Author Archives: Steven Koprince

SmallGovCon Welcomes Candace Shields

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I am very pleased to announce that Candace Shields is joining our team of government contracts bloggers here at SmallGovCon.

Candace comes to us from the Social Security Administration, where she was an Attorney Advisor for several years.  As an associate attorney at Koprince Law LLC, Candace’s practice focuses on federal government contracts law.

Please check out Candace’s online biography and great first blog post, and be sure to visit SmallGovCon regularly for the latest legal news and notes for small government contractors.

SBA OHA: Joint Ventures Can Be LLCs

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Joint ventures can be formally organized as limited liability companies–and that should come as no surprise, given how often joint ventures use the LLC form these days.

In a recent size appeal decision, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals rejected the argument that, because a company was formed as an LLC, its size should not be calculated using the special rule for joint ventures.  Instead, OHA held, the LLC in question was clearly intended to be a joint venture, and the fact that it was an LLC didn’t preclude it from being treated as a joint venture.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review July 11-15, 2016

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I’m back in the office after a week-long family beach vacation around the 4th of July.  Kudos to my colleagues here at Koprince Law for putting out last week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review while I was out having some fun in the sun.

This week’s edition of our weekly government contracts news roundup includes a prison term for an 8(a) fraudster, a Congressional focus on full implementation of the Supreme Court’s Kingdomware decision, the release of an important new FAR provision regarding small business subcontracting, and more.

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Affiliation Allegations Result In $5.8 Million Settlement

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A group of companies has agreed to pay $5.8 million to resolve a False Claims Act case stemming from alleged affiliations among the companies.

According to a Department of Justice press release, the settlement resolves claims that En Pointe Gov Inc (now known as Modern Gov IT Inc.) falsely certified that it was a small business for purposes of federal set-aside contracts, despite alleged affiliations with four other companies–all of whom will also pay a portion of the settlement.

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GAO: “Minimal” Solicitation Changes Justified Cancellation

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An agency was entitled to cancel a solicitation when its needs changed–even though the anticipated changes in its needs “might be characterized as minimal.”

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO confirmed that a procuring agency has broad discretion to cancel a solicitation when the agency’s anticipated needs change, and that discretion extends to cases in which the agency’s changed needs could be addressed by amending the existing solicitation.

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GAO: Agency Need Not Perform Calculations For Offeror

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An agency ordinarily is not required to perform calculations to determine whether an offeror’s proposal complies with a solicitation’s requirements, according to the GAO.

In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO rejected the protester’s argument that, in determining whether the proposal satisfied certain requirements, the agency should have used the information in the proposal to perform certain calculations. Continue reading →

SmallGovCon Week In Review: July 5-8, 2016

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Welcome back after a hopefully enjoyable long 4th of July weekend! Although this week is a shortened one, there was no shortage of government contracting news floating around the county.

This week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review looks at the number of suspensions and debarments of government contractors, a proposed penalty for Pentagon contractors trying to game the system, a case of procurement fraud and much more.

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