Public Contracting Institute Blog
The Public Contracting Institute blog supplement our govcon training offerings with insightful articles written by leading professionals across the government contracts industry. Our professionals publish articles on topics on government contracts administration, accounting, bids/proposals, disputes, claims, and much more. For more inforamation about our blog, reach out to seminars@publiccontractinginstitute.com.
Additionally, look for the PCI Practical Matters Podcast, coming soon! It will cover the latest news in our industry, along with insightful commentary on the most important topics in Government Contracting.
USPS, Lies and Bad Faith Default Termination
The Court of Federal Claims recently held a default termination by a U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) Postmaster to be improper and in bad faith, and awarded the plaintiff “expectation damages” that were actually foreseen or reasonably foreseeable—substantially more than...
Submit Your Invoices on Time, or Risk Non-Payment
Another sad story of a contractor who failed to comply with its contract, and lost its entire claim (amount not stated) for unpaid invoices. PROTEC GmbH, ASBCA No. 61185, May 15, 2019. The Board held that the government had properly refused to pay PROTEC’s invoices,...
Protest Timeliness, Business and Lawyers
In a recent Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) bid protest, a contractor sought to be excused from the strict timeliness rules in filing bid protests at the GAO. Asahi Gen’l Trading & Contr. Co, B-417650, July 24, 2019. In denying the protest, the GAO,...
Government Can’t Rely on Non-Credible Hearsay to Show Failure to Meet Contract Specifications
Government Can't Rely on Non-Credible Hearsay to Show Failure to Meet Contract Specifications In a recent construction contract, the Government sought to rely on testimony from a contract manager who “heard [] from another government employee [that the contractor...
No Magic Words or Form Needed for a Claim
In an interesting reversal, the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded an Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (“ASBCA” or “Board”) case dealing with the acceptable wording and format of a claim under the Contract Disputes Act. Hejran Hejrat Co., Ltd, v. United...
Negligent Negotiations May be the Culprit
Since going in-house in 2010, I have published a number of posts on this blog about how in-house counsels can add value to their clients by handling certain matters themselves, rather than automatically turning to outside counsel.[i] A recent Armed Services Board of...
Wrongful Termination, Untruthful Contracting Officer’s Representative
The Court of Federal claims recently found the default termination of an Army contract for repair of an Air Force runway to be “improvident” and converted the default to a termination for convenience of the Government. Alutiiq Manufacturing Contractors, LLC v. United...
Defense Contract Audit Agency 2018 Activities
Defense Contract Audit Agency 2018 Activities. On March 31, 2019, the Defense Contract Audit Agency (“DCAA”) issued a report to Congress on its Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2018 Activities. The report is available at...
Department of Justice Issues Guide for Determining if Commercial or Financial Information is Confidential Under FOIA
In early October, this blog explained that The Supreme Court recently considered the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) exemption at 5 USC § 552 (b)(4), confidential commercial information, and narrowed the basis on which an agency could withhold information . The...
Agency Improperly Allowed Large Awardee To Include Its Overheard And Profit In Small Business Calculation
The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently sustained a protest against a U.S. Air Force award where there was a specific material requirement for small business participation, and the awardee allowed a large business to include its overhead and profit in...
