Government Procurement and Contracting

The Government Procurement and Contracting Group has broad experience in all aspects of federal, state and municipal procurement and contract administration. The group has developed a deep understanding of a broad array of procurement vehicles, including invitations for bids, requests for proposals, preferred source offerings, strategic sourcing, “OGS or Less,” centralized contracts, discretionary purchasing, commodity contracts, backdrop contracts, single source, sole source, piggybacking and other shared procurements, emergency contracts, and agency/multi-agency established contracts, as well as each particularized application of the foregoing within New York.  In so doing, the Group understands and advises its clients with regard to full utilization of procurement question opportunities and the use of debriefings and the Freedom of Information Law to attain full information regarding procurements.

The Group is also a leader in the field of defending and resolving vendor responsibility, suspension and debarment proceedings with both federal and state contracting and enforcement agencies. At the same time, we also work closely with many contractors on development and implementation of corporation/contractor integrity plans and compliance training, including the development of affirmative policies, relating to DBE, MBE and WBE contracting practices, to help companies avoid being subject to suspension and debarment proceedings.

The Firm’s representative experience includes:

• Assisting clients seeking or maintaining certification from New York State for minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs), woman-owned business enterprises (WBEs), service-disabled veteran-owned business (SDVOB) and disadvantaged business entities (DBEs).
• Advising clients on procurement proposal evaluation criteria and strategies, Best and Final Offer negotiations, debriefings and competing bid assessments, bid protest issues and compliance with state and local requirements, including the Procurement Lobbying Law.
• Aiding clients on public contract administration matters, including secondary procurements, such as the Quick Quote process, negotiation of changes, terminations and protection of vendor responsibility, and MBE, WBE, SDVOB and DBE utilization, documentation of good faith efforts and applications for waivers.
• Assisting clients seeking assistance with regard to vendor responsibility reporting and hearings.
• Counseling clients regarding Freedom of Information Law and Freedom of Information Act impacts on submissions made in connection with procurements and drafting requests for exemption.
• Appearing before state, local and municipal governmental entities for administrative challenges and appeals of procurement-related determinations.