A recent article on this blog reported on the contents of the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), which had been rolled out of committee for consideration by the full Senate. The Senate has since passed its version (S. 4049) and the House has passed its
Helping individuals, companies, and organizations understand key legal and practical considerations for promoting compliance and making better business decisions in these types of federal, state, and local government contracting matters MORE
Eric Whytsell
A natural problem solver, Eric enjoys helping clients assess, understand, and develop and implement practical strategies to address complicated issues relating to government contracts, intellectual property, cybersecurity, and export controls.
Federal Contractors’ Compliance Responsibilities Just Got Easier, or Did They?
On July 14, 2020, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued an interim final rule intended to clarify the scope and application of the requirements set forth in Section 889(a)(1)(B) of the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (FY19 NDAA). The rule’s release comes after months of eager anticipation by—and almost apocalyptic warnings from—a wide variety…
Beware Rogue Employees with a Taste for Fraud
As if more evidence were needed, a recent Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment provides another reminder of the importance of an effective compliance program—and the potential costs to contractors if their program doesn’t prevent fraudulent actions by individual employees.
Last week, the DOJ announced it has entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with Alutiiq International…
Flouting Affiliation Rules When Pursuing Small Business Set-Asides Can Lead to FCA Woes
If you were somehow still wondering whether small businesses really need to be concerned about the affiliation rules in the Small Business Administration (SBA) regulations, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” Furthermore, running afoul of those rules can easily lead to liability under the False Claims Act (FCA), as most recently demonstrated by an Oklahoma…
If the Solicitation Doesn’t Provide Enough Information for You to Bid Intelligently, Push for More
Ideally, an agency’s solicitation would provide comprehensive information about its requirements so that interested offerors each had what they needed to craft their best response to the agency’s actual needs. Such a situation would create a level playing field for competition and allow the agency to conduct a meaningful “apples to apples” evaluation to determine…