About This Course Course Syllabus Who Should Attend
About Your Instructor Registration Info Contact Us
Hotel Info On-Site Training - We'll Come to You!

Government Contract Law
For Non-Lawyers Who Need to Know Contract Law

January 16-18, 2007

Government*Horizons Training Center
4301 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1003 (10th Floor)
Arlington, VA 22203

Registration: 8:00 AM (Day One Only)
Program Starts: 8:30 AM
Wrap-up: 4:30 PM
 

NOTE: On-line registrations for this workshop are now closed. Space is available for walk in registrants. To register the day of the workshop, please bring your payment and the attached registration form.

Course materials, continental breakfast (coffee and pastries), refreshments included.

This workshop is recommended for 24 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) toward DAWIA/FAC-C requirements. A Government*Horizons "Certificate of Completion" will be provided to all attendees upon conclusion of the workshop.

For information on fulfilling core, elective and continuous learning requirements, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/procurement/policy_letters/05-01_041505.html

About This Workshop


Understanding government contract law is the lynchpin to being an effective contract professional. Without this understanding you expose yourself and your organization to possible legal entanglements.

The Government Contract Law Workshop takes you through the purpose, interpretation, applicability, legal and administrative ramifications of the clauses, statutes, executive orders and regulations applicable to Government prime contracts and subcontracts.

You'll get a primer in "preventive" contract law to help you avoid legal problems and to handle them swiftly and effectively if they do arise. The major decisions of the Boards of Contract Appeals, the Comptroller General, and the Courts are examined. The rights and responsibilities of the Government and the prime contractor and the specific problems of the prime and subcontractor relationship are explained. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and its relationship to the current agency regulations will be covered in detail.

Learning Objectives

  • Use legal requirements to positively affect contract performance
  • Minimize legal reviews
  • Know what you can and can't do
  • Protect your interests with key legal precedents
  • Reduce the potential for claims & disputes upfront<
  • Avoid other legal entanglements


This workshop is recommended for 24 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) toward DAWIA/FAC-C requirements. A Government*Horizons "Certificate of Completion" will be provided to all attendees upon conclusion of the workshop.

Who Should Attend

  • Contract Managers & Administrators
  • Contracting Officers & Specialists
  • Procurement/Purchasing Managers
  • House Counsel
  • Negotiators
  • General & Subcontract Managers
  • Budget & Fiscal Officers
  • Government Sales/Marketing Managers
  • Project Managers
  • Proposal Managers

A new government report recommends contract training to achieve better federal contracting results.   Click here to download the Managing the Government’s Technical Experts to Achieve Positive Contract Outcomes report by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board dated December 2005.

Early Registrants Include

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics, Program Analyst
  • Coastal Maritime, Terminal Manager, Military OPS
  • El Paso International Airport, Procurement Analyst
  • Knowledge Connections, Inc.
  • LTI DataComm, Inc., Contracts Manager
  • Meridian Medical Technologies, Inc., Account Representative
  • Telos, Vice President of Contracts
  • U.S. Air Force, Program Manager
  • USPFO for Pennsylvania
  • Wyle Laboratories, Contracts Manager

Previous Attendees Include:

  • AAR Corp., Director of Contracts

  • AAR Parts Trading Inc., Director, Defense Contracts

  • Abraxas Corporation, Senior Contracts Administrator

  • Allliant Techsystems, Contract Administrator

  • Allied Industries, Executive Vice President

  • ARTEL, Inc., Contracts Administrator

  • Army National Guard, Facilities Management Officer

  • BAE Systems, Facilities Management Officer

  • Bechtel National, Manager, Marketing and Business Development

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics

  • Cantata Technology, CQO & Vice President of Operations

  • Casals & Associates, General Counsel

  • Census Bureau, Comptroller

  • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Director of the Budget & Analysis Group

  • Curtis-Wright

  • DARPA/System Planning Corporation, Procurement Services Manager

  • Department of the Army, Computer Specialist Manager

  • Department of the Treasury, Office of the Inspector General, Assistant Inspector General for Audits

  • Department of the Treasury, Office of the Inspector, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Program Audits

  • Department of Veterans Affairs, Director of Accounting Policy

  • Grahams Construction Inc., President

  • Grahams Construction Inc., Vice President

  • HHS/OS/ASAM/PSC/SAS/DAM, Contracting Officer

  • H.W. Lochner, Inc., CFO

  • Information Systems Consulting Group, Inc., Assistant, Contracts & Subcontracts Administration

  • Kaman Aerospace, Contract Administrator

  • Knowledge Connections, Inc.

  • LTI DataComm, Inc., Contracts Manager

  • Mercer County, Ohio Job & Family Services, Fiscal Officer

  • NASA, GN&C Systems Engineer

  • National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Chief, Information Processing Division

  • National Science Foundation, Management Analyst

  • NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, Assistant Vice President - ITS

  • NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, Coordinating Manager - ITS

  • Plexus Corporation, Director, Customer Development Defense/Security/Aerospace

  • Robison Aviation, Inc.

  • Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services, Inc., Contracts Manager

  • Telos, Vice President of Contracts

  • Transtector Systems, Inc., Vice President, Operations

  • U.S. Army, PEO STRI, Project Director

  • U.S. Department of the Interior - Office of the Inspector General, Budget Officer

  • U.S. Department of the Interior - Office of the Inspector General, Contract Specialist

  • USDA-ARS-OTT, Program Analyst

  • Wittenberg Weiner Consulting, General Counsel

  • Woolrich, Inc., Contract Administrator

Course Syllabus

This class uses a mix of learning approaches including practical experience from classroom exercises, case studies and discussion from these subjects:

I. Introduction to Government Contract Law

  • Regulations
  • The Influence of the Uniform Commercial Code
  • The Available Administrative and Judicial Forums
  • Authority of Government Representatives
  • Contract Interpretation and Exculpatory Clauses
II. Contract Formation

An Overview of Procurement Methods

  • Simplified Acquisition
  • Commercial Item Acquisition
  • Federal Supply Schedule Contracting
  • Department of Homeland Security
Contract Types
  • Fixed Price
     
  • Cost Reimbursement
The Two Principle Methods of Procurement
  • Sealed Bidding
  • Competitive Negotiation
II. Protests
The Notification-Debriefing-Protest Continuum
  • Notification to Unsuccessful Offerors
  • Debriefings
    • Preaward Debriefings
    • Postaward Debriefings
  • Protests
    • At the Procuring Agency
    • At the Government Accountability Office
    • At the Court of Federal Claim
III.  Contract Costs
Cost Principles, Cost Accounting Standards and Truth in Negotiations
  • Cost Principles - FAR Part 31
    • Allowability
    • Reasonableness
  • Complying with CAS
    • Allocability
  • TINA:  Requirement and Risks
IV. Performance Problems

Changes and Terminations

  • The "Changes" Clause
    • Contractor's Duty to Proceed
    • Constructive Changes
  • Contract Terminations
    • Default Terminations
    • Bases for Terminations
    • Cure Notices
    • Contractor Defenses
    • Government Remedies
  • Convenience Terminations
    • Termination Settlement Proposals
       
V. Disputes & Appeals

The Contract Disputes Process

  • The Contract Disputes Act
  • The Disputes Path
    • Asserting a "Claim"
    • Certification
    • The "Final Decision"
    • Appealing the Final Decision
  • Appeal to A Board of Contract Appeals
  • Court of Federal Claims Proceedings
  • The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • Comparing the BCAs and the CFC
Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Arbitration, Mediation and the Hybrids
  • An ADR Demonstration





About Your Instructor

David Dempsey practices in the area of U.S. federal, state, and local procurement law and regulations as well as their international counterparts. He has been doing so for 28 years. Prior to entering private practice in 1982, Mr. Dempsey worked at the Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Fuel Supply Center, components of the Department of Defense.

With procurement law as his foundation, Mr. Dempsey has developed specific technical knowledge in federal contract cost accounting, information technology and related intellectual property, international transactions and international procurement, export controls (e.g., EAR, ITAR, OFAC), and labor laws related to government service controls (e.g. Service Contract Act, Davis-Bacon Act, CWHSSA, FLSA). His articles have appeared in several legal and business publications, and he has presented numerous lectures, on these and related subjects since 1982.

In the procurement community, Mr. Dempsey is General Counsel to the Contract Services Association (1990-present; Committee Chair 1997-2000; Project Officer for the FAR Part 15 Rewrite) and the Procurement Policy Committee of the Information Technology Association of America (2002-present). He was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee to the Department of Defense (the § 807 Committee) to revise the DFRS guidance and contract clauses regarding technical data and computer software rights (1994-95).

Mr. Dempsey is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Virginia and before the federal district court of the District of Columbia, the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the Fourth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Dempsey received his bachelor's degree cum laude 1972 from Amherst College and earned his law degree in 1977 from the University of South Carolina Law School.

 



Contact Us

  • For registration information, please email Katie Smith or call (703) 807-2758
  • For general information about this workshop, please contact Abbie Hickman, (703) 807-2753
Registration Fee
  • Government attendees: $1,395 per person
  • Small Business (less than 100 employees): $1,445 per person
  • Industry: $1,495 per person


Registration Options
 

NOTE: On-line registrations for this workshop are now closed. Space is available for walk in registrants. To register the day of the workshop, please bring your payment and the attached registration form.

Registrations are payable by Visa, American Express, Mastercard, company check or government purchase order.

 CANCELLATION POLICY: You may designate a substitute in writing any time before the event. If you need to cancel your registration, you must send your notice in writing and will be subject to a $50 processing fee. No refunds are given for cancellations received one week prior to the event start date or later. PLEASE NOTE: No shows will be liable for the entire registration fee.

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If you're not, please tell us why in a brief letter and we will credit your investment
towards another Government*Horizons event.  You risk nothing!

Government*Horizons has the right to refuse registration to any attendee at any time.



Location and Hotel Information

The workshop will be held in the Government*Horizons Training Center in the NRECA Building at 4301 Wilson Boulevard, Suite #1003 (10th floor), Arlington, VA 22203. Public parking at the facility is available for $9 a day. The NRECA Building is just one block from the Ballston Metro Station in the orange line. Please note: the parking garage and a side entrance to the building is on Taylor Street.

Map and directions to the conference location
Ballston Metro stop information
Airport and walking directions from metro to hotels below

Nearby hotels include:



On-Site Training

Have a Large Staff to Train? Can't Make These Dates? Tight Travel Budget?

Government*Horizons can provide training, wherever and whenever you need, including on-site at your facility. Our staff will cost-effectively implement training customized to your needs. If you have group of attendees (usually 15 or more), we can bring this course to you and help save you time, travel costs, and more!

To request a proposal and schedule training, e-mail Laura Johnson, President, at ljohnson@governmenthorizons.org or call (703) 807-2747.

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Government*Horizons
4301 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 1003
Arlington, VA 22203
 

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