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 – January 3, 2019: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that it has elected eight lawyers to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2019. The firm has also promoted 21 associates to the position of counsel. The new partners have been promoted from within the ranks of the firm’s Washington, New York, and Brussels offices, and underscore the firm’s commitment to its Corporate, Government Contracts, Intellectual Property, International Trade, Litigation, Mass Tort, Product & Consumer Litigation, and Privacy & Cybersecurity practices.

Washington – September 7, 2018: The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled earlier this week in favor of Montana Health Co-Op, granting its cross motion for summary judgment and denying the U.S. government’s motion to dismiss in the first Cost-Sharing Reduction (CSR) case under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). CSR is a provision under the ACA which offers a discount to qualifying individuals to lower the cost of deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance through tax credits.

On July 28, 2021, the GSA shared a blog post on its outreach site, GSA Interact, announcing the final transition deadline of April 4, 2022, from using the 9-digit Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS number) to the new 12-digit alphanumeric Unique Entity ID (UEI) codes in SAM.gov.  On that date, no new DUNS numbers will be issued, and only the new UEI will be provided in SAM.gov data and reports.  All entities already registered in SAM.gov have been assigned a UEI, which is viewable in the entity registration record in SAM.gov.  Contractors should prepare their own internal systems and processes to accept the new UEI numbers and to stop using the DUNS number for federal awards processes by April 2022.

In a string of recent cases following the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, multiple courts have held that a party submitting information to the government need not demonstrate it obtained an assurance of confidentiality from the government in order for the agency to justify withholding that information in response to an information request made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  (Crowell & Moring previously wrote about the new test instituted by Argus Leader here.) 

On July 21, 2021, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it is seeking public comment on a proposed rule which would require federal contractors to pay a $15.00 per hour minimum wage by January 30, 2022. The rule would implement President Biden’s April 27, 2021 Executive Order 14026 (“EO 14026”), which mandated an increase in the minimum wage of workers on federal government contracts (and associated subcontracts). Currently, the minimum wage for workers on federal contracts is $10.95 per hour and the tipped minimum wage is $7.65 per hour.  EO 14026 builds on President Obama’s 2014 Executive Order 13658, which established a $10.10 per hour federal contractor minimum wage that would increase annually. The final rule covering EO 14026 is scheduled to be issued by November 24, 2021, and the new minimum wage obligations are slated to go into effect on January 30, 2022. 

This hour-long webinar will cover up to the minute updates about the evolving areas of government contracts compliance, transactions trends and tripwires, False Claims Act developments, and current trends in small business investigation and enforcement. This update is designed to help government contracts professionals comply, and thrive in 2018 and beyond. 

This week's episode covers the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee’s annual report, a final rule amending the FAR to permit small business contracting procedures to apply to overseas procurements, a bid protest decision about agency documentation of its determination, and analysis of an end user license agreement from the perspective of the Contract Disputes Act, and is hosted by Peter Eyre and Monica Sterling. Crowell & Moring's "Fastest 5 Minutes" is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.

This week's episode covers DoD’s Software Modernization Strategy Memorandum, proposed updates to the DoD’s Mentor-Protégé Program, a GAO report examining the current status of the DoD artificial intelligence weapon systems capabilities, and the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee report on Zero Trust and Trusted Identity Management, and is hosted by Peter Eyre and Monica Sterling. Crowell & Moring's "Fastest 5 Minutes" is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.

This week's episode covers increased minimum wage for certain federal contract workers, a protest decision involving proposal misrepresentation, cybersecurity and data safeguarding updates from DOD and NIST, and highlights from the Defense Innovation Unit Annual Report, and is hosted by Peter Eyre and Monica Sterling. Crowell & Moring's "Fastest 5 Minutes" is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.