The Government Contracts Quarterly Update is published by BakerHostetler’s Government Contracts Practice team to inform our clients and friends of the latest developments in federal government contracting.

Topics will include:

- Proposed Rule Focuses on Audit of Business Systems, May Expedite and Streamline Process

- D.C. Circuit Extends Attorney-Client Privilege to Internal Compliance Investigations

- Executive Order 13665 Allows Agencies to Terminate Contracts If Contractors Retaliate Against Employees Who Disclose Compensation

- Proposed DOD Rule Expands Contractors’ Risk of Personal Conflicts of Interest

- DOD’s Restrictions on Counterfeit Parts Rule Is Limited to Electronic Parts, but More Changes Are Expected

- DOD’s New FOCI Rules Present New Challenges to Contractors with Foreign Connections

- Would-Be Service Contractors Face Exposure of up to $10,000 Penalty per Day under HHS Contracts

- GAO Decides That Small Business Joint Venture Proposals Do Not Require SBA Pre-Approval

- Baker Team Secures Arbitration Award for Wrongful Termination of Subcontract

- Legislative and Regulatory Updates.

- Excerpt from Proposed Rule Focuses on Audit of Business Systems, May Expedite and Streamline Process:

On July 15, the Department of Defense (“DOD”) released a proposed rule, 79 Fed. Reg. 41172, that will allow contractors that are subject to the requirement for audit of key business systems (more than $50 million annually of contracts requiring cost or pricing data) to self-certify that their key business systems are adequate and to elect to use DOD-approved third-party auditors to periodically validate those same systems. The comment period ends on September 15, 2014.