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Laura J. Mitchell Baker is a counsel 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 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 federal, state, and local government contracts, government contracts due diligence, and regulatory and compliance matters, as well as conducting internal investigations.

In signing the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES” Act) into law, President Trump injected more than $2 trillion into the economy.  In the coming days, weeks, and months, businesses and individuals across the country will apply for and receive aid from the federal government.  The Administration promises that funds will be released

Virginia law enforcement agencies have created a new task force to address the increased threats of fraud associated with the COVID-19 outbreak. Specifically, the Virginia Coronavirus Fraud Task Force is a joint federal and state initiative that will be led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin G. Cooke in the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant U.S.

Following the March 19, 2020 guidance issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) on “essential” critical infrastructure workers during COVID-19, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a memorandum today reiterating that the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is identified as a critical infrastructure sector by DHS, and that those who

Today, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released guidance to help state and local jurisdictions and the private sector identify and manage their essential workforce while responding to coronavirus (COVID-19). The White House Coronavirus Guidelines direct that Critical Infrastructure Industry, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, has a special responsibility to maintain

On February 24, 2020, following Secretary of Defense Mark Esper’s call on the private sector to work with the Department of Defense (DoD) to develop principles for using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a “lawful and ethical manner,” (as we previously reported on here), the DoD announced its adoption of ethical principles for AI. The

On August 9, 2019, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released “U.S. Leadership in AI: A Plan for Federal Engagement in Developing Technical Standards and Related Tools” (the Plan) in response to Executive Order 13859 (EO), as reported on here. In accordance with the EO, the Plan outlines the following

Following the announcement of the White House’s Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (EO) and the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Artificial Intelligence Strategy (AI Strategy) in February, as reported on here, the United States recently endorsed the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Council’s (OECD) Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence (Recommendation) –

On Monday, August 13, 2018, President Trump signed into law the H.R. 5515, the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (FY 2019 NDAA), the earliest an NDAA has been signed in over a decade.  The FY 2019 NDAA includes several provisions relevant to contractors, including replacing the definition of “commercial item” with “commercial product” and “commercial services,” discouraging the use of lowest price technically acceptable contracting, and a clause designed to accelerate payments to small businesses.
Continue Reading FY 2019 NDAA

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 required these entities to validate and confirm their registration and bank account information in SAM before reactivating their SAM registrations.Continue Reading After Fraudulent Activity in SAM, GSA Implements New Registration Requirements