Flying Through The Cloud: Acquisition Turbulence & Cyber Hail
Client Alert | 1 min read | 12.04.12
OMB's "Cloud First" directive funnels an ever-expanding share of the $70 billion IT budget into cloud computing services and technology, creating a whirlwind of acquisition and cybersecurity issues outpacing the regulatory framework, procurement practices, and security rules guiding federal agencies and contractors. In his Briefing Paper on "Cloud Computing Acquisitions & Cybersecurity" published by Thomson West, C&M's David Bodenheimer sheds light on the latest NIST standards for federal cloud acquisitions and security, the major drivers accelerating the "Cloud First" implementation in the federal marketplace, the cybersecurity challenges and FedRAMP authorization process, and the complexities and pitfalls raining down on cloud acquisitions, including current and future protests involving competition, restrictive requirements, privacy, security, and organizational conflicts of interest.
Insights
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].”
Client Alert | 4 min read | 06.12.26
Auto Dealers: The FTC Is Back in the Driver’s Seat — Warning Letters Signal Renewed Federal Scrutiny
Client Alert | 13 min read | 06.12.26
Client Alert | 4 min read | 06.12.26
