Blog

The Supreme Court continues to define the False Claims Act (“FCA”). In September 2022, Ward & Berry explained the possibility of the Supreme Court taking on a second FCA case¹ this term, and why we should care about it. Short answer: The “knowledge” aspect of the FCA is under heavy debate and any resolution...

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” – Justice Kagan The Supreme Court decided to dismiss In re Grand Jury as “improvidently granted” in its January 23, 2023 Order after hearing oral argument on the case earlier this month. In other words, after agreeing to hear the case, and instead of establishing clear law...

As most government contractors know, government customers frequently amend solicitations—often multiple times and sometimes after proposals have already been submitted.  These multiple amendments can extend the solicitation period by months or even years. So what happens when the solicitation is a small business set-aside and the offeror could certify as small at the time...

Federal contractors and subcontractors are now required to certify annually to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) that they have developed and maintained an affirmative action program (“AAP”). On February 1, 2022, registration for the OFCCP Contractor Portal opened and on March 31, the certification features were turned on. Contractors have from...

‘Ban the Box’ Hiring Law Applies to Federal Contractors As of December 20, 2021, federal contractors can no longer inquire about an applicant’s criminal history before extending a conditional job offer to work on a government contract. This does not preclude federal contractors from asking an applicant about criminal history after a conditional offer...

OSHA Suspends Enforcement of COVID-19 Vaccination-or-Test Requirement On Thursday, November 4, 2021, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard(ETS), which requires employers with more than 100 employees to mandate their workers are fully vaccinated or test at least weekly for COVID-19....