Government Contract Law

A concentrated three-day program for contract managers, marketing personnel, contract administrators, contracting officers, and other Government and industry representatives in the procurement process.

While the final result of most Government contracts is a product or a completed service, the focus of this specially developed program is not an end, but a means: The procurement process itself — specifically, the laws at the foundation of the system.

Perhaps nowhere is the law a more pervasive part of business activities than in the area of Government contracting. And it is a critical, necessary part — assuring to the greatest extent possible that every element of the often complex procurement process is equitably and effectively managed, and that those involved in the process — the Government, contractors, subcontractors, and others — have solid, clear rules, rights and remedies to guide and protect them from beginning to end.

The purpose of this program, as the detailed Course Curriculum outlines, is to instruct you on the law's step-by-step application to procurement activities. In solid, workplace terms, the program analyzes the legal factors that must be considered at every stage of the contracting process—laws that help you, that can potentially harm you, that clearly spell out your responsibilities, and how the laws protect each side's interests and rights at every key stage of the procurement process.

Although designed primarily for those new to the procurement process, the course will also serve as an effective update for more experienced personnel seeking an update on procurement's legal foundation. We offer it in a concentrated form—three days of concise instruction. And we offer it in the belief that, if properly recognized, understood, and applied, Government contract law can become an ally in your procurement activities.

The law is a dynamic force, always in the process of “becoming.” Here is a primer if you are new to the field, and a review of the state-of-the-law if you are an experienced professional.

Government Contract Law Course Curriculum

Government Contracting Doctrines
1. Introduction: The Challenge of the Different Culture of Government Contracting
2. Characteristic Doctrines
  1. Limited Authority
  2. Law in Statutes, Regulations, and Standard Clauses Regulations
  3. Budgets
3. State Procurement
Sealed Bids
1. Responsiveness
2. Responsibility
Competitive Negotiation
1. Negotiation Process
2. Evaluation
Contract Types, Costs, and Budgets
1. Funding
2. Contract Types
3. TINA and Defective Pricing
4. Cost Accounting and Auditing
  1. Allowability
  2. Allocability and Reasonableness
  3. Cost Accounting Standards
Contract Administration
1. Contracting Officer Discretion and Interpretation
2. Specifications, Inspection and Acceptance
  1. Specifications
  2. Inspection and Acceptance
3. Technical Data, Patents, and Copyrights
  1. Patents
  2. Copyrights
  3. Technical Data
4. Government Assistance, Including Progress Payments
  1. Government-Furnished Property
  2. Progress Payment and Sureties
  3. Prompt Payment
Changes
1. The Changes Clause, Cardinal Changes, and Formal Changes
2. Equitable Adjustments and Constructive Changes
  1. Constructive Changes
  2. Computation and Proof of Equitable Adjustments
3. Differing Site Conditions
Specialized Contracting
1. Health Care
  1. Medicare: Physician
  2. Medicare: Hospital Payment and Delivery Systems
  3. Medicaid and Military
2. Construction
Small Business and Subcontractors
1. Privity and Subcontractors
2. Miller Act
3. Assistance Programs and Affirmative Action Issues
  1. The Small Business Set Aside Program
  2. Minority Small Businesses
  3. Affirmative Action Challenges
Policies
1. Labor Standards
2. International
Termination
1. Bases and Defenses
2. Process
3. Excess Reprocurement and Other Remedies
4. Termination for Convenience
  1. Operation of Clause
  2. Defense
Remedy Procedures
1. Protests
  1. The Contracting Agency
  2. The GAO
  3. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims
  4. U.S. District Courts
2. Disputes
3. Alternative Dispute Resolution
4. False Claims Act/Qui Tam
  1. Civil False Claims Act
  2. "Qui Tam" Provisions
5. Debarment

Course Faculty

William A. Shook Partner in the law firm of K & L Gates in Washington, D.C. • Specializes in government contract law and federal procurement policy • Active litigator at the Court of Federal Claims, General Accounting Office, and agency Boards of Contract Appeals • Formerly with the Senate Judiciary Committee and as Special Assistant on the House Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee • Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) from Brigham Young University; Juris Doctor degree with honors from George Washington University.

Kelley P. Doran Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of K&L Gates • Concentrates his practice in the representation of commercial hardware, software and information technology service companies that sell products and services to federal, state and local governments • An experienced government contracts litigator in the area of bid protests and small business size determinations • Bachelor of Arts, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Bates College; Juris Doctor degree from Washington & Lee University School of law.