
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
12 FOLLOWERS
This publication offers legal information & resources for federal construction contractors including those involved in military and civil works construction. The first of its kind, Federal Construction Contracting provides timely coverage of legal issues facing federal construction contractors including small and disadvantaged businesses by the attorneys in Cohen Seglias' Government..
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
1w ago
Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) have been controversial in the construction industry. On January 21, 2025, the United States Court of Federal Claims issued a ruling in MVL USA, Inc. et al. v. The United States that found that PLAs violate the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA). The court’s ruling is a major victory for construction ..read more
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
3w ago
A contractor who is proposed for debarment is effectively debarred as soon as the notice letter is received. It is like being sentenced before trial, and it can take weeks or months for the contractor to convince the debarring official that the proposed debarment should be lifted. A new rule, effective January 17, 2025, amends ..read more
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
3M ago
Contractors often seek to recover attorney’s fees if they successfully present and resolve a claim, either through a negotiated settlement or litigation. In reality, of course, the government usually requires a waiver of Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) fees as part of a settlement. When winning or partially winning a case before a board ..read more
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
5M ago
On August 22, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint-in-intervention in a previously filed whistleblower suit under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA) against the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Georgia Tech Research Corp. (GTRC), an affiliate of Georgie Tech, for falsely representing its compliance with Department ..read more
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
6M ago
Under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) mentor-protégé program, smaller businesses are afforded the tools to compete for government contracts by partnering with larger businesses that serve as mentors to the small businesses. In theory, both the mentor and the protégé benefit under the program, with the mentor gaining access to set-aside small business contracts that ..read more
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
7M ago
By Stephen Tobin
In 2021, the DOJ announced its Civil-Cyber-Fraud Initiative, which focused on contractors who fail to follow required cybersecurity standards. The initiative is aimed at accountability for knowingly providing deficient cybersecurity products or services, knowingly misrepresenting their cybersecurity practices or protocols, or knowingly violating obligations to monitor and report cybersecurity incidents and breaches.
On June 17, 2024, the Department of Justice announced that two consulting companies agreed to pay $11.3 million to resolve alleged False Claims Act (FCA) violation ..read more
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
10M ago
The System for Award Management (SAM) is the official website for registering to do business with the U.S. government, such as competing for federal procurement contracts. Under FAR 52.204-7, “an Offeror is required to be registered in SAM when submitting an offer or quotation, and shall be registered until time of award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract …resulting from the solicitation.” In the recent GAO protest of TLS Joint Venture, LLC (TLS), the awardee of a Navy contract for custodial services learned the hard way that maintaining active registration in SAM f ..read more
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
10M ago
Construction law is a complex field that intersects with various other industries and legal fields, one being the maritime industry. In nearly twenty years of practicing construction law, I have often experienced the connection between these sophisticated areas of law and the implications of each on various projects, such as the construction of docks, breakwaters, piers, bridges, dredging and beach nourishment projects. In this blog post, we will explore the intricate relationship between these two legal realms by diving into a primer on maritime liens.
Understanding the Connection
Constructio ..read more
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
1y ago
Sanford Federal, Inc., the selected awardee for a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) contract, learned the hard way that a contractor simply cannot ignore a size protest, regardless of its actual merit.
On August 8, 2023, the VA issued an RFQ for boiler plant safety device testing, calibration and inspection for one of its facilities in Arizona. The RFQ was set aside entirely for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses and assigned NAICS code 238290, Other Building Equipment. The corresponding size standard for this code was $22 million in average annual receipts. The VA rece ..read more
Cohen Seglias Law Firm | Federal Construction Contracting Blog
1y ago
In Steiner Construction Co., Inc., the Government Accountability Office (GAO) upheld the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) award of a $1.19 billion small business set-aside shipbuilding contract to a business concern that was later determined to be other than a small business. The protestor argued that the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Hearing and Appeals (OHA) decision to vacate an earlier SBA Area Office’s size determination that found the awardee to be an eligible small business concern required that the USCG terminate the award.
On October 4, 2022, the SBA issued a size determinati ..read more