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Agency's "Mail Storm" Excuses Late Proposal

Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.31.11

Moving beyond faxes into the computer age, the Court of Federal Claims in Watterson Constr. Co. v. U.S. (Mar. 29, 2011) found that a contractor's late proposal should be excused when the delay was caused solely by a "mail storm" at the agency which overloaded and slowed down its servers. Judge Braden found that the late proposal, received by the contracting officer 4 minutes after the deadline, is excused because the proposal was on time as it had been received by the agency's servers timely; even if it had been late, the FAR's "government control" exception applied; and, in any event, the "mail storm" was an "emergency or unanticipated event" which entitled the contractor to a 1-day extension under the FAR.

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Client Alert | 7 min read | 08.17.26

Delayed Notification of Cyberattacks May Trigger HIPAA Breach Notification Rule

After identifying a ransomware attack in 2021, OSF Healthcare System waited until its forensic investigation had concluded before notifying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — and the affected individuals — of the breach. The 110-day delay (nearly double the 60-calendar-day notification deadline mandated by the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule) triggered an investigation from HHS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The health system’s investigation determined that protected health information (PHI) had been stolen....