On January 13, 2021, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an interim final rule to, among other things, amend § 124.2 of its regulations to incorporate the optional program term extension for small business concerns participating in the 8(a) Business Development (BD) program on March 13, 2020. Specifically, revised § 124.2 provides that, for a firm participating in the 8(a) BD program as of March 13, 2020, and through January 13, 2021, SBA will automatically…

An important update to Georgia’s statutory lien waiver laws took effect on January 1, 2021. The amendment to Georgia’s mechanic’s lien law alters the form for interim and final lien waivers. Essentially, the new statute clarifies that lien waivers only waive lien or bond rights against the property and do not waive the right to file a lawsuit for nonpayment or other claims. The law also extends the deadline to file an affidavit of nonpayment from 60 days to 90 days.…

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued to Congress its annual bid protest report. As discussed below, this year’s report is noteworthy for multiple reasons, including that it shows that protesters received some form of relief from the procuring agency in more than half of the protests filed with the GAO in FY 2020, and the GAO’s use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) increased by 210% in FY 2020. The report is also noteworthy…

David K. Taylor, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Nashville, TN dtaylor@bradley.com 615-252-2396 This post is a continuation of the Top 10 most horrible, terrible, no good, “bang your head against the door” mistakes that I have seen lawyers make before, during, and after arbitrations in which I served as the arbitrator. As stated in the previous posts, there are pros and cons to binding arbitration versus trial in a court that go beyond a series of…

On December 8, 2020, in Taylor Morrison of Texas, Inc. v. Kohlmeyer, a Texas Court of Appeals rejected a contractor’s appeal of a trial court order denying the contractor’s motion to compel arbitration in a home construction defect dispute. The appellate court concluded that the theories of direct benefits estoppel and implied assumptions did not permit the contractor to bind a subsequent purchaser to mandatory arbitration required under the original purchase agreement. In 2013, the…

A few months ago, we wrote about how the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) had defined when the protest clock starts running for a stay of contract performance pending a bid protest if the Department of  Defense’s (DOD) enhanced post-award debriefing procedures are used. The case was NIKA Technologies, Inc. v. United States, and the issue involved when NIKA’s debriefing ended. The COFC ruled for NIKA, but the United States has now appealed…

On November 6, 2020, the Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s decision dismissing a contractor’s differing site conditions claim on a sewer replacement project. In TSI Construction, Inc. v. Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District, the appellate court concluded that the contractor’s failure to comply with contractual provisions necessary to preserve its claim were fatal to its lawsuit. The case involved a sewer replacement project that required excavation and removal of a…