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The 2023 clock is winding down, meaning some folks are planning New Year's Eve parties, and others are googling the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne.  For service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses ("SDVOSB"), the end of the year also coincides with their ability to "self-certify," as the grace period under Small Business Administration's ("SBA") rules is set to expire.  In other words, under SBA's regulations, SDVOSBs must submit their complete certification applications to the SBA on or before December 31 to remain eligible for SDVOSB set-aside contracts while their applications ...

The Department of Justice ("DOJ") recently announced a $1.75 million false claims settlement with a contractor that "improperly obtained government contracts that were set-aside for small businesses." The DOJ settlement highlights the criticality of accurate small business representations and certifications in government contracting, and in particular, those that may arise during or after an M&A transaction involving a small business.

Briefly, the False Claims Act ("FCA") is the primary enforcement tool in the government's arsenal to combat fraud in government ...