Legal experts will examine recent developments in the law and best practices for procuring or securing contracts from the government and industry perspectives during the American Bar Association 2019 Public Procurement Symposium, Oct. 24-25 in San Diego.
Richard A. Powers, deputy assistant attorney general for criminal enforcement at the U.S. Department of Justice, will deliver the keynote address at a ticketed luncheon at noon on Friday.
Program highlights include:
- "Parallel Paths or Impending Collision? Tracking the Impacts of Concurrent Federal, State and Local Privacy and Cybersecurity Developments on Government Contractors" - It seems like every day we hear about a new data breach affecting millions of individuals or a major company's use of customer data comes under scrutiny. It is no wonder, then, that federal, state and local governments are passing increasingly protective laws and regulations to prevent the misuse of sensitive information by inadvertent and malicious actors. But what does this mean for government contractors performing contracts under conflicting laws of differing jurisdictions? This panel will provide an overview of recent federal, state and local legislative and regulatory developments, discuss how these are being implemented as requirements in public contracts and compare how government contractor compliance obligations differ between jurisdictions.
- "At the Intersection of Procurement and Collusion: Understanding Criminal Antitrust Risks in Government Contracting" - The U.S. DOJ Antitrust Division made headlines this year announcing criminal penalties and civil settlements in its ongoing investigation into collusion and bid rigging affecting DOD fuel supply contracts for U.S. military bases. There are high stakes for government contractors as they navigate interactions with competitors while wearing multiple hats as customers (or prime contractors), suppliers (or subcontractors) and teaming/joint venture partners. This panel of experienced attorneys will cover the nuts and bolts of criminal antitrust violations in public procurement, and assess the risk environment given the "revitalization" of the division's use of Section 4A of the Clayton Action to seek civil damages, in addition to criminal fines, when the government is the victim of criminal antitrust violations like bid rigging, price fixing and market allocation.
Published: Thu, Oct 17, 2019
