On June 17, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the latest settlement under its Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative (“CCFI”) (previously discussed here).[1] The settlement resulted in a total of $11,300,000 in payments from two consulting companies …
For companies in the U.S. that hold certain personal data and U.S. Government-related data, rules stemming from recent Executive Order (“EO”) 14117 on “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data …
On June 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new measures targeting Russia’s financial infrastructure, including: Expanding the scope of financial sanctions: Extending prohibitions to include …
On May 3, 2024, the FAR Council published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Advanced Notice”) seeking to implement Section 5949 of the James M. Inohfe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 prohibition on procuring certain …
On March 28, 2024, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) issued Memorandum M-24-10, Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence (the “Memo”). This is the final version of a draft memorandum OMB …
The U.S. Government continues to increase its Federal investment in space – not for exploration, but rather as a defense strategy – and this continued investment provides significant opportunity for commercial entities to partner with the Federal …
On April 1, 2024, the FAR Council published a new Final Rule that establishes FAR Part 40 – but without any new provisions of substance. This Final Rule becomes effective on May 1, 2024. Subsequently, the FAR Council published a Request for Information (“ …
The Federal Government spends more money annually through grants and cooperative agreements than it does through Federal contracts. Historically, these dollars primarily have been awarded to public sector and non-profit entities. That’s changing. Post- …
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) recently released its new Proposed Rule pursuant to the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (“CIRCIA”), which was published in the Federal Register on April 4, 2024 …
In February 2024, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published 26 decisions, five of which were sustained. There was also one denial of costs and one denied request for reconsideration. Below is a summary of February’s notable decisions and what …
In January 2022, we warned software companies selling indirectly against attempting to enforce the terms of their End User License Agreement (“EULA”) directly against the Federal Government based on the decision of the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (“ …
GSA long has stated that the “MAS program is designed to mirror commercial buying practices.” (Don’t laugh – I’m serious! Slide 12 if you don’t believe me.) In the commercial marketplace, SaaS licenses are sold for set periods of time (typically annual …
On March 11, 2024, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) and the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) released the highly-anticipated Secure Software Development Attestation Form (also known as the “Common Form”) and on March 18, …
Class Deviation Prohibits DoD from Requiring Contractors to Disclose Emissions Over the past two years, the FAR Council has been working to develop a rule that would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) to require contractors to inventory and …
In a landmark unanimous ruling late last week, Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC, et al. 601 U. S. ____ (2024), the U.S. Supreme Court held that whistleblowers do not need to prove their employer acted with “retaliatory intent” to be protected under the …
In January 2024, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) published 31 bid protest decisions, two of which resulted in decisions sustaining the protesters’ challenges. There were also two requests for costs, one of which was denied, and one request for …
On January 26, 2024, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (“FedRAMP”) published a draft Emerging Technology Prioritization Framework developed in response to President Biden’s Executive Order 14110 on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy …
Welcome back to the Cost Corner, where we provide practical insight into the complex cost and pricing requirements that apply to Government contractors. The current topic is Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Cost Principles applicable to contracts with …
In a previous article, we analyzed what made protests successful at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) in Fiscal Year 2023 (“FY23”). Now, we want to share some insights we gained while conducting the same analysis of bid protest decisions at the …
To kick off the New Year, Sheppard Mullin’s Governmental Practice Cybersecurity & Data Protection Team has prepared a cybersecurity-focused 2023 Recap (including links to all of the resources the team has put out over the past year) and 2024 Forecast ( …
