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DoD Previews New Third-Party Cyber Certification Requirements

Client Alert | 1 min read | 06.17.19

The Department of Defense is moving closer to a third-party certification to ensure compliance with its standard cybersecurity requirements – what is being called the “Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification” (CMMC). While still in the early stages of development, the CMMC would likely require all contractors subject to DFARS 252.204-7012 to obtain a certification issued by an independent third party stating that the contractor has sufficiently implemented its required cybersecurity controls. Holding this certification would be a “go/no-go” condition to compete for relevant DoD work. Although NIST SP 800-171 is the default cybersecurity standard currently required under -7012, DoD is also exploring the creation of a new standard that would govern the certification. DoD is projecting that the CMMC will start appearing in solicitations as early as Fall 2020, but much work remains to be done – including potential revisions to -7012 – and will no doubt be informed by extensive industry engagement. 

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.12.26

DOJ Guidance Backs Away From Disparate Impact Liability

On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a formal opinion concluding that the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC) existing interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) disparate-impact liability, including the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), are unconstitutional. According to the opinion, EEOC’s prior interpretations contemplate liability based on disproportionately adverse effects alone, without regard to an employer’s likely intent, rather than treating disparate impact as an evidentiary mechanism to “smoke out” intentional discrimination. DOJ found that this approach functions as a “qualified racial-proportionality mandate” that places “a racial thumb on the scales, often requiring employers to evaluate the racial outcomes of their policies, and to make decisions based on (because of) those racial outcomes.” The opinion fulfills one mandate of Executive Order 14281, which rejected disparate-impact liability insofar as it “creates a near insurmountable presumption that unlawful discrimination exists wherever there are any differences in outcomes among different [demographic groups].”...

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