Bloomberg BNA Highlights Article by Wiley Rein’s Daniel Graham and Craig Smith

October 4, 2013

A client alert by Wiley Rein attorneys Daniel P. Graham and Craig Smith was highlighted this week by Bloomberg BNA, as part of its coverage of the government shutdown’s implications for federal contractors.

Companies that do business with the government should make an inventory of contracts to determine which ones are most likely to be affected by the shutdown, Mr. Graham and Mr. Smith said in their September 30 client alert.  A funding lapse may halt performance under some contracts but not others, they said.

Mr. Graham—a partner in the firm’s Government Contracts Practice—told Bloomberg BNA that communication between contractors and federal contracting officers (COs) is critical for easing the shutdown’s impact.  “There should be solid expectations as to what to do [on a contract] and when to do it,” Mr. Graham said in an interview about the client alert.

Contractors should obtain written instructions from their COs about which activities, if any, should continue during a funding lapse, according to the alert.  While the shutdown may also delay agencies’ ability to award new contracts, companies should assume all deadlines will remain unchanged for bid and proposal submissions, bid protests, and related litigation, Mr. Graham and Mr. Smith added.

The shutdown could lead to more legal disputes between contractors and the federal government, Mr. Graham said in the interview.  “The potential for disputes increases the longer the funding lapse continues and the longer contractors make performance decisions without the benefit of input from the customer,” he told Bloomberg BNA.

The September 30 client alert by Mr. Graham and Mr. Smith, titled “Déjà vu All Over Again—Five Steps to Prepare for a Government ‘Shutdown,’” can be found here.