Government Contracts

Our attorneys have significant experience in the analysis, evaluation, and presentation of government contract claims including breach of contract, changes, defective specifications, defective government property and equipment, delays, accelerations, suspensions, value engineering, superior knowledge, commercial impracticability, impossibility and related cost, pricing and scheduling issues.  Disputes that cannot be settled promptly by mutual agreement require case-specific management to either induce settlement or to prepare for trial. Our attorneys formulate an effective discovery and trial preparation plan so that disputed facts and issues are continuously assessed as the case moves toward trial.  We regularly appear before state and federal courts, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the various Boards of Contract Appeals, the American Arbitration Association and other administrative tribunals.

We help contractors respond to a broad range of pricing issues arising under fixed-price, cost-reimbursement, time-and-materials, and share-in-savings government contracts, including:

• Advising clients about whether and how to provide cost or pricing data to the government
• Assisting clients to prepare cost proposals for submission to the government
• Counseling clients in connection with defective pricing and disclosure issues
• Advising clients regarding price reduction clauses in GSA Schedule contracts

Government contractors are held to different standards than those in the commercial marketplace. Understanding and complying with those government-specific standards can be a daunting task, even for experienced government contractors. Our attorneys have assisted clients in the following areas:

• Ethical requirements (such as those relating to gifts and gratuities) hiring of former officials, conflicts of interest, and lobbying disclosure)
  
  
• Socio-economic requirements (Equal Employment Opportunity reporting, small and disadvantaged business subcontracting plans)
  
  
• Corporate compliance programs and audits
  
  
• Pricing compliance (defective pricing, most-favored customer pricing, price adjustment clauses)
  
  
• Cost accounting (unallowable costs, conformance to accounting standards)
  
  
• Industrial security, including personnel and facility security clearances

Many technologies sold to government agencies are subject to export control by either the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Department of Commerce. Compliance issues and license requirements may be triggered even when no product leaves the U.S., for example, when data is shared with foreign-based companies or foreign employees (even if located in the U.S.). Our attorneys identify and resolve potential export control problems.

We have extensive experience in counseling companies in the government's commercial sales practices, including GSA Schedule contracts and the Department of Veterans Affairs Federal Supply Schedule contracts. We assist clients with:

• Proposal preparation
  
  
• Negotiation of contract terms
  
  
• Helping contractors comply with Industrial Funding Fee, the price reduction clause and other GSA Schedule contract obligations
  
  
• Performing internal audits of compliance with GSA Schedule contract obligations
  
  
• Advising clients on the statutory pricing requirements under the Veterans Health Care Act
  
  
• Calculating Non-Federal Average Manufacturer Prices (non-FAMPS) and Federal Ceiling Prices (FCPs) applicable to covered drugs
  
  
• Helping contractors respond to pre-award and post-award MAS contract audits by the Office of Inspector General
  

Our attorneys regularly advise clients on the application of sometimes complex rules of origin. We help clients structure their manufacturing and sourcing plans to comply with restrictions under the Trade Agreements Act, Buy American Act, Berry Amendment, and other legislation.

Selling to state and local governments can be an important component of many of our client's businesses. However, the challenges present in selling to state and local governments are numerous and varied. Our attorneys regularly guide clients through the many facets of state and local procurement laws, regulations, and policies. Additionally, our attorneys advise public sector state and local clients on procurement-related issues, including:

• Requests for proposals and invitations for bids involving both traditional and alternative procurement methods
  
• Defense of bid protests filed by disappointed bidders
  
• Public records requests
  
• Litigation and dispute resolution
  
• Procurement policy issues