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

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . NATIVE AMERICAN LAW Emerging Issues in Native 8(a) Contracting The House Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight, and Regulations held a hearing titled, “Native 8(a) Contracting: Emerging Issues.” Recognizing the positive impact that the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8(a) program could have on tribal communities living in devastating poverty with little to no economic opportunity, Congress created the exceptions in the law for enterprises owned communally by tribes, Alaska . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – October 22, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW DoL Collected a Record Amount in Discrimination Settlements in Fiscal Year 2019 According to Bloomberg Government, the Department of Labor (DoL) collected more than $27 million from federal contractors like Goldman Sachs, Dell, and Bank of America in fiscal year 2019 workplace discrimination settlements—a new record for the agency. Bloomberg Law indicated that settlement totals, which include back pay and interest for job applicants and workers, increased by . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – October 17, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION The Supreme Court Clarifies Vague Arbitration Clauses Affecting Class Disputes for Growing Businesses, October 10, 2019, Patrick Burns For most small to medium-sized businesses, the threat of a class action is not usually front-of-mind. However, as a business grows, the threat can increase depending on the number of employees and the nature of the work being performed. Class actions are commonly thought of as involving hundreds, if not . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – October 8, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . FALSE CLAIMS ACT / GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS LAW Buyer Beware: More Stringent Standards for Government Contractors Under the Buy American Act on the Horizon, October 4, 2019, Jackie Unger President Trump has made “buy American and hire American” a key goal for his administration. To that end, the President has signed three executive orders to impose stricter enforcement of the Buy American Act, the latest of which was issued on July 15, 2019. While this new Executive Order . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – October 2, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . CYBERSECURITY & DATA PRIVACY Start Preparing Now for DoD’s Upcoming Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), September 27, 2019, Jon Williams and Emily Rouleau For a while now, we have been writing about the increasing impact of cybersecurity on the government contracting world, which, as Jon wrote, has become the “ fourth pillar ” of Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions. The latest evidence of this was discussed by our colleague, Dave Shafer, in his recent blog discussing a . . . Read More

Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – September 25, 2019

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . FALSE CLAIMS ACT Small Businesses and the False Claims Act (FCA): Are More FCA Cases Against Small Businesses on the Horizon? September 19, 2019, Timothy Valley On August 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had reached a $20 million settlement with Luke Hillier (Hillier), the majority owner and former CEO of a Virginia-based defense contractor, ADS, Inc. (ADS), to resolve “allegations that he violated the FCA . . . Read More

BLOG: Small Businesses and the FCA: Are More FCA Cases Against Small Businesses on the Horizon?

On August 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had reached a $20 million settlement with Luke Hillier (Hillier), the majority owner and former CEO of a Virginia-based defense contractor, ADS, Inc. (ADS), to resolve “allegations that he violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by fraudulently obtaining federal set-aside contracts reserved for small businesses that his company was ineligible to receive . . . .” The resolution of the claims against Hillier follows ADS’s payment of a . . . Read More

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

If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . NATIVE AMERICAN LAW Key Ruling on Native American Sovereign Immunity Stands—for Now, September 13, 2019, Paul Mengel The Fourth Circuit case Williams v. Big Picture Loans 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 . . . Read More

BLOG: Protégé Subcontract Revenues from Mentor Hold No Basis for Economic Dependence

An important benefit of a mentor-protégé agreement (MPA) is that no determination of affiliation may be found between a protégé and its mentor solely because of assistance provided under the agreement. A recent decision of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), Avar Consulting, Inc., [1]  upheld a size determination which found that a protégé was not affiliated with its SBA-approved mentor through economic dependence, even though the revenues it received from the mentor constituted over 70% of . . . Read More