Government Contracts: New Legal and Policy Developments on Cybersecurity, Affirmative Action, Small Business
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Commercial Law
- event Date
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
-
This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE webinar will review the latest policy and regulatory developments and legal decisions in government contracts that occurred in 2024 and early 2025. The panel will discuss relevant court decisions, executive orders, and proposed and final rules impacting government contracting.
Mr. Overman has established himself as a leading government contracts practitioner. He has nearly two decades of experience advising companies in meeting the demanding and ever-changing regulatory environment of contracting with the federal government. Over the last decade, Mr. Overman has advised on more than 50 transactions involving the purchase or sale of a government contractor. He has particular experience in structuring transactions and corporate reorganizations to ensure compliance with the Anti-Assignment Act, as well as navigating the rules impacting the acquisition of small businesses. He also has significant experience in advising on issues that may arise during the sale of government contractors to foreign-owned businesses, including national security reviews under Exon-Florio by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and foreign ownership, control or influence mitigation by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.
Ms. Norwood is a Washington, D.C.-based partner in Reed Smith’s Regulatory & Investigations Group. Her practice focuses on representing companies that do business with federal and state governments - either as prime contractors, subcontractors, third-party suppliers, or grant and cooperative agreement recipients - in a wide range of litigation, regulatory compliance, and transactional matters. In addition to regularly managing internal investigations and advising companies facing government investigations and audits, Ms. Norwood represents clients in bid protests, contract claims and disputes, terminations, mergers and acquisitions, False Claims Act matters, and suspension and debarment proceedings. She also routinely counsels companies on government ethics requirements and works with clients to develop codes of business conduct and policies tailored to address their legal obligations as government contractors.
There were significant legal and regulatory shifts affecting federal contractors in 2024 and early 2025. Attorneys advising their federal government contract clients must be aware of these changes to ensure their clients are in compliance.
The Supreme Court's Loper Bright ruling put an end to Chevron deference, which will have a major impact on how courts evaluate agency decisions in contract disputes and bid protests. Several federal court rulings have dealt setbacks to disadvantaged business programs, finding that certain federal programs aimed at supporting socially disadvantaged and minority-owned small businesses violated the Equal Protection Clause.
President Trump rescinded a Biden-era executive order pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI) compliance requirements for government contractors, introducing uncertainty and potential legal and ethical risks in AI development and deployment. President Trump also revoked EO 11246, thereby eliminating affirmative action requirements for federal contractors, shifting the focus to merit-based hiring and compliance with existing anti-discrimination laws. Additionally, the administration issued an executive order ending federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and requiring contractors to certify that they will not operate any DEI programs.
The FAR Council published a proposed rule overhauling the FAR's Organizational Conflict of Interest provisions. The final rule under the Buy American Act increased domestic content thresholds, requiring 65 percent for items delivered between 2024 and 2028; and the FAR Council proposed a rule to remove 70 articles from the Buy American Act's list of domestically non-available products, aiming to encourage market research and emphasize domestic manufacturing and sourcing.
The Department of Defense released a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) rule finalizing a new compliance framework for federal contractors handling sensitive information. And the Small Business Administration (SBA) proposed a rule that would apply the "Rule of Two" to multiple-award contract task and delivery orders and published a final rule to amend its regulations governing the Historically Underutilized Business Zone Program and impacting such things as recertification requirements for small businesses after a merger, sale, or acquisition, among others.
Listen as our authoritative panel of government contract attorneys reviews the latest developments in federal government contracting rulings, policies, and regulations and provides tips for advising clients on these issues to ensure compliance.
- Overview of the current government contracts landscape
- Significant court rulings
- Rescission of EO 14110 relating to AI
- Revocation of EO 11246 and new EO relating to DEI programs
- CMMC rule and compliance framework
- FAR Council proposed and final rules; Buy American Act domestic content thresholds
- SBA proposed and final rules
- What to expect going forward in 2025
The panel will discuss these and other key developments:
- What impacts will government contractors face from the Loper Bright ruling and other significant federal court rulings?
- What are the latest changes regarding cybersecurity that will impact government contractors?
- What do government contractors need to know about the operation of DEI programs?
- How will new and proposed SBA rules impact small businesses contracting with the federal government?
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