Government Contracts

Ward & Berry PLLC co-founder Daniel Ward discusses recent changes in Virginia prohibiting covenants not to compete with "low-wage employees," effective July 1, 2020. Virginia's definition of "low wage employee" may surprise you.    

"Cutting compliance will only make things much worse." Ward & Berry PLLC co-founder Ryan Berry with an important compliance PSA for federal contractors. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dont-Cut-Compliance.mp4"][/video]

Attention federal contractors with operations in Virginia! There has been a sea change in Virginia employment law that greatly increases your exposure to lawsuits in Virginia state courts. Read on… Virginia has long been extremely protective of the at-will employment doctrine and (apart from narrow public policy exceptions) barred direct lawsuits by employees alleging...

The Small Business Administration (“SBA”) and the Department of the Treasury (“DOT”) have been collaborating on guidance for compliance with the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).  But the “guidance” has been much more than guidance—it has taken on the aura of a rulemaking, promulgating interpretations of the underlying statute and establishing standards of enforcement. Further,...

Most bid protests are filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or brought before the Court of Federal Claims. However, there’s a third, often over-looked, forum to bring a bid protest – before the procuring agency itself. Agency-level protests were officially authorized by President Clinton in 1995 and are governed by Section 33.103 of...

IMPORTANT UPDATE TO THIS BLOG POST: On May 5, 2020 the SBA extended the safe harbor deadline by which recipients of PPP loans may payback the loan in its entirety and avoid the economic necessity certification to May 14. As we previously addressed on April 28, the SBA and the Department of the Treasury...