Insights

Washington – June 6, 2024: Crowell & Moring earned 78 rankings for 67 lawyers, as well as 41 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2024 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

Washington – June 1, 2022: Chambers and Partners has ranked 70 Crowell & Moring lawyers in 84 rankings across 40 categories in the Chambers USA 2022 guide. In addition, 37 practice areas were also ranked in the guide. The regional and national rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers.

As of the morning of March 8, 2023, SAM.gov is experiencing an unexpected outage and the system also appears to be generating false emails. Until this issue is resolved, companies and administrators should consider refraining from clicking on any links or email addresses within any SAM.gov email received until the system is confirmed as fully operational.

On December 27, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act (S.3905) to strengthen the current rules relating to identification and mitigation of organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) in federal acquisition. The Act focuses on updating the current FAR provision, Subpart 9.5, to provide clear definitions, examples, and guidance on potential OCIs and to consider expanding the Subpart to cover certain commercial and foreign relationships.

On December 29, 2014, the Small Business Administration issued long overdue proposed amendments to its regulations (with 60 days for comments) to implement many of the provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, most notably with a complete overhaul of the calculation of the limitations on subcontracting. Additional proposed revisions include: greater specificity to the identity of interest affiliation test; exemptions from affiliation for small business joint venture members and "similarly situated" subcontractors; a new recertification requirement for mergers/acquisitions occurring after proposal submission but prior to award; changes to the nonmanufacturer rule; and a new reporting mechanism and expanded sanctions related to subcontracting plan compliance. 

Washington, D.C.-based Government Contacts Group partner, Peter Eyre, talks to Law360 regarding a final rule that will tighten restrictions on human trafficking in government contracting. Under its requirements, all contractors must disclose working conditions to employees, are barred from confiscating passports or other immigration documents, must ensure that workers aren't being charged any recruitment fees, and must provide the worker with return transportation for non-nationals. "I think another big question is: 'Who pays for this?'" Eyre said. "There are some very specific obligations, both the compliance plan ... and others. But who is going to pay for that?"

Please click here for a copy of the presentation. Will it be more of the same for government contractors in 2016 -- increased oversight, intense competition, new regulations, and consolidation? Join the Crowell & Moring team on Thursday, January 14 at 1:00 pm Eastern to find out. Our attorneys will discuss likely trends for the coming year on a variety of topics including cost, commercial items, update on Executive Orders, investigations, compliance, suspension/debarment, GSA and VA schedules, mergers & acquisitions, small business, procurement fraud and so much more.

A one-day webcast featuring analyses and updates of FY15’s most important developments in government contracting, and the outlook for FY16.

This week’s episode features a deep dive on the President’s Executive Order, Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement, which directs the consolidation of certain types of “domestic federal procurement” under the General Services Administration in an effort to “eliminate waste and duplication.”  This episode is hosted by Peter Eyre and Yuan Zhou. 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.