Insights

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.

Washington, D.C. – October 27, 2015: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that Super Lawyers has recognized 90 attorneys as leaders in their field. The Crowell & Moring attorneys listed below were named in Super Lawyers 2015, the Super Lawyers 2015 "Rising Stars" Edition, the Super Lawyers 2015 Women’s Edition, or the Super Lawyers 2015 Business Edition. Attorneys were identified through a peer nomination process and listed by respective practice areas for which they were selected.

Washington, D.C. – January 9, 2015: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that its Government Contracts Group has been named to Law360's "Practice Groups of the Year" listing for Government Contracts for the fifth straight year. For this listing, Law360 recognizes "firms that came through for their clients in 2014, sealing the big deals and winning the high-stakes suits."

Highlighting the renewed focus on debarment in state and local contracting, the state of New York recently reminded purchasing agencies of their obligations to debar non-responsible contractors and to confirm that intended awardees are otherwise eligible before awarding contracts. Executive Order (EO) 192, issued by Governor Cuomo, directs purchasing entities to consider vendor responsibility by evaluating, among other factors, financial and organizational capacity, integrity, and past performance. If buying agencies become concerned about a contractor’s responsibility, the EO instructs agencies to conduct an investigation and make a responsibility determination. Agencies are required to list nonresponsible vendors on the Office of General Services’ website. No state agency may purchase from a vendor on that list, absent a waiver, or agency leadership risks “breaching their duty as a public officer . . . ” suggesting that contract rescissions may follow, among other consequences.

The federal government’s response to Hurricane Florence will increase its reliance upon government contractor support to perform critical tasks in the coming months. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal, state, and local agencies charged with disaster response and recovery will look to contractors to provide everything from logistics, to housing, construction, and security services. National disaster contracting provides contractors with immediate opportunities to assist in the recovery effort, but given the time sensitivity, evolving customer needs, and critical nature of the work, contractors must be prepared to: (i) perform under tight deadlines and high scrutiny; (ii) seek clarity with respect to the scope of work they are asked to perform; (iii) properly manage contract and change order documentation; and (iv) maintain contract files for subsequent audits and other inquiries which can take place years after the recovery effort has ended.

On July 18, 2018, the Federal Circuit affirmed the U.S. Court of Federal Claims’ decision in Shell Oil Co., et al. awarding $99.5M to Shell and other oil companies for the government’s breach of World War II-era contracts for high-octane aviation gasoline production (previously discussed here, and here).

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.

Crowell & Moring is pleased to announce the launch of our Government Contracts Breakfast Series. All of the sessions will be held in Northern Virginia and focus on issues most important to government contractors. Our March session is described below.

The latest event in this successful series, AFF 2014 is again set to draw aerial firefighting experts from across the world. Experience live aerial firefighting demonstrations, learn about new techniques & technologies and discover more efficient & cost effective ways to achieve wildfire prevention & suppression at this established international conference.

The federal government awards billions of dollars in grants annually to fund public service, support non-profits, drive research initiatives and fund programs for colleges and universities.  With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the “Act”), the Federal Government is poised to launch $1.2 trillion into the economy, providing funding to commercial entities through federal grants over the next 5 years, which will impact the infrastructure of this country for the next generation.  Like government contracts, federal grants have their own myriad of regulatory requirements that each grant recipient must meet and which are flowed down to subrecipients and subcontractors.  

Please join members of Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group for a webinar that will explore the Biden Administration’s focus on infrastructure through a government contracts lens.  Speakers will discuss: 

The Trump administration published two contract solicitations for the design-build of a “border wall” between the U.S. and Mexico, one of the earliest and oft-repeated campaign promises. The RFPs (linked here and here) contemplate a multiple-award, multiple-phase approach for acquiring prototypes and, eventually, full construction.