Government Contracts
Government contractors navigate a complex stream of regulations and requirements that demand tight focus, understanding and compliance. Our government contracts attorneys help them move forward with the knowledge and confidence businesses need to perform and grow.
We assist clients with the full life cycle of government procurement matters, from evaluating solicitations to providing the sound business judgment necessary to perform under the contract. Many of our clients are small- to mid-sized companies seeking counsel to help them find and seize opportunities. Some are larger corporate concerns with deep experience within the government space. All rely on our legal strategies and practical knowledge of how to work with government agencies.
Counseling
We help small-business clients win contracts via Small Business Administration programs designed to provide equitable access to eligible entrepreneurs. Our attorneys offer focused strategies that help clients qualify for appropriate small-business categories and evaluate solicitations, ensuring they have a clear understanding of inherent risks and a strategy for mitigating them. When beneficial, we draft joint venture agreements to pursue small business contracts.Throughout the life of the contract, our clients benefit from the precise knowledge and deep experience our attorneys leverage to help government contractors navigate and maintain compliance with regulations and key provisions.
Claims and Controversies
When disputes arise, our attorneys work to resolve such issues as changes, delays, disruptions, terminations, fraud, and other matters that disrupt or threaten contract performance. When possible, we mitigate concerns through arbitration or alternative dispute resolution. When necessary, we draft and pursue formal claims and appeals in litigation before such bodies as the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals and the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition. Our attorneys have an excellent claims record, having won financial relief for clients.
Bid Protests
When the procurement process harms or disadvantages a client, we represent and protest bid decisions before the Government Accountability Office , U.S. Court of Federal Claims and other contract oversight bodies at the state and agency level. Whether challenging flawed, noncompliant decisions or seeking to contest an award, our attorneys deliver tenacious, comprehensive defense to deliver the best possible outcome, preserve the contracting relationship and ensure the client’s ability to compete for future work.
Employment Counseling, Disputes and Investigations
Understanding the complex web of labor and employment regulations can be tricky business. Our attorneys are strategic counselors to clients on such matters as integrating business practices that ensure compliance with labor regulations such as the Service Contract Labor Standards (formerly known as the Service Contract Act) and Wage Rate Requirements Stature (formerly known as the Davis Bacon Act). We enforce employment-based restrictive covenants that protect our client’s business interests, and we defend clients against allegations of False Claims Act violations, including Qui Tam actions, whistleblower complaints or investigations by an Agency Inspector General or U.S. Attorney.
Business Needs
OFP attorneys work collaboratively to provide comprehensive counseling to support and protect the business interests of the government contractors we represent. From business formation and tax-advantaged reorganization to defending construction claims, inking commercial leases, and seeking a merger or acquisition, our government contracts attorneys collaborate with clients to offer a “one-stop,” cost-effective legal solution that manages, protects, and encourages growth and success for years to come.
Areas Of Concentration
Detailed list:
- Bid protests
- Claims and appeals
- Corporate issues, mergers & acquisitions and due diligence
- Cost accounting and cost allowability
- Data rights and protection of IP and trade secrets
- Employment issues in government contracting
- Ethics and Compliance Programs
- Service Contract Act (SCA)
- Davis-Bacon Act and related acts (DBRA)
- Affirmative action plans
- Ethics plans
- Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) plans
- Personal Conflict of Interest (PCI) plans
- Government claims and terminations
- Internal investigations and false claims act
- Regulatory and procurement counseling
- Requests for equitable adjustment, claims and disputes litigation
- Compliance with federal solicitations
- Small Business Programs
- SBA 8(a) Business Development Program
- SBA HUBZone Program
- SBA Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB)
- SBA Women-Owned and Economically-Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB)
- U.S. Department of Transportation Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veteran-Owned and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (VOSB) Businesses
- District of Columbia’s Small and Local Business Development certification program
- Maryland’s Minority/Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program
- Virginia’s Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned Business (SWaM) certification program
- Suspension and debarment
- Teaming arrangements and subcontracting
- Teaming arrangements
- Subcontracts
- Strategic alliances
- Joint venture agreements
- Mentor-protégé agreements
- Whistleblower defense
Representative Matters
Bid Protests, Claims & Controversies
- A team of Odin Feldman Pittleman GovCon and litigators successfully represented a government contractor in litigation before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals. After extensive discovery, Odin Feldman Pittleman filed a motion for summary judgment and won 100% of the multimillion-dollar amount claimed by the contractor, plus over $600K in interest.
- Represented contractor in the prosecution of claims at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals. The contractor’s claims evolved from the construction of a hospital, and the trial spanned five months. The contractor recovered on numerous of its claims.
- Represented the contractor on the task order contract utilized by the U.S. government to support the armed forces related to conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Represented an international development company in a bid protest related to the award of an overseas contract. As a result of the protest, the agency was forced to take corrective action and reevaluate the offerors’ proposals.
- Represented foreign contractors in a bid protest against the Corps of Engineers related to various construction projects for the U.S. government abroad. Resolution of the bid protest resulted in the contractor receiving awards on five additional contracts totaling approximately $50 million.
- Intervened on behalf of the awardee on a construction project for the U.S. government in response to a bid protest filed by an aggrieved bidder. The protest was ultimately dismissed, and the client was able to perform the contract.
- A team of OFP litigators successfully appealed and obtained a multi-million-dollar settlement that fully compensated a government contracting client. The litigation followed a federal contracting officer’s decision to terminate for default a prime government contract held by the client. Attorneys in the firm’s government contracts and litigation practice groups appealed the default termination, seeking to reverse the decision of the contracting officer to a termination for convenience and collect damages not only for a convenience termination but also for breach of contract and bad faith. After extensive discovery and on the eve of the two-week trial dedicated to the default termination, the government conceded and agreed to reverse the termination for default to termination for convenience and pay the client’s damages. This not only saved the client the two-week trial in Florida and allowed it to recover its damages, but also resulted in the correction of past performance ratings that could hinder the client’s ability to win government contracts in the future.
- Odin Feldman Pittleman successfully represented a government contractor in a GAO bid protest by convincing the procuring agency to take corrective action and award an additional contract to the client, despite the fact that the company previously had been excluded from the competition due to an alleged technical noncompliance with its proposal. The firm was even successful in getting the government to reimburse the client for fees incurred as a result of the protest. In another bid protest, Odin Feldman Pittleman, successfully represented a client before the GAO challenging the award of a $117 million contract by the Office of Personnel Management based on the agency’s failure to conduct a reasonable price realism analysis.
- The firm successfully defended a major DoD prime contractor against a group of former employees/qui tam relators in a lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act by convincing the District Court to dismiss their complaints based on a lack of specificity under the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). By obtaining the dismissal of this suit before formal discovery began, the firm saved the client millions of dollars in potential liability for the alleged false claims and hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation expenses.
- A client lost a $75M contract for IT services and hardware to a company that was using a small business contractor as a front. We protested the size status of the awardee, and the SBA determined it was not small due to affiliation with a large business. The award was subsequently cancelled, and the contract awarded to our client – a legitimate small business.
- A client who discharged a mid-level manager faced false allegations of committing fraud under government contracts and threatened with a qui tam false claims lawsuit. We thoroughly investigated the allegations, established extensive facts refuting the false claims allegations and provided a complete report to the U.S. attorney. The threatened false claims suit was never filed.
- A client lost a multimillion-dollar service contract it had been performing for five years due to bias on the part of government personnel. A GAO protest was sustained and the agency told to reevaluate the proposals and make a new award. When the agency tried to cancel the solicitation rather than comply, we filed a protest at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, were allowed to take discovery and prove the agency had no legitimate basis to cancel the solicitation. The court even issued an injunction prohibiting three government officials from further involvement in the reevaluation. We also sought and recovered 100% of the legal fees incurred by our client prosecuting the protest.
- A client providing intelligence training services to military special forces at a specially built facility had its contract terminated for convenience when the military activity moved from the Washington, DC. area. Then, the government used our client’s proprietary information to duplicate a new training facility. We prosecuted a claim for the misappropriation of this proprietary information and negotiated a favorable settlement.
- A business providing services to federal agencies was excluded from a follow-on contract. After two GAO and two U.S. Court of Federal Claims protests, the client was awarded a new contract to provide services to federal civilian agencies under task orders for the next 15 years.
Employment Counseling & Disputes
- Represented a contractor in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of a subcontractor employee who was baselessly imprisoned by a foreign government. Ultimately, the employee was released by the foreign government and the case favorably settled on behalf of the contractor.
- Provided on-going employment law support for a government contractor with approximately 7,000 employees and $1 billion in revenue. This support included enforcing covenants not to compete against several senior managers and negotiating the peaceful departure of a manager with performance deficiencies who had engaged in protected activity. We also advised the client on compliance with family medical leave laws, disability accommodation, and anti-discrimination statutes.
- OFP’s employment attorneys successfully resolved a government contractor’s termination of an employee based outside of the continental United States who lodged a complaint under the U.S. Department of Defense’s whistleblower charges through negotiations under the DoD’s OIG ADR program for full release of claims, payment of less than two months’ pay, and no admission of liability.
Business Transactions
- OFP represented a government contractor for over a decade through numerous challenges including the unexpected death of the founder, who was a service-disabled veteran, the subsequent discovery that the CFO had been embezzling from the company, and ultimately the sale through an auction process of the client to a private equity firm.
- The firm has represented an ESOP-owned corporation for seven years with respect to corporate governance (i.e., board of directors) matters regarding the ESOP. We’ve advised the company on the following: amending the ESOP; advising when pass-through voting by ESOP participants must occur; and discharging the board’s fiduciary duties regarding the later issuance of equity securities.
- We represented a client to help structure a tax-free reorganization to formally separate into distinct legal entities its government contracting services from its commercial services.
- OFP provides ongoing leasing needs for a fast-growing international technology government contractor with over 1,000 employees in more than 30 countries, including the lease of its headquarters and expansions, relocations and extensions thereof, and most other leasing needs nationally.