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A Guide to Other Transaction Authority Virtual - April 2025
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This virtual course will discuss the history, the use of and the advantages/limitations and constraints of OTAs for both the agencies and contractors. 

Other Transaction Agreements (OTA) is the term commonly used to refer to the  authority of the Department of Defense (DoD) to carry out certain research (10 U.S.C. §4021), prototype (10 U.S.C. § 4022), , and production (10 U.S.C. §4022) projects. 

As the US Air Force states:  Other Transactions (OTs) are legally binding instruments that may be used to engage industry and academia for a broad range of research and prototyping activities. OTs are typically defined by what they are not: they are not standard procurement contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements. As such, they are generally not subject to the federal procurement laws and regulations that apply to government procurement contracts (e.g., FAR/DFARS).
 
In the 2015 NDAA, Congress expanded the use of OTAs beyond just weapons systems to more any prototype project or improvement of platforms, systems, components, or materials in use by the armed forces and increased the use of production OTAs.  Since then, Congress has continued to “tweak” the use of OTAs to provide additional flexibility in their use.   

Learning Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
  • Define an OTA and its statutory basis
  • Understand the history of the changes to the OT authority
  • Understand the elements of an OTA
  • Understand the contracting procedures for an OTA
  • Understand the legal considerations for an OTA
  • Recognize and determine the impact of the financial and IP rights for an OTA
  • See some examples of OTAs

NOTE: On-Demand Virtual Course sessions are not eligible for CLE/CPE credits.
About Our Experts
  • Johana "Jody" Reed
    Partner, Reston Law Group, LLP
    Ms. Reed’s practice focuses on advising domestic and international clients on all aspects of government contracting law, including prime contracts, subcontracts and other related agreements, drafting requests for equitable adjustments and claims; drafting Contractor Performance Assessment Report System responses; reviewing, drafting, evaluating and revising ethics compliance programs; evaluation and submission of Mandatory Disclosures; Cost Accounting Standards and accounting systems/cost principles; contract and solicitation review and risk assessment; protection of intellectual property rights related to government contracts; Organizational Conflicts of Interests issues and mitigation plans; Freedom of Information Act requests and defenses; export controls compliance and training programs; and cyber security issues. She is experienced and skilled in negotiating both international and domestic contracts including subcontracts, teaming agreements, intellectual property licenses, agent agreements, and proprietary information agreements for numerous million- and billion-dollar programs. She has represented clients of all sizes in bid protests before the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims.

    Ms. Reed lectures for Federal Publications Seminars on Data Rights in Government Contracts, Cooperative Agreements, CRADAs, Other Transaction Agreements, the FAR, DFARS, Cyber Security and Government Cloud Computing initiatives.

    Ms. Reed is a “second-career” lawyer who brings together over twenty years of experience as an attorney with over 15 years of experience as a Business Finance Manager at a major defense contractor and as a Contracts Manager at several defense contractors. She also worked under a contract with the FAA to provide contracts management support.
    Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., 1997
    Juris Doctor
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