Contract and Fiscal Law

DESKBOOKS / HANDBOOKS

FUNDAMENTALS OF CONTRACT & FISCAL LAW (Videos and Webinars)

PODCAST – FAR and BEYOND

CONTRACT & FISCAL LAW (CAC Only)

STUDENT SERVICES

PME / COMMAND COURSES

FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS

COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

ARMY PROCUREMENT FRAUD DIVISION (CAC Only)

This course provides a foundational review and update of fiscal law authorities, restrictions, and analysis for military and civilian attorneys conducting fiscal legal reviews within the Department of Defense. The course is heavily focused on practice within the military departments. The course covers the legal authorities for the expenditure of appropriated funds including: the concepts of purpose, time, and amount; the requirements, prohibitions, and application of law and policy concerning the Antideficiency Act; the rules and regulations applicable to military construction projects; and funding authorities governing military operations in a wide variety of environments (e.g. domestic, contingency, and foreign civilian assistance).

This course presents instruction regarding the basic legal concepts on the authority of the government and its personnel to enter into contracts; statutorily mandated competition requirements; contract formation (sealed bidding and competitive negotiation), including basic contract types, labor standards, and socioeconomic policies; contract performance, including modification, termination, inspection, and acceptance; disputes, including remedies of unsuccessful offerors and appeals; and introduction to procurement fraud.

This course updates senior government contract and fiscal law attorneys on significant changes in government contract and fiscal law and policy by providing attendees the opportunity to hear the views of prominent individuals from the government and private sectors. The course features guest speakers and seminars with emphasis on new developments, policy insights, and advanced instruction in selected contract and fiscal law topics. The course also serves as the focal point for the continuing education needs of program manager attorneys and includes seminars designed to meet the interests of senior military and civilian attorneys in the field of government procurement law.  With a focus on policy, this course is designed for senior-level contract and fiscal law attorneys.

This iteration of the portfolio of Advanced Topics in Acquisitions and Appropriations Law courses provides advanced instruction, building on “the basics” of contract and fiscal law received during the Contract Attorneys Course (CAC) and the Fiscal Law Course (FLC). It uses the practical experience received after the attendees’ first two years applying the lessons from the CAC and FLC, and connects those individual experiences with the procurement system as a whole. Its focus is on emerging issues for the intermediate-level practitioner based on advances in case law or developments in legislation and regulation. Past courses have offered topics on: advanced source selection procedures, Federal Supply Schedule issues, advanced appropriation law interpretation and practice issues, advanced security cooperation, intellectual property, new developments in innovation and acquisitions, and emerging technologies.

This iteration of the portfolio of Advanced Topics in Acquisitions and Appropriations Law courses, titled Governmental Rights in Intellectual Property (GRIP), provides a strong foundation in intellectual property law and policy, focusing on its relevance to the Department of the War/Defense, and its priority focus on equipping warfighters with innovation solutions. It begins by introducing the basics of Intellectual Property Law generally, and then narrows its focus on issues relevant to operational contracting. It seeks to “operationalize intellectual property” by focusing on topics relevant to judge advocates advising warfighters. Upon completion, practitioners will understand IP rights, IP rights’ application, best practices, and negotiation of IP rights in operational contracts, as well as implement IP licenses for full-spectrum operations.

This serial course provides operational and tactical legal practitioners with the knowledge, frameworks, and tools necessary in contract and fiscal law to foster, manage, and implement innovation within their respective organization, in alignment with Department of the Army modernization priorities. This course instructs on the foundational concepts of tactical innovation, including operational, fiscal, and legal frameworks; analyze issues surrounding the use and acquisition of software, intellectual property, and data rights at the unit level; introduce concepts for ethical and effective engagement with industry partners to solve tactical problems; explore the establishment and operation of tactical innovation labs, including partnership agreements and digital manufacturing; familiarize students with regulations and policies governing modern technologies.

The course consists of Fiscal Law Foundations and Electives. The seven-credit Fiscal Law Foundations block of instruction consists of three lessons covering the fiscal law principles of Purpose, Time, and Amount. Each lesson consists of text and learning exercises designed to familiarize the student with these areas of appropriations law. After successfully completing the Fiscal Law Foundations block of instruction, students will be given access to five two-hour elective lessons. Each credit hour represents approximately one hour of student work. Completion of the Fiscal Law Foundations lessons (seven credit hours) plus one elective lesson (two credit hours) is estimated to take a typical student about nine hours of work.