billion worth of information technology services from disadvantaged small businesses and has asked for feedback before issuing a final solicitation. The Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resource for Services (STARS III) deal would be an indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity contract open to small businesses eligible for the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – August 12, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS LAW This Project Is Behind Schedule – What Is a Contractor to Do?, August 6, 2019, Michelle Litteken Construction projects rarely, if ever, go precisely as planned. One of the most common issues government contractors face is falling behind schedule. A schedule is developed, and then the contractor is confronted with differing site conditions, changes, or a litany of other causes of delay. The contract completion date that seemed easily achievable . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – August 5, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . FALSE CLAIMS ACT / LITIGATION / CYBERSECURITY & DATA PRIVACY Have the Flood Gates Opened?: Cisco Settles First-Of-Its-Kind Cybersecurity False Claims Act Litigation, August 2, 2019, Matthew Feinberg On July 31, 2019, a False Claims Act matter pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York was unsealed, revealing an $8.6 million settlement that may have far-reaching implications for government contractors. The litigation, United States, et al., ex rel. James Glenn v. Cisco . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – July 29, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . FALSE CLAIMS ACT / LITIGATION PODCAST: PilieroMazza’s GovCon Live! presents “Ex Rel. Radio,” our multi-part series on the False Claims Act, which will include commentary on potential pitfalls for your company, enforcement issues, and emerging trends. Please subscribe to one of our podcast accounts – Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google Podcasts , TuneIn , or Stitcher – to receive a notification when the first podcast in this series, “Cybersecurity, Implied Certifications, and the False Claims Act,” with Isaias Alba , David . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – July 23, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS & ADVISORY SERVICES CLIENT ALERT: SBA to Increase Size Standards with Inflationary Adjustment, July 17, 2019, Megan Connor On July 18, 2019, SBA issued an interim final rule increasing the receipts-based size standards for inflation. An unpublished version of the rule is available here . The change should be effective August 17, 2019, 30 days after the scheduled publication of the rulemaking. Comments to the rule are due . . . Read More

EEOC Announces New EEO-1 Pay Data Reporting Deadline

September 30, 2019 marks the newly announced deadline for employers who submit annual EEO-1 reports to report employee 2018 pay data to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC revealed the new deadline in a federal court submission last week. UPDATE: Since the original blog on this topic was published, the court issued an order confirming the September 30, 2019 deadline, and requiring the EEOC to collect a second year of data in addition to the 2018 pay information. The EEOC . . . Read More

SBA to Increase Size Standards with Inflationary Adjustment

Tomorrow, SBA will issue an interim final rule increasing the receipts-based size standards for inflation. An unpublished version of the rule is available here .  The change should be effective August 17, 2019, 30 days after the scheduled publication of the rulemaking.  Comments to the rule are due September 16, 2019.  For government contractors whose status changes in the System for Award Management (“SAM”) from “other than small” to “small,” as a result of the inflation adjustment, SBA advises that the . . . Read More