On March 23, 2022, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act. Designed to identify and address potential conflicts of interest in the federal acquisition system, current and prospective government contractors should closely monitor the Act’s progress.
The Act emphasizes the potential for conflicts of interest
In the face of an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest (OCI), the potential solutions are often limited. There are several options for contractors and the government that are broadly categorized as mitigation, avoidance, neutralization, limitations on future contracting, and exclusion. Although used sparingly, the FAR also provides that the government can “waive” actual or potential OCIs. Specifically, FAR 9.503 states: “The agency head or a designee may waive any general rule or procedure of this subpart by determining that its application in a particular situation would not be in the Government’s interest.”
A recent GAO decision sheds light on how contractors and agencies should think about OCI waivers. CACI, Inc.-Federal; General Dynamics One Source, LLC, B-413860.4, et al., Jan. 5, 2018.Continue Reading GAO Lets Stand an Agency’s OCI Waivers in Face of a Multi-Prong Challenge
On Wednesday, May 11th, 2016 at 1 PM Eastern, join our Crowell & Moring attorneys for a webinar entitled: “Organizational and Personal Conflicts of Interest: New and Pending Rules.” During this 90-minute webinar, our experts will clarify key principles, including a review of 2014 proposed amendments to the 2011 FAR conflict of interest rules. From
On Thursday, January 15 at 2 PM Eastern, join our Crowell & Moring attorneys for a webinar entitled: “Organizational and Personal Conflicts of Interest: New and Pending Rules.” During this 90-minute webinar, our experts will clarify key principles, including a review of 2014 proposed amendments to the 2011 FAR conflict of interest rules. From the
At 1:00 pm (Eastern) on March 7, 2013, Crowell & Moring attorneys Peter Eyre and James Peyster will conduct a webinar on behalf of L2 Federal Resources entitled “Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCIs) and Personal Conflicts of Interest (PCIs): New and Pending Rules.” This 90-minute webinar will provide an overview of key principles of conflicts
At 1pm EST on February 9, 2012, Crowell & Moring government contracts attorneys Peter Eyre and James Peyster will be conducting a webinar entitled “Conflicts of Interest in Government Contracting: Reducing Risk in an Age of Increased Visibility” on behalf of L2 Federal Resources. This webinar will provide an overview of the key principles of
The US Court of Federal Claims recently granted preliminary injunctive relief against a Federal contractor for an organizational conflict of interest, in a decision casting a deeply skeptical eye on an awardee’s improper access to competitor information–and the government’s lackadaisical attempt to police the impropriety.
The case, Netstar-1 Gov’t Consulting, Inc. v. United States,
On April 26, 2011, the government issued a proposed rule governing organizational conflicts of interest. This proposed rule diverges substantially from the current framework in FAR 9.5, from the DFARS rule proposed last year, and from certain aspects of decades of decisional law from GAO and the Court of Federal Claims. Please click here for
On December 29, 2010, DoD issued a final amendment to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”) relating to organizational conflicts of interest (“OCI”) in major defense acquisition programs. The highlights of that rule are summarized here. One of the most interesting issues is what the rule does NOT cover.
The final rule is
By now, most government contractors are (or most certainly should be) aware of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) provisions governing organizational conflicts of interest. While OCIs have been a hot issue for some time in the federal procurement world, OCIs are becoming an increasing risk area in the state procurement arena as well.
By way of