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Warner Norcross + Judd LLP is a corporate law firm with over 230 attorneys serving clients in nine offices throughout Michigan. Among the largest law firms in Michigan, Warner works in virtually all areas of business law.

Michigan Law Firm - Warner Norcross + Judd LLP

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Most eyes and ears are on Capitol Hill today as we wait for a spending bill to be approved ahead of midnight tonight, to prevent a government shutdown.

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If the government shuts down, it will impact government contractors. In this brief eAlert we discuss what to expect during a shut down and how to prepare to minimize its impact.

During a shutdown, contracts about to expire cannot be renewed.

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Solicitation and award of new contracts will likely be put on pause.

Modifications of contracts cannot be issued.

Unless the contracting officer issues a Stop Work Order, funded contracts are expected to be performed.

Many government employees, including contracting officers, will be furloughed and will not be permitted to use government provided devices such as phones and laptops.

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Communicate with your contracting officer; know what you can expect.

Communicate with your subcontractors: Inform them that in the event of a shutdown payment of invoices may be delayed; if a Stop Work Order is received, immediately communicate it to the subcontractors and ask them to stop performing on the subcontract.

For primes and subcontractors alike: If a Stop Work Order is issued, read it to understand what is expected of you and note any timelines you need to follow.

Even if no Stop Work Order is issued but you’ll encounter delays in the contract because of the government shut down, keep track of the reasons for delay.

Also, for primes and subcontractors: Document, document, document. Document your communications (prime – contracting officer; prime – sub; sub – prime); document your costs, your expenses and the work performed. Make sure your records are accurate.

Become familiar with contract clauses addressing termination for convenience, government work delay and stop work.

Have a contingency plan in place if you need to reassign employees to work on other tasks such as commercial contracts.

Remember, it is important to mitigate increased expenses and document such mitigation if you will ask for any equitable adjustments.

Keep a paper trail of tasks impacted by possible government system shutdowns. For example, if you’re hiring new employees, complete a hard copy of the I-9 form if E-Verify is down.

Should you have questions, Warner’s team of government contracting attorneys, Mike Stone, Adam Bruski, Aida Dismondy and Bill Warners, are here to help.

Aerospace and Defense

Automotive

Government and DoD Contracting

Partner

Michael A. “Mike” Stone

Senior Counsel

Adam D. Bruski

Aida Dismondy

Corporate

Government Advocacy and Affairs

Mitigating the Impact of a Government Shutdown

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Mitigating the Impact of a Government Shutdown

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