Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts Insights provides our in-depth analysis of developments and trends impacting government contracting. Through Insights, our attorneys offer a real-time assessment of the statutory, regulatory, legal, and business-related developments and trends that are shaping the industry. We also examine a full array of non-U.S. public procurement issues, mindful that our clients compete in a global marketplace.Morrison Foerster’s nationally recognized Government Contracts and Public Procurement practice represents the world’s leading companies in the aerospace and defense, intelligence, cybersecurity, information technology, financial and professional services, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and logistics support sectors. We are enlisted to address our clients’ most complex and important legal issues. Our work includes contract and subcontract negotiation and other transactional matters, business and regulatory compliance counseling, internal investigations, bid protests, and a wide array of enforcement and litigation matters. Our clients range from Fortune 50 companies to small and medium-sized companies just entering the public sector. We advise both U.S. and non-U.S. companies involved in municipal, state, federal, and non-U.S. procurement matters.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

Social

Search

GAO Protest Timeline

govcon-gao-protest-timeline-thumb.jpg

Govcon GAO Post Award Protest Timeline Article

Contract Disputes Act Claim Timeline

govcon-contract-disputes-timeline-thumb.jpg

The Bayh-Dole Act

govcon-bayhdole-thumb.jpg

Anatomy of a Protest

govcon-federalclaimsprotest-thumb.jpg

Allowability of Legal Costs

govcon-allowabilityoflegalcosts-thumb.jpg

Procurement Integrity Act

240715-procurement-integrity-act-resized.jpg

Govcon-Resources

Tina is Co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts & Public Procurement practice. She represents a wide variety of government contractors including information technology, defense, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical companies, with a focus on general contract counseling and compliance, particularly concerning intellectual property, and cybersecurity matters and federal grant funding.Tina counsels contractors on compliance with federal, state and local acquisition and ethics regulations and with the evolving myriad of requirements pertaining to data security and cybersecurity. She has been involved with numerous internal investigations and compliance reviews, and with mandatory and voluntary disclosures to agencies, and litigation of False Claims Act matters.Tina routinely advises clients concerning:<ul><li>Prime-subcontractor relationships</li><li>Sources of supply and country of origin requirements</li><li>Price reductions and price reporting issues</li><li>Organizational conflicts of interest</li><li>Safeguarding of intellectual property and other proprietary interests</li><li>Licensing and data rights issues</li><li>Handling of classified materials and controlled unclassified information</li><li>Agency suspension and debarment proceedings</li></ul>She also assists clients with due diligence and other activities related to the acquisition of government contracting concerns, and with the drafting and negotiation of teaming agreements, subcontracts, licensing agreements, and cooperative research and development agreements. She also assists clients applying for federal grants (including SBIR and STTR agreements), and those who seek to obtain other transactional authority agreements, as well as those competing for state and local government work.Tina’s litigation experience includes government contracts claims litigation in federal courts and before boards of contract appeals, bid protests before the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims, and complex disputes in federal courts, including civil fraud and False Claims Act litigation and reverse Freedom of Information Act litigation.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Tina worked at another large national firm and as a trial attorney in the Office of the General Counsel of the Navy, Navy Litigation Office.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Negotiation of largest CHIPS Act federal funding agreement between multinational semiconductor corporation and U.S. Department of Commerce.</li><li>Negotiated prime contract and major subcontracts related to the Department of Energy’s next generation supercomputer program, including extensive IP rights negotiations and negotiation of associated patent rights waivers.</li><li>Negotiated series of other transaction authority agreements with DARPA and associated subcontracts with more than a dozen research universities on behalf of a firm biotech client, including complex IP rights allocations and material transfer agreements.</li><li>Assist clients with FedRAMP authorization process and with development of license agreements for software products sold to federal, state and local government agencies.</li><li>Cyber incident response counseling to some of the largest companies and organizations impacted by security incidents.</li><li>Advises clients on Bayh-Dole reporting of inventions and IP strategies for contracts and grants.</li><li>Conducts due diligence for major government contract mergers and acquisitions.</li></ul>

reynolds_tina_blog_150x150.png

reynolds_tina_common_640x280.jpg

reynolds_tina_heroretina_2700x1160.jpg

reynolds_tina_mobileretina_750x1040.jpg

reynolds_tina_social_600x600.jpg

Partner

Our government contracts and procurement attorneys counsel businesses on legal and compliance issues encountered when doing business with government entities.

Government Contracts + Public Procurement

Government Contracts and Procurement Attorneys

Band 1: National: Government Contracts

Tier 1: Government Contracts

Readers Choice Award: Government Contracting

Tina is co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts & Public Procurement practice. She counsels a wide variety of government contractors on compliance with federal acquisition and ethics regulations. She drafts and negotiates contracts on their behalf and has been involved with numerous internal investigations and compliance reviews, and with bid protest, contract claims, and False Claims Act litigation. She also advises on M&A transactions involving government contractors.

Tina D. Reynolds

Jim Tucker is of counsel in Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts and Public Procurement Practice Group and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.Jim’s practice runs the gamut of litigation and counseling in federal procurement matters, with an emphasis on bid protests, Cost Accounting Standards disputes, and small business matters. He has represented both protesters and awardees in scores of protests before the Government Accountability Office, the Court of Federal Claims, and procuring agencies, in acquisitions ranging from small business procurements to multibillion-dollar contracts of global significance. His representative protest matters span the aerospace sector, the Intelligence Community, base operations and logistics, healthcare, nuclear and environmental work, and information technology and software acquisitions. His protests have included both classified and unclassified programs. In addition to prevailing in published decisions, Jim has also secured favorable corrective action on behalf of clients in a wide variety of protests that were resolved without a published decision.Jim’s work also focuses on disputes over cost allowability and compliance with the Cost Accounting Standards, and he has appeared before the Armed Services and Civilian Boards of Contract Appeals, in size and status protests before Small Business Administration (SBA) area offices, and appeals before the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals. Jim regularly counsels clients on contract interpretation, organizational conflicts of interest, and small business compliance.Jim graduated with high honors from the George Washington University Law School, where he focused his studies on federal procurement law, was a member of the Law Review, and interned with the General Services Administration’s suspension and debarment office. Jim also holds a degree in theology magna cum laude from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a bachelor’s degree in classical languages and literature summa cum laude from the University of Kentucky, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

tucker_james_blog_150x150.png

tucker_james_common_640x280.jpg

tucker_james_heroretina_2700x1160.jpg

tucker_james_mobileretina_750x1040.jpg

tucker_james_social_600x600.jpg

Of Counsel

Jim maintains an active practice in bid protests before the Government Accountability Office and contracting agencies and counsels clients in contract disputes and compliance obligations.

Jim Tucker is of counsel in Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts and Public Procurement Practice Group and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Jim’s practice runs the gamut of litigation and counseling in federal procurement matters, with an emphasis on bid protests, Cost Accounting Standards disputes, and small business matters.

James Tucker

<div style="margin-bottom: 15px;" class="videoWrapper"><iframe class="sticky-video" title="Meet Alex Ward, Government Contracts Practice Co-Chair" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TkliwdSlTaQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="1" title="iframe"></iframe></div>J. Alex Ward is co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts and Public Procurement group. His practice covers a full range of government contracts matters, including investigations, bid protests, claims, general litigation, corporate transactions, and counseling. Alex strives in all matters is to provide his clients the highest level of efficient and effective representation.Alex represents contractors in internal and external investigations, disclosures to the government, and qui tam litigation, with great success in reducing or eliminating his clients’ exposure through active engagement with the government. His work in this area includes obtaining numerous declinations and dismissals of False Claims Act cases in their earliest stages, sparing his clients the cost, risk, and exposure of litigation.He has also served as lead counsel in dozens of bid protests involving military and civilian agency procurements of a wide range of products and services, including all manner of pre- and post-award protests in the GAO, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and state tribunals, as well as appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and size protest appeals before the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals.Alex handles all aspects of the claims process, from the initial assessment and drafting of requests for equitable adjustment through litigation in the Boards of Contract Appeals and the Court of Federal Claims. Alex’s practice also covers the full gamut of other controversies confronting government contractors, including prime-sub, teaming partner, employer-employee, competitor, and indemnification disputes. His litigation work also includes a wide variety of pro bono engagements, in which he has represented both individual and institutional clients in matters ranging from immigration and criminal defense to sustainable procurement and protection of the environment.Prior to joining the firm, Alex served in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer and an Assistant to the General Counsel of the Army responsible for civil works and international matters, and as a clerk for judges on the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the D.C. Circuit. He is a member of the Boards of the Morrison & Foerster Foundation and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and of Law360’s Government Contracts Editorial Board.

ward_alex_blog_150x150.png

ward_alex_common_640x280.jpg

ward_alex_heroretina_2700x1160.jpg

ward_alex_mobileretina_750x1040.jpg

ward_alex_social_600x600.jpg

Alex is co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts and Public Procurement practice. His practice covers a full range of government contracts matters, including bid protests, claims, investigations, corporate transactions, and counseling.

J. Alex Ward

favicon.ico

favicon-16x16.png

favicon-32x32.png

apple-touch-icon.png

MoFo Favicons

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.Read about our <a href="http://govcon.mofo.com/editors/">Authors</a>.Never miss a post. Subscribe to get real-time updates.

gov-con-feature-image-thumb1.jpg

Welcome to the Government Contracts Insights Blog

Welcome to the Government Contracts Insights Blog

gov-con-feature-image_(1)1.jpg

The United States Capitol building

Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts Insights blog provides an in-depth analysis of news, developments, and trends impacting government contracting and proc

Announcements & Press

Blog - Terms of Use

Blog - Privacy Policy

Blog - Blog Disclaimer

Blog - Attorney Advertising

morrison-foerster-blog-logo.png

Provides insights and reports on the most current class actions lawsuits and product liability issues that affect consumer-facing companies.

Class Dismissed Blog

Class Dismissed

Looks behind the headlines to explore the trends, identify the opportunities, analyze the issues, and provide guidance for science and technology-based companies.

MoFo Tech

Mofo Tech

News and thought leadership from lawyers who are adding value to the legal profession and the communities we call home.

  External-Link

MoFo + Blog

Mofo+

Stay on top of emerging issues and stay informed of developments related to the law and business of social media.

Socially Aware

Our Government Contracts Insights blog provides in-depth analysis of developments and trends impacting U.S. government contracting and non-U.S. public procureme

Government Contracts Insights

  Linkedin

MoFo LinkedIN

Blog - Govcon RSS

Stay Connected

Never miss a post from Government Contracts Insights. Enter your email below to stay up-to-date.

Subscribe

The latest updates and analysis from Morrison Foerster

Morrison Foerster - Footer

Blogs -  Home Button

Home

Blog - Topics

Acquisition Regulations

Artificial Intelligence + Robotics

Compliance

Coronavirus

Cybersecurity & Data Privacy

Data Rights

Defense

Domestic Preferences

False Claims Act

Federal Procurement

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Grants

Health Care

Intellectual Property

International Public Procurement

Labor & Employment

Mergers & Acquisitions

National Security

Protests & Litigation

Resources

Schedule Contracting

Small Business

Topics

Blog - Editors

Editors

Blog - About

About

Blog - Subscribe

More

James A. Tucker

Telesto: Another Call For Clarity In Other Transactions Protest Jurisdiction

Strengthening the American Drone Industrial Base

Bid Protest Spotlight: Jurisdiction, Price Range, Late-Is-Late

Trump Issues Executive Order on Cybersecurity Rolling Back Some Prior Policies and Introducing New Ones

GAO Reaffirms Agencies’ Discretion to Award Sole-Source SBIR Phase III Contracts (Even to a Successor-in-Interest)

Jim Tucker is of counsel in Morrison & Foerster’s Government Contracts and Public Procurement Practice Group and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.
Jim’s practice runs the gamut of litiga

protests-and-litigation-600.jpg

February 2021 Bid Protest Roundup (Law360 Spotlight)

SBA To Issue Final Rule Significantly Expanding Mentor Protégé Program on Monday

protests-and-litigation-600

This installment of our monthly Law360 bid protest spotlight considers: (1) a company’s successful challenge to an agency’s decision to take corrective action a

February 2021 Bid Protest Roundup (Law360 Spotlight)

In this episode of MoForecast, James Koukios speaks with Government Contracts Co-chair Alex Ward and Investigations + White Collar partner Brian Kidd about what to expect in the False Claims Act (FCA) space under the Biden Administration. Brian Kidd recently joined the firm from the U.S. Department of Justice, where he most recently served as Chief of the Market Integrity and Major Frauds (MIMF) Unit in the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.Listen <a href="https://www.mofo.com/resources/video-audio/210303-moforecast-predictions-on-the-fca.html">here</a>.The MoForecast podcast series examines the legal landscape under the Trump administration and how policies might change under President Biden by leveraging the firm’s decades of private practice experience and insight from former government roles. <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/wxEaClYMX0hVEP50UyAwGI?domain=www2.mofo.com">Discover more MoForecast episodes</a>.

IAP Worldwide Servs., Inc.

Flight Support, Inc.

DynCorp Int’l LLC

Raytheon Co.

DynCorp International, LLC v. United States

URS Federal Servs., Inc.

DynCorp International, LLC

Planned Sys. Int’l, Inc.

Threat Mgmt. Group, LLC

Vencore Servs. & Solutions, Inc.

Jacobs Tech., Inc.

Cubic, Inc.

American Institutes for Research v. State of New Mexico

CACI-WGI, Inc.

Fluor Intercontinental, Inc. v. IAP Worldwide Servs., Inc.

IAP World Servs., Inc.

Size Appeal of IAP World Servs., Inc.

Al-Ghanim v. IAP Worldwide Servs., Inc.

O’Gara Training & Servs., LLC

IAP Worldwide Servs., Inc. v. Johnson Controls, Inc.

AAR Mobility Sys.

Matt Martin Real Estate Mgm’t, LLC v. United States

Pyramid Real Estate Servs., LLC v. United States

Harrington, Moran, Barksdale, Inc.

Homesource Real Estate Asset Servs., Inc. v. United States

Ocean Ships, Inc.

Keystone Sealift Servs., Inc.

ITT Corp., Sys. Div.

IAP Worldwide Servs., Inc. v. Fluor Intercontinental, Inc.

FedSys, Inc.

Academy Facilities Mgm’t v. United States

Academy Facilities Management -- Advisory Opinion

Evans Security Solutions, Inc.

Contingency Mgm’t Group, LLC and IAP Worldwide Servs., Inc.

Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc.

Liberty Power Corp.

J. Alex Ward is co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Government Contracts and Public Procurement group. 

J. Ward

koukios_james_blog_150x150.png

koukios_james_common_640x280.jpg

koukios_james_heroretina_2700x1160.jpg

koukios_james_mobileretina_750x1040.jpg

koukios_james_social_600x600.jpg

James Koukios is co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense Group and also serves as co-head of the FCPA + Global Anti-Corruption Practice.

James Koukios

James Koukios is co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Securities Litigation, Enforcement, and White-Collar Defense Group and serves as Global Co-Head of the FCPA + Anti-Corruption Practice.

James M. Koukios

false-claims-300x148.jpg

MoForecast Podcast: Predictions on the False Claims Act (FCA)

MoForecast Podcast: Predictions on the False Claims Act (FCA)

In this episode of MoForecast, James Koukios speaks with Government Contracts Co-chair Alex Ward and Investigations + White Collar partner Brian Kidd about what

The Federal Circuit handed a substantial victory to Bitmanagement Software GMBH last week, finding the U.S. Navy had infringed the company’s copyright by installing its three-dimensional visualization software on hundreds of thousands of government computers without using license-tracking software to monitor and limit the number of simultaneous users.  The court’s <a href="https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/20-1139.OPINION.2-25-2021_1739332.pdf">decision</a> is significant, not only in affirming the lower court’s finding that an implied-in-fact license existed between the government and Bitmanagement despite no privity of contract between the two (who transacted through a reseller), but also in taking the further step of holding the Navy to a key condition of that license, one the Navy failed to meet, with the potential for a hefty damages award to the software vendor.The case arose out of the Navy’s purchases, between 2006 and 2012, of just more than 100 “seat” (i.e., single computer) licenses in Bitmanagement’s “BS Contact Geo” software.  The software, provided in both a desktop executable form and as a web browser plugin, enables a user to visualize geographic information by rendering realistic terrain and city models and allowing the user to position virtual objects using geographic coordinates.  After the Navy had trouble managing its individual seat licenses, the parties agreed to a floating license structure that allowed the Navy deploy the software to all computers across the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (“NMCI”), but required the Navy to use a license management software to monitor and limit the number of simultaneous users.  The Navy did not do so, at least for the web browser plugin, and from July 2013 through at least September 2016, the program remained available for use on 429,604 government computers without limitation.Bitmanagement filed suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims seeking compensation for copyright infringement under 28 U.S.C. § 1498(b). The Claims Court denied the claim, finding an implied-in-fact license for the Navy’s copying based on several direct email exchanges between the parties.  On appeal, the Federal Circuit agreed an implied-in-fact license existed, and further that implied-in-fact license was not precluded by the express contracts between the government and Bitmanagement’s reseller, which (according to the court) “do not capture or reflect the discussions that occurred between the Navy and Bitmanagement directly.”  In a concurring opinion, Judge Newman weighed in even more favorably for Bitmanagement, adding that she would have overturned the Claims Court’s finding of an implied-in-fact license, as “there plainly was no mutual intent that Bitmanagement would abandon its commercial purpose and grant the Navy unlimited free licenses to copy and use” the software.But it was not enough, according to both the majority and concurrence, for the Navy to show an implied-in-fact license existed; the court also must determine whether the Navy’s conduct breached that license.  Furthermore, for purposes of copyright infringement claims, the court had to determine whether the breach was simply a covenant (e.g., an obligation to pay), in which case Bitmanagement’s relief sounded only in contract, or if the breach violated a condition precedent to the limiting the scope of the license itself.  The Federal Circuit found the facts developed below to be sufficient to hold, as a matter of law, the implied license was conditioned on the Navy’s use of Flexera to limit, from the time of copying, the number of simultaneous users of the program.  The court found this limitation “critical to the basic functioning of the deal,” and noted “[w]ithout tracking, the Navy would have no basis to purchase more licenses and, consequently, Bitmanagement would have had no reason to enter into the implied-in-fact license.”  Because the Navy had failed to abide by that condition of the license, its copying constituted copyright infringement, according to the court, which vacated and remanded the case to the Claims Court to determine appropriate damages.On that point, the Federal Circuit went on to offer some guidance.  In a footnote to its conclusion and remand order, the court suggested Bitmanagement’s damages should be based on the Navy’s actual excess usage of BS Contact GEO, as determined by a “hypothetical negotiation” in which the Navy, as the party in breach, “bears the burden of proving its actual usage . . . and the extent to which any of it fell within the bounds of any existing license.”  Even though the court suggested Bitmanagement could not claim damages for every copy made, only those used beyond the scope of the license, the damages framework the court outlined should be reassuring in some regards to commercial software providers selling to the federal government.  Unique security restrictions often make it very difficult, if not impossible, to monitor and audit the government’s use of software in the same way one would a commercial customer, hindering an aggrieved contractor’s ability to prove its breach damages with the same specificity a court or board would normally expect in other cases.  This framing more equitably places that burden of proof on the government, who is better positioned to gather evidence and whose breach itself might have, in some cases, compounded these evidentiary shortcomings.As we have previously written on this blog, commercial software companies have many reasons to be cautious when selling to the federal government, whether due to an inability to rely on one’s established and trusted licensing terms, or the various practical barriers to enforcing even legally permissible terms.  These concerns often lead companies to engage the government through resellers, which in turn creates even more issues of enforceability between the software manufacturer and its government end user.  The Federal Circuit’s decision in Bitmanagement does not resolve these concerns, but its endorsement of the implied-in-fact license that might arise between a software provider and the government, and the obligations it places on the government to observe and abide by such licenses, are, without a doubt, promising developments for software companies supporting the federal government.

bell_locke_blog_150x150.png

bell_locke_common_640x280.jpg

bell_locke_heroretina_2700x1160.jpg

bell_locke_mobileretina_750x1040.jpg

bell_locke_social_600x600.jpg

Locke Bell is a partner in the firm’s Government Contracts & Public Procurement practice.

Locke Bell

11_23_li_tech3.jpg

U.S. Navy Breached Implied-In-Fact Software License, Federal Circuit Decides in Bitmanagement

U.S. Congress Introduces Bill that Would Require Mandatory 24 Hour Cyber Breach Notification for Government Agencies, Contractors, and Operators of Critical Infrastructure

11_23_li_tech3

The Federal Circuit handed a substantial victory to Bitmanagement Software GMBH last week, finding the U.S. Navy had infringed the company’s copyright by instal

U.S. Navy Breached Implied-In-Fact Software License, Federal Circuit Decides in Bitmanagement