Government Contracts Law (CLE)

In November 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law. Regarded as one of the largest infrastructure bills in U.S. history, the IIJA has paved the way for government contracting opportunities.

To deter the increasing number of bribery and corruption offenses among US entities, intensified Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions continue to be a focus area this year. Specifically, the FCPA is requiring companies to retain their company’s record “in reasonable detail, [and to] accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of [assets]” to conform with the FCPA’s books and records requirements. Failure to comply could lead to legal lawsuits and hefty fines.

The False Claims Act (FCA) is one of the federal government's most powerful tools to combat fraud in various industry sectors. By revisiting and regularly updating its approaches, the government continues to affirm its intent to pursue FCA claims.

Over the past years, the government contracts landscape has been an avenue for a myriad of intellectual property (IP) issues and disputes. Due to the increasing pressure during contract performance and contract awarding, contractors grapple when negotiating IP rights putting them at risk.

2021 brings new and stricter cybersecurity requirements to all organizations within the supply chain to the US Department of Defense (DoD). Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), a program to curb the theft of sensitive defense information by foreign adversaries, begins its rollout this year, as do stricter measures to enforce compliance with existing cybersecurity requirements.  Compliance, and ultimately certification by an independent third-party auditor or CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO) will become a pass-fail requirement for companies to do business with the DoD.

While more and more Americans are getting vaccinated and COVID-19 infection rates are now ebbing, the pandemic’s impact on government contracting continues. Uncertainty still looms for contractors as the government pushes for new and pending policies and regulatory changes.