False Claims in Independent Research and Development (IR&D): Federal District Court Adopts ATK Thiokol as the Knowledge Standard
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Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts Insights blog provides an in-depth analysis of news, developments, and trends impacting government contracting and procurement. Through Insights, attorneys from our nationally recognized Government Contracts and Public Procurement practice will offer a real-time assessment of the statutory, regulatory, legal, and business-related developments that are shaping the industry. This blog will also examine a full array of U.S. and non-U.S. public procurement issues, mindful that our clients compete in a global marketplace.
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- Many government contractors, like other private enterprises, invest heavily in research and development (R&D) to improve the products and services they offer, in hopes of better meeting their customers’ needs. When those R&D efforts are “independent” of any particular contract—hence “IR&D” or “IRAD”—the associated... ›
FAR Council Tightens Buy American Act Requirements
By: Markus Gerhard Speidel
Earlier this month, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (“FAR Council”) issued a final rule tightening the Buy American Act preference for domestic products and construction materials. The final rule makes only limited changes to the proposed rule we previously commented on. First , the... ›- - Defense
DOD Adds Enhanced Post-Award Debriefing to the DFARS
By: James A. Tucker
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) issued a final rule to add the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act’s enhanced post-award debriefing rights to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). The rule took effect immediately on March 18, 2022, and formalizes... › February 2022 Bid Protest Roundup: Key Personnel Changes, Agency Computer Glitches, and Ambiguous Solicitations
By: James A. Tucker
This month’s roundup considers three recent protests: (1) an important decision by the Court of Federal Claims rejecting controversial precedents of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) concerning key personnel unavailability; (2) a cautionary tale from the GAO, where an agency computer system prevented... ›Private Sector Directed to Be on Alert for Potential Russian Cyber Attacks
By: Tina D. Reynolds
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine becomes a protracted campaign, and as the United States and other countries impose sanctions and other penalties on Russia in response, the possibility of Russian cyberattacks directed at the West (or that spill from Ukraine) looms large. In... ›A Second Look: Parties Spar Over Vaccine Mandate in Eleventh Circuit Appeal from EO 14042 Injunction
By: Joseph R. Palmore, J. Alex Ward and Krista A. Nunez
It has been more than two months since the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a nationwide preliminary injunction of Executive Order 14042 , the Biden Administration’s effort to impose a vaccine requirement on federal contractors. Since then, the district... ›January 2022 Bid Protest Roundup
By: Locke Bell
This month’s bid protest roundup begins with two decisions, one from the Small Business Administration’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) and another from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), highlighting potential pitfalls that await offerors that undergo a merger, acquisition, or other corporate transaction... ›DOJ Releases False Claims Act Statistics for Fiscal Year 2021
By: Brian K. Kidd, Adam L. Braverman and Demme Doufekias
On February 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it collected more than $5.6 billion in False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments in fiscal year 2021. This is the largest annual total since 2014, and the second largest in FCA... ›Unavailable Key Personnel: Differing Legal Standards at the Gao and Court of Federal Claims
By: Damien C. Specht and James A. Tucker
An interesting new bid protest decision from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims articulates a rule for pre-award key personnel unavailability that is very different from the one employed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). In Golden IT, LLC v. United States ,... ›Cyber Compliance On Trial: Court Denies Summary Judgment in Aerojet FCA Case
By: J. Alex Ward and Tina D. Reynolds
Aerojet Rocketdyne received another blow last week in its long running battle to end a 2015 False Claims Act suit alleging it lied about its compliance with cybersecurity requirements in order to win several federal contracts. In United States ex rel. Brian Markus v.... ›