PilieroMazza Enhances Corporate and Litigation Legal Services to Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses
WASHINGTON, DC, MAY 13, 2019: PilieroMazza is pleased to announce the addition of Patrick Burns as an Associate in the firm’s Litigation Group and Francis Massaro as an Associate in the firm’s Business & Transactions Law Group. Patrick Burns has successfully represented commercial businesses in a variety of litigation matters, in both state and federal courts, involving a diverse range of issues, such as employment, wage and hour disputes, defamation, corporate defense litigation, class action defense, and contract disputes. . . . Read More
Unfair by Design? Flaws in CPARS Disputes and What Needs to Change
The Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) heavily influences who wins federal contracts, but its dispute process is anything but fair. Agencies can post their version of events—accurate or not—with little neutral oversight, while contractors get limited time to respond and few options for real correction. It’s time for reform. Independent reviews, temporary holds on disputed ratings, clear evidence rules, and enforceable deadlines would make CPARS more accurate and balanced. Lawmakers and industry leaders must act to make the CPARS . . . Read More
2022 NDAA Makes Significant Changes to Federal Procurement Policy
On December 27, 2021, President Biden signed the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law, authorizing more than $700 billion in defense spending. The NDAA also contains several provisions that shape federal procurement policies and forecast areas that Congress believes warrant attention in the future. PilieroMazza examines three themes in this year’s NDAA that contractors should know to take advantage of contract opportunities and maintain compliance requirements. 1. Continued Support for Domestic Preferences and Supply Chain Security Congress sent . . . Read More
Lauren Brier
Lauren represents commercial businesses in a variety of government contracting and litigation matters. As Chair of PilieroMazza’s REAs, Claims, and Appeals Group, she leads a team of attorneys who assist clients in every phase of the contract dispute process. A highly skilled practitioner, government contractors benefit from Lauren’s substantial experience managing complex claims and appeals for contractors under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA) and other applicable jurisdictional statutes. This experience is particularly valuable for contractors seeking monetary relief and time extensions from . . . Read More
BLOG: Challenging a Negative CPARS: What Remedies Are Available?
As any experienced government contractor knows, poor performance under a federal contract can have significant consequences. Not only can it lead to contract termination and damages, but it can also affect a contractor’s ability to obtain future work, as agencies are generally required to consider past performance information posted on the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (“CPARS”) when making source selection decisions. Because a CPARS rating is generally valid for 3 years (6 years for construction/architect-engineer contracts), a contractor may . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for March 8, 2019
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) report on high-risk areas. Mr. Dodaro’s testimony explained that the GAO’s high-risk program has focused attention on government operations with greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or that are in need of transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. The GAO’s 2019 High Risk Report, among other things, identified . . . Read More
The Weekly Update for February 22, 2019
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING The Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained a protest filed by Ekagra Partners, LLC challenging the terms of a request for proposal (RFP) issued by the General Services Administration (GSA). In its protest, Ekagra Partners argued the solicitation for the OASIS Small Business on-ramp, which included terms that improperly restricted competition by limiting the ways in which a small business joint venture could form teams to submit a proposal. The GAO found that the solicitation’s limitation on the ability . . . Read More