Government contracting

There have been a rash of news stories on various constraints under which U.S. universities and other research institutions must labor to cooperate with foreign institutions and academics. This is a hot issue because the life blood of many U.S. institutions is cooperation with foreign institutions. The U.S. government has been keenly concerned about this cooperation because of the specter of espionage and intellectual property theft. Institutions of higher learning have countered that overzealous government oversight impedes academic freedom. Given this heightened scrutiny, researchers, colleges and universities need to understand the constraints that are imposed in cooperating with foreign institutions and researchers. There are three major laws today that are in the toolkit of prosecutors who are scrutinizing these relationships. These are the Foreign Agents Registration Act; export controls and the False Claims Act. This article focuses on the False Claims Act.

Many small businesses are government contractors. They seek the services of a small business attorney to navigate the difficult landscape of government contracting. One significant lever to allow these small businesses to compete in the government contracting arena is to qualify for one of the contracting assistance programs, such as women owned small business program, administered through the Small Business Administration. There are several advantages if your small business qualifies for one of these certifications, including set asides and sole source contracts. A WOSB is also attractive to a government agency or prime contractor trying to meet its targets. Previously, women owned small businesses were able to self-certify, but as of last year, there are new restrictions on self-certification. This article explores the criteria for a business to qualify as a women owned small business.

The small business of all stripes cheered when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act provides some relief to small businesses through providing economic injury disaster loans; easing payments on current SBA loans; and then the Mother lode, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP provides huge incentives to small businesses to keep workers on their payroll. There are undoubtedly many government programs in which the bureaucratic obstacles overwhelm the efficacy of the program. The PPP loan program does not appear to be one of them, although the jury is still out. Nevertheless, all small businesses should apply for a PPP loan as soon as possible.

Half of acquisition deals close. The other half don’t. I recently represented a client in a transaction in which the deal died. She offered to share lessons learned from an unsuccessful acquisition. In this article, she has given us four lessons learned from the ultimately unsuccessful negotiations. These are the four major lessons she wanted to share with other potential purchasers of small businesses: lesson 1: seek legal guidance early on; lesson 2: be specific about due diligence requests; lesson 3: early misalignment is a sign of the future to come; and lesson 4: better understand certifications for government contractors.

If you are a small business and are interested in government contracting work, then the most likely entry point will be an arrangement with another company. How you structure this cooperation will be a critical and significant element of success. This article discusses teaming agreements and summarizes some structures that may appeal to small businesses.