Late last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its complaint-in-intervention in a qui tam lawsuit against the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), alleging that the university failed to meet certain...more
8/28/2024
/ Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DFARS ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Statements ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Implied Certification ,
Internal Controls ,
Invoices ,
NIST ,
Qui Tam ,
Security and Privacy Controls ,
Universities ,
US Air Force ,
Whistleblowers
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) issued the proposed Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) rules that will implement the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. These rules, which...more
8/22/2024
/ Certification Requirements ,
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) ,
Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Contractors ,
Notice Requirements ,
OMB ,
Pentagon ,
Prime Contractor ,
Proposed Rules ,
Subcontractors
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo upended decades of precedent that required courts to defer to agencies' interpretations of statutes. This, known as the Chevron doctrine, allowed for...more
7/11/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Auer Deference ,
Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Kisor v Wilkie ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Tucker Act
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released the third revision of its Special Publication (SP) 800-171, "Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations." This...more
Two years after announcing the second iteration of the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program, the DoD released its proposed rule that, if adopted, will implement the...more
12/28/2023
/ Certification Requirements ,
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) ,
Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NASA ,
NIST ,
Prime Contractor ,
Proposed Rules ,
Subcontractors
Contractors that do business with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) have been awaiting the issuance of a rule implementing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification...more
2023 promises to be a pivotal year for cybersecurity in government contracts. Besides the implementation of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program, new regulations are coming for civilian contractors,...more
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently released a memorandum signaling its increasing willingness to review contractor compliance with cybersecurity standards in its contracts and take action against noncompliant...more
7/14/2022
/ Best Practices ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NIST ,
Popular
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the launch of its new Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative — an effort designed to harness the department's knowledge in civil fraud enforcement, government...more
10/11/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Certification Requirements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DFARS ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Whistleblowers
Attorneys Eric Crusius, Amy Fuentes, Kelsey Hayes and Vijaya Surampudi co-authored an article describing the major issues they expect government contracting professionals to face in the coming year. For example, the...more
3/2/2020
/ CFIUS ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Contractors ,
Huawei ,
LPTA ,
Mentor-Protege Program ,
NDAA ,
OFCCP ,
SBA ,
Supply Chain ,
Whistleblowers
With the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading outside of China at an ever-increasing rate, government contractors should prepare for possible service and payment interruptions. In addition, the administration is considering...more
3/2/2020
/ Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Defense Production Act ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Prime Contractor ,
Public Contracts ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Subcontractors ,
Supply Chain
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released version 1.0 of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (known as CMMC) on Jan. 31, 2020. The CMMC model draws heavily on the National Institute for Standards and...more
A new Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), "Reporting of Nonconforming Items to the Government Industry Data Exchange Program," will become effective on December 23, 2019. The new FAR provision (FAR 46.317) and clause (FAR...more
12/12/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Counterfeit Parts ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Notice Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Subcontractors ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain
On November 27, 2019, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a proposed rule to amend the Defense Federal Regulation Supplement (DFARS) regarding the Treatment of Certain Items as Commercial Items (DFARS Case 2019-D029). The...more
The U.S. government has military bases and outposts around the world, and – as it does within the United States – utilizes contractors to support its mission overseas. Because military personnel and employees of government...more
The overuse of the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) source selection process (see FAR 15.101-2(a)) has drawn criticism from both industry and government over the last few years. While LPTA offers a streamlined...more
12/5/2018
/ Comment Period ,
Defense Aquistion Regulations ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
LPTA ,
NDAA ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Service Contracts ,
Source Selection Authority (SSA)
REAN Cloud LLC (REAN) entered into an Other Transaction (OT) Agreement with the Army (facilitated by DIUx) to provide prototype cloud migration services. While the prototype work was still being performed, the Army and REAN...more
Taking over as editors of Holland & Knight’s Government Contracts Blog has been a labor, but it has been a labor of love. Like the rest of the Government Contracts Team, we are passionate about staying on top of the latest...more
12/28/2017
/ Bid Protests ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
E-Commerce ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
LPTA ,
NDAA ,
New Guidance ,
NIST ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Sick Leave ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar ,
Wage and Hour ,
White Collar Crimes
• In recently released guidance, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) confirms a "one size does not fit all" approach to contractor compliance with its cybersecurity clauses that cover the safeguarding of contractor networks,...more
10/9/2017
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Contractors ,
Information Systems Security Program (ISSP) ,
Joint Plan of Action ,
New Guidance ,
NIST ,
Risk Assessment ,
Threat Management
We had the opportunity to attend Department of Defense’s (DoD) Industry Information Day on Friday, June 23, at the Mark Center Auditorium in Alexandria, Virginia. DoD’s Chief Information Officer published advance notice of...more
Imagine if a DoD agency could purchase commercial-off-the-shelf products of any value simply by placing an order at an Amazon-like website – no need for solicitations, quotes, evaluation, or detailed price analysis and...more
6/12/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Internet Retailers ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Proposed Legislation