Government Contracts Legal Forum

Government Contracts Legal Forum

Providing Legal Insight for Government Contractors

Laura Baker

Laura Baker

Laura J. Mitchell Baker is an associate with Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

Laura represents government contractors in litigation and administrative matters, including bid protests, contract disputes with state and federal entities, suspension and debarment proceedings, mandatory disclosures to the government, prime-sub disputes, and False Claims Act investigations. Her practice also includes counseling on government contracts due diligence and regulatory and compliance matters, as well as conducting internal investigations.

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After Fraudulent Activity in SAM, GSA Implements New Registration Requirements

By Peter J. Eyre and Laura Baker on Posted in Ethics & Compliance
The General Services Administration’s (GSA) System for Award Management (SAM) announced its role in an ongoing Inspector General Investigation into alleged, third party fraudulent activity in SAM. GSA suspects that the alleged fraudulent activity impacted only a limited number of entities.  GSA has since notified the affected entities, and deactivated their SAM registrations.  GSA also… Continue Reading

Government Contracts Recovery Webinar

By Steve McBrady, Skye Mathieson, Laura Baker and Charles Baek on Posted in Claims, Webinar
On June 14, we presented a webinar titled “Frequently Asked Questions About Requests for Equitable Adjustment and Contract Disputes Act Claims.” The webinar featured some of the most common questions we encounter in the field regarding CDA claims and REAs, as well as a discussion of procedural, substantive, and business considerations that go into the decision… Continue Reading

Join Crowell & Moring for our Webinar “Government Contracts Recovery: ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ About Requests for Equitable Adjustments and CDA Claims”

By Steve McBrady, Skye Mathieson, Charles Baek and Laura Baker on Posted in Claims, Events
Join us for a webinar titled “Government Contracts Recovery: ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ About Requests for Equitable Adjustments and CDA Claims.”  During the 60-minute webinar, a team of claims professionals from C&M’s Government Contractor Recovery Practice will address some FAQs that arise in the context of contractor claims / REAs, and solicit audience questions, as we… Continue Reading

The Pen is Mightier: Typewritten Signature Invalidates CDA Claim

By Steve McBrady, Skye Mathieson, Charles Baek and Laura Baker on Posted in Claims
ABS Development Corp. (ASBCA Nov. 17, 2016) highlights the importance of providing a fully-compliant certification for CDA claims over $100,000—which includes, according to the Board, the requirement for contractors to provide an identifiable and verifiable handwritten signature or digital e-signature. As the contractor in ABS discovered, the Board considers “typewritten” signatures, regardless of font, to… Continue Reading

Hold That Thought: OFPP Memo Stops FPSW Implementation

By Steve McBrady, Kris D. Meade, David B. Robbins, Jason M. Crawford and Laura Baker on Posted in Labor & Employment
After a U.S. district court issued a preliminary injunction enjoining implementation of the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” final rule (discussed here), OFPP issued a Memorandum for Chief Acquisition Officers on October 25 instructing federal agencies to refrain from implementing the enjoined portions of the final rule, and to “immediately” amend any solicitations containing such… Continue Reading

Stop the Press: District Court Enjoins Implementation of “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces”

By Steve McBrady, Kris D. Meade, David B. Robbins, Jason M. Crawford and Laura Baker on Posted in Labor & Employment
On October 24, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction, enjoining the Government from implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” final rule (with a small carve out for the “paycheck transparency” requirements). Specifically, the Court enjoined the Government from (i) implementing any portion of the FAR Rule… Continue Reading

C&M Publishes Article in BNA Federal Contracts Report on Whether the Exclusion Archives on SAM.gov Violate Contractors’ Liberty Interests

By David B. Robbins, Jason M. Crawford and Laura Baker on Posted in Suspension & Debarment
The suspension and debarment regulations at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.4 are focused on the present responsibility of a contractor.  Yet, the records of past, inactive exclusions are available for public view in perpetuity on the System for Award Management website (SAM.gov).   In a recent article (linked here) published in BNA’s Federal Contracts Report,… Continue Reading

New Requirements under Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Become Effective October 25. Is Your Company Prepared?

By Steve McBrady, David B. Robbins, Jason M. Crawford and Laura Baker on Posted in Labor & Employment
Starting on October 25, many new solicitations will contain the new clauses required under the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Final Rule.  These new clauses will impose significant new compliance and reporting obligations on federal contractors (and eventually on subcontractors). In a “feature comment” published in the Government Contractor, C&M attorneys provide an overview of… Continue Reading

Primer on the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Final Rule and Department of Labor Guidance

By Steve McBrady, Kris D. Meade, David B. Robbins, Jason M. Crawford and Laura Baker on Posted in Labor & Employment
Many federal government contractors and subcontractors have expressed valid concerns about the new “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” final rule (and accompanying Department of Labor guidance), which among other things will require companies bidding on covered contracts and subcontracts to disclose “administrative merits determinations,” “arbitral award or decisions,” and “civil judgments” rendered against the company… Continue Reading

Join Crowell & Moring for our Webinar on the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Final Rule and Guidance on Wednesday, September 7th

By Steve McBrady, Kris D. Meade, David B. Robbins, Jason M. Crawford and Laura Baker on Posted in Webinar
On Wednesday, September 7th, 2016 at 12 PM Eastern, join us for a webinar titled “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Final Rule and Guidance: What You Need to Know. During this 90-minute webinar, a team of Crowell & Moring government contracts and labor & employment attorneys will discuss how contractors bidding on contracts covered by… Continue Reading

Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Final Rule and Guidance Released

By Steve McBrady, Kris D. Meade, David B. Robbins, Jason M. Crawford and Laura Baker on Posted in Labor & Employment
On August 25, 2016, the Obama Administration published the long-awaited Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) final rule and Department of Labor (DOL) final guidance implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” executive order (“Executive Order”) (available here and here). The underlying executive order has been amended (available here) with purportedly technical corrections to conform the final… Continue Reading

Rescinded Claims Rendered Appeals Moot, Absent Evidence That Government Intends to Reassert

By Steve McBrady and Laura Baker on Posted in Legal Developments
In L-3 Commc’ns (Apr. 25, 2016), the ASBCA dismissed as moot the appeals of two final decisions that the contractor had argued were barred by the CDA statute of limitations when the cognizant ACOs rescinded the final decisions after the contractor had appealed.  The board held that, although the COs had not yet agreed to… Continue Reading