For the past 3 weeks I have been doing my other job, being a travel agent. I spent lots of time in the Caribbean learning about the properties we try to send people too who are looking for a vacation. Ironically on my last stop I was talking to a guy one morning getting my caffeine and here I find out he is a government worker in the acquisition world. The next day my wife introduced me to a friend she made while we on the resort. That night at dinner I met that lady’s boyfriend and I asked him what he did….Contracting Officer for the Army. Must be all us acquisition types take offf or vacation after the end of the fiscal year….LOL. We had very long conversation (with drinks involved) about how it is different and the same in the contracting world. One subject we touched on was legal support.
So how should you use your lawyer in support of your decisions as a contracting officer. First, I would like to point out that Government lawyers are not experts in contracting. They are not trained like we are and they have never signed a single instrument that obligated government funds. They are advisory on the acquisition rules to both you and the customer you support. So,the final decision is yours not your lawyers on contracting issues including as to what is fair and reasonable on price!
I have had a very close relationship with my lawyers over the years. It was important to maintain a good working relationship with the lawyer. But I also did not run to them with every problem. I felt many times I knew the FAR/DFARS and my actions were very clear. The reason I did that was because I had two rules when dealing with my lawyer.
I have had a very close relationship with my lawyers over the years. It was important to maintain a good working relationship with the lawyer. But I also did not run to them with every problem. I felt many times I knew the FAR/DFARS and my actions were very clear. The reason I did that was because I had two rules when dealing with my lawyer.
Never Lie to them
If you asked their opinion then you better follow it.
As you all know if you put a lawyer and a contracting officer in a room and asked them a question you will get at least three answers! So, based on my experience I used my lawyer when I usually knew the answer but wanted to see if there was any wiggle room. Sometimes I would float an idea about a different interpretation of a clause and see if they might go along with my read.
I treated my lawyers with respect I was trusted by them and after 30 years I knew a heck a lot more about the business then a lawyer with about 3 years acquisition experience. Oh, I had my battles with some. In fact, I had one screw up a competition because he wouldn’t listen to me about the evaluation criteria. He was a senior lawyer and part of the review of the RFP. He pushed us to use a very subjective evaluation criteria, the sample task. I had argued that in the world of R&D that there were numerous solutions to a problem and determining if anything one was really correct was hard. I wanted use key personnel and their credentials. Of course, we got multiple solutions to the task and the ranking of that factor was a mess. The lawyer who I worked with direct on the competition reminded him when he questioned our source selection decision document as being weak in that area, that he put us in that situation using that sample task. Luckily, we had no protest.
Also, it is great to have a lawyer who is on the same page as you. Nothing shuts down a customer who is arguing with you that he wants to do it a way that you know is illegal than having your lawyer say “contracting officer is right”. I have double teamed many a customer using my lawyer to shut down a guy who just wouldn’t listen to me. I had a friend invite a lawyer to a meeting with an active duty officer who constantly claimed he would break regulations to “support the warfighter”. Well he said it in front of the lawyer and very soon that officer found himself doing a different job. That CO and lawyer had no choice but to go up his chain and have him moved from that position.
So, work hard to build a good relationship with your lawyer. I had one lawyer who I would bribe with Haribo Gummy Bears to move my work to the top of the pile. We became great friends and when I showed upwith gummy bears she knew I was just being nice. But always remember that the final decision is yours as the CO!