Practice Areas

Services in support of compliance programs involve one or more of the following activities:

• determining and documenting requirements for systems and procedural development
• determining and documenting requirements for general training in government contracts compliance requirements
• determining and documenting requirements for specialized training in government contracts compliance (e.g., cost accounting and recovery rules, compliance with the Truth in Negotiations Act)
• conducting generalized and specialized training for employees
• drafting policies and procedures to ensure robust internal control systems
• drafting Code of Ethics
• conducting compliance reviews.

Mr. Martins will help develop and implement new and improved compliance program policies, procedures and training for company employees responsible for adherence to the FAR and CAS rules. In addition, he will review, analyze and comment on whether the following submissions comply with FAR and CAS:

• cost proposals for new contracts and modifications to existing contracts
• forward pricing rate proposals
• incurred cost submissions
• cost impact statements for changes in cost accounting practice or CAS non-compliance
• CAS Board Disclosure Statements.

Internal investigation services are especially useful to companies that need to investigate concerns raised by employees or in government audit reports about the company’s compliance with the governing government contracts laws and regulations. In many cases, such issues can be resolved cost effectively without involving the white collar practice of a large law firm. Mr. Martins’s work on internal investigations of government contracts matters typically involves one or more of the following activities:

• initial identification of issues
• document review and analysis
• witness identification and interviews
• legal research
• assessment of issue or case
• quantification of potential liability to the government (in conjunction with accountants)
• preparation of position papers and presentations for government officials
• involvement with settlement negotiations
• recommendations to company concerning compliance program changes.

Counseling of companies in connection with their government contracts includes counseling concerning the importance of the following FAR procedures concerning the protection of company intellectual property. Intellectual property related services tend to involve one or more of the following activities:

• drafting policies and procedures concerning protection of intellectual property under government contracts
• assisting companies with questions concerning the proper protective marking of technical data delivered in the performance of government contracts
• assisting companies with questions concerning the proper procedures to follow in the event a patentable invention is first conceived or reduced to practice in the performance of a government contract
• reviewing, analyzing and commenting on non-disclosure agreements between contractors contemplating teaming agreements and other cooperative arrangements.

Mr. Martins may be called upon to analyze whether, under the Small Business Administration’s rules, a relationship rises to the level of “affiliation”, in which case the small business may no longer be eligible for government contracting procurement preferences. If it does, he makes recommendations concerning how to restructure the relationship so that it does not rise to this level. 

Work on teaming agreements typically involves drafting to promote clients’ business objectives and to avoid the application of case law that makes unallowable bid and proposal costs incurred pursuant to teaming agreements. Work on subcontracts typically involves one or more of the following:

• analysis of whether the subcontract qualifies as a “commercial item” subcontract under the FAR (and, therefore, streamlined acquisition procedures)
• flow down and tailoring of applicable FAR clauses to the subcontract
• assisting clients to obtain appropriate representations and certifications from the subcontractor
• providing guidance on the applicability of TINA to the subcontract
• if TINA applies, providing guidance on the procedures to follow to obtain certified cost or pricing data from the subcontractor
• assisting clients to understand their obligations to perform cost and/or price analysis on subcontract pricing actions
• reviewing and commenting on commercial terms of the subcontract
• assisting in the negotiation of the subcontract.

Federal agencies must award contracts in accordance with numerous acquisition laws and regulations. If a party interested in a government contract believes that an agency has violated procurement law or regulation in a solicitation for goods or services, or in the award of a contract, it may file a bid protest with either the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Court of Federal Claims. Mr. Martins takes a balanced approach to handicapping the prospects for success of bid protests, always striving to advise clients candidly about both the strengths and the weaknesses of their cases. In the briefings prepared in support of protests, he focuses relentlessly on obtaining a thorough understanding of the facts and comprehensive identification of case law supporting the protest.

Claims development services can help companies restore healthy profit margins on contracts that have been adversely affected by government actions or inactions. Services typically involve one or more of the following activities:

• thorough fact finding concerning the contractual baseline and changes made to it
• comprehensive analyses of entitlement under the governing contractual provisions and the case law interpreting these provisions
• quantification of the claim (in conjunction with accountants)
• preparation of claim narratives advocating the company’s positions
• negotiation and resolution of the claims
• submission of non-monetary claims, such as those disputing Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) evaluations.

Mr. Martins can provide support to litigation involving government contracts issues, engaging in factual discovery and analysis, including taking and defending depositions of government and contractor personnel, drafting briefs and preparing legal research. He can serve cost effectively as a temporary adjunct to your internal litigation staff. He can also help you interact with larger law firms who may be handling your litigation.

Mr. Martins is available to help you solve problems pertaining to your commercial contracts. including the drafting of standard commercial terms for many subcontracts under government contracts. Essentially, aside from the flow down of government contracts terms, these subcontracts are commercial contracts. Like any other commercial contract, they are subject to state law. Mr. Martins can assist you in the drafting, negotiation and resolution of problems associated with commercial contract terms such as:

• warranties
• indemnities
• intellectual property
• term and termination
• ordering procedures
• limitation of liability.