State and Local Government Contracts
McKenna Long & Aldridge (MLA) has successfully litigated and counseled clients in all aspects of state and local government contract law. Our experience includes not only the state and local agencies within California (including the Alternate Pilot Protest Program), Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, but also an extensive list of additional state and local agencies across the U.S. Our legal practice is enhanced by the government affairs knowledge of our firm’s public policy advisors. Our team members have held senior elected and appointed positions, including state and federal legislators, diplomats, advisors to U.S. presidents, governors, senators, members of Congress, mayors, and government attorneys at the state and local levels. This experience enables us to identify potential projects for our clients and then develop and secure relationships with key officials in the federal or state governments.
We have in-depth knowledge of the procurement laws and regulations applicable to these jurisdictions, and work with clients to maximize the likelihood that state and local agencies will select their proposals for performance. Should agencies make erroneous bid selections, we have the legal capabilities and political clout to successfully protest such selections. In the Public-Private Partnerships (P3) arena, we counsel clients in the major areas of government contracts law, including state and local procurement, teaming agreements and subcontracts. We assist clients on a range of public and private and P3 construction projects, including federal public works and military projects, state and local public facilities projects, and commercial projects. We have successfully prepared and litigated claims seeking to recover cost overruns often caused by state and local agencies.
More specifically, our counseling and litigation experience includes:
- Proven success in pursuing protests or defending awardees under the California Alternate Pilot Protest Program;
- Counseling clients on the state and local laws applicable to procurements, including minority subcontracting, labor, recycled content, balanced bid and technical specification issues;
- Negotiating final terms and conditions on behalf of clients with state and local government agencies;
- Protesting procurement awards made by state and local agencies on behalf of information technology, transportation, service contractor, professional consulting and construction clients;
- Preparing and submitting claims for payment to state and local agencies under the theories of constructive change, defective specifications, bid mistake and mandatory economic price adjustment;
- Litigating denied claims and bid protests in the applicable state courts;
- Counseling clients on a variety of issues unique to state and local regulations, including proposal preparation, Truth In Negotiation Act (TINA), suspension and debarment, and cost accounting; and
- Developing corporate compliance systems which meet both state and federal regulatory requirements.