1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |The Wait Is Over for Women-Owned Small Businesses

The Wait Is Over for Women-Owned Small Businesses

Client Alert | 1 min read | 04.11.11

Women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) should now have greater access to federal contracts as a result of a long-awaited interim rule, published April 1, 2011, which provides guidelines for the WOSB program and allows COs to set aside contracts for certified WOSBs and economically-disadvantaged WOSBs. However, despite the momentum from these new regulations and the SBA's intent to provide WOSBs "with the oxygen they need to take their business to the next level," until the SBA approves third-party certifiers, access to government contracts for non-8(a) WOSBs will be limited to a self-certifying entities and contingent upon the submission of a laundry list of corporate and other documentation for each procurement, thus imposing burdens on WOSBs and COs.

Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 07.31.26

DOJ Revitalizes Expedited Review Process for Second Requests, Giving Some Deals a Faster Path to Clearance

On July 23, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced that it will again use targeted Second Request investigations and released a revised Model Timing Agreement, another signal that this Antitrust Division continues to take a more business friendly approach toward merger review. The model introduces an optional “Expedited Consideration” process that gives merging parties the option to address discrete competitive concerns identified by the DOJ before undertaking full Second Request compliance....