On April 25 and 26, James Newland, partner in Seyfarth’s Construction Practice Group, will be presenting the “Changes and Claims in Government Construction Contracting” course at the Federal Publications Seminar at the Executive Conference and Training Center in Sterling, Virginia. His presentation will focus on owner changes and contractor claims in the federal government contracting arena. James regularly presents for the Federal Publications Seminars, which provide periodic training covering a variety of government contracting issues.
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The typical government contract contains a laundry list of standard Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) or Defense Federal Regulation Acquisition Supplement (DFARS) clauses that outline the requirements for the construction or services to be provided. These clauses are either expressly stated, i.e. written out in full length in the contract, or incorporated by reference to a particular provision which the contractor must research for the specific language. But contractors beware: not all contracts are what they seem. Since 1963, courts have held that certain clauses are so integral to public procurements that they are deemed incorporated by operation of law, even if they are omitted from the contract. 
On March 19, 2019, Seyfarth’s Anthony LaPlaca and Teddie Arnold witnessed oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in a government contracts case that has major implications for future enforcement of the federal False Claims Act (FCA).
Seyfarth Shaw partner Chuck Wall will serve on a panel entitled “The Contractor’s Role on the P3 Project Team” on Friday, March 22. The panel will be featured at a P3 Seminar sponsored by the Maryland Transportation Builders & Materials Association (MTBMA). Chuck will be joined by senior executives from the P3 development and contracting community, and the program will focus on informing contractors and other interested members about the basics of and potential opportunities involved with P3s.
Alison Ashford, Seyfarth partner and co-chair of the Seyfarth Construction Group, is moderating the “Risk/Reward?: Challenging Issues with Design/Construction Risk Allocation” panel at The Public-Private Partnership Conference & Expo, March 4-6 in Dallas, Texas.
For any “prime” or general construction contract that is $500,000 or greater and all subcontracts thereunder (regardless of amount), Tennessee law requires that the owner (and by implication, any construction lender funding construction draws and any general contractor responsible for payment to subcontractors) deposit the amount of any retainage in a third-party, interest-bearing escrow account with a financial institution at the time the retainage is withheld. (
Since taking office in 2017, President Trump has made no secret of his “Buy American, Hire American” initiative. The President recently took another step to promote American industry by signing an Executive Order on January 31, 2019, (the “Order”) which instructs all agencies to “maximize the use of iron and aluminum as well as steel, cement, and other manufactured products produced in the United States in contracts, sub-contracts, purchase orders, or sub-awards.”
26 days and counting, the partial government shutdown has left many federal employees with an endless weekend and no paycheck. While those workers grapple with the financial hardship and uncertainty as Congress and the Administration try to reconcile their differences, contractors working under a government contract may be forced to deal with their own issues.