Insights

Washington – November 11, 2019: A Kuwaiti court convicted Marsha Lazareva today of two counts of money laundering and sentenced her to 15 years in prison with hard labor.  An Orthodox Christian business leader and single mother of a 5-year-old U.S. citizen, Lazareva has been the target of ongoing persecution by the Kuwait government.

London – June 19, 2019: A team led by human rights attorney Cherie Blair and lawyers from Crowell & Moring continues to fight to bring justice for Marsha Lazareva and Saeed Dashti, prominent business executives caught up in a case fraught with political motivations and legal irregularities. 

Washington – February 22, 2019: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that its Government Contracts Group has been recognized as one of Law360’s “Practice Groups of the Year” for government contracts. This is the ninth consecutive year that the group has earned this honor.

On the heels of a 2019 Government Accountability Office report that recognized the Department of Defense’s (DoD) efforts in reducing risks associated with overseas operational contract support (OCS), DoD issued a proposed rule updating its OCS policies and procedures. The proposed rule continues DoD’s focus on enhancing its ability to effectively oversee, manage, and account for contractors supporting U.S. military operations to reduce the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse. This proposed rule seeks to:

In Importance of Disclosures and Cooperation During and After Internal Investigations, Crowell & Moring attorneys review several recent regulatory changes and highlight the growing importance of targeted communication with the government before, during, and after internal investigations. Among other things, the article lists suspension and debarment statistics taken from the System for Award Management for the first half of fiscal year 2016 to demonstrate the importance of, and benefits that may be achieved from, targeted communication to the government by experienced government contracts investigations attorneys.

A DFARS final rule (Nov. 18, 2013) on the safeguarding of unclassified, controlled technical information requires contractors, among other things, to report within 72 hours of discovery any "cyber incident" (an action that results in an actual or potentially adverse affect on an information system and/or the information residing therein), preserve relevant data for at least 90 days, conduct an internal review of its network for evidence and extent of any compromise of data, cooperate with DoD "damage assessments," and flow the clause down to subcontractors (even for commercial items) -- all at the contractor's own cost (but included and potentially recoverable as a normal business expense under indirect rates). Given the rampant intellectual property and technology losses due to cyber espionage and other thefts documented in Congressional hearings, intelligence assessments, and industry reports this year, these DFARS requirements will apply additional pressure upon contractors to amend their existing compliance policies and procedures to address how to respond to a cyber incident and comply with these regulations.

Crowell & Moring's Ounce of Prevention Seminar, hosted by the firm's Government Contracts Group, is featured in a BNA article discussing compliance measures for federal contractors. George Washington University law professor Steven Schooner, who spoke at the conference, discussed key compliance cases to highlight the importance of risk avoidance for contractors.

CSA is proud to announce its executive level conference in Washington, DC. With speakers from the highest levels of industry and government, as well as the best networking in the contracting arena.