Jon W Van Horne's Answers

Can a small business be created on paper by a bigger business to benefit from exclusively small business government contracts?

The "smallness" of a business for purposes of the Small Business Administration is measured by the size of the business (either gross revenues or employees). Included in that measurement are the "affiliates" of the business. Affiliates include parent or subsidiary companies and companies with common ownership. So the SBA regulations would not permit a "large" company to legally form a "small" subsidiary. Obviously, for a large company to pass off a small subsidiary as small or to hide its...

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Non-payment from a government contractor.

Unless the prime contract requires the contractor to have a payment bond (which is very unlikely in this case), there is nothing the government contracting office can do for you. It wouldn't hurt to ask the contracting office is there a payment bond, but if there were they would probably already have told you that. However, you should ask them to put your complaint in the prime contractor's past performance file. Most likely you are going to stuck with whatever remedies you have against any...

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Unique Possible Antitrust Situation with State Park

I don’t think I would characterize this as an anti-trust issue. Because operating the park is a public activity, denying anyone access raises due process and equal protection issues. But before one gets to constitutional issues (which may exist here), state laws and regulations regulating the operation of state parks need to be checked to see if banning riders renting horses from an outside stable violates any state law or regulation. Usually state laws and regulations are available and...

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Can companies reduce their annual revenue to remain a small business (e.g., by the SBA standards) by changing their fiscal year?

First of all, not all business types are measured by gross revenue. Some are measured by the number of employees. Then, the revenue used to determine small business status is not just the current year, but the average of the last three years. Also, I suspect (but don't know for sure) that there would be serious tax consequences for trying to do this. Finally, to do this intentionally for the purpose of claiming small business status when it is not justified and to use that phony status as a...

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I need to find out the first step in filing in small claims court in Pittsburgh Pa due to breach of contract.

You really need to talk to a lawyer licensed in Pennsylvania and preferably someone local to you. But if that is not an option, in most states you can find out a lot about the small claims court process by talking to the clerk of the court. Also in many states, the courts have websites that provide a lot of information.

Can you be a Federal Government employee with one agency and work on retainer for another agency through a contractor?

You need to take a look at Part 2635 of Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations (5 CFR Part 2635), entitled STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. Section 2635.802 of that Part has government-wide guidance on conflicting outside employment and activities. There are specific examples in the section (taken I was told from real situations) that may be helpful. Your agency may have its own similar provisions so you need to check with your agency's ethics regulations...

How do we break ties with our current prime contracting company?

The first thing I would do is to review your present contract and/or teaming agreement and see what restrictions and limitations you are under. Did you give your customer the right to exercise an option? What are the contract change provisions? Can they force a change on you (like the government can with the prime contractor)? I'm assuming there is nothing particularly restrictive, but you want to be sure. Even if there is, those restrictions may not apply to what they are trying to force...

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Can a federal agency use a government purchased training voucher to provide training for a contractor employee?

Without knowing what agency regulations might apply and what the relevant contract provisions (both with the contractor and the company providing the training voucher), it is not possible to give a complete answer. However, some general propositions and personal experience might apply. Since we are dealing with public money here, the agency cannot merely give the voucher away. But training the contractor employee might benefit the government in some way which could justify providing the...

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Can a metally disabled person be held to a vehicle contract?

Generally, to have a binding contract the parties must be competent to enter into a contract. For example, minors are generally not held to be legally competent to enter into a binding contract. However, the details on how this general proposition works varies from state to state. A definitive answer to this question must come from a lawyer practicing in Tennessee. Until a Tennessee lawyer weighs in on this question, I might suggest that the question here might turn on what is legally...

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Hiring a lawyer

Lawyers are subject to very strict rules when dealing with prospective clients. Those rules vary from state to state, but some principles are generally accepted throughout the US. This lawyer is being responsible and careful to look at the facts before he decides whether he can help you and if he can, what financial arrangements are appropriate to the situation. Even if he decides that he can't take your case or if the two of you can't reach an understanding on the financial arrangements, he...

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