The Public Sector is your go-to resource for staying ahead of critical legal developments. In the world of public sector law, change is constant. New regulations, shifting compliance standards, and evolving legal interpretations can impact how government agencies, municipalities, and businesses operate. Staying informed isn’t just an advantage—it’s a necessity.
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At Scale LLP, we understand that legal uncertainty can create operational and financial risks. The Public Sector is designed to cut through the noise, offering actionable intelligence on what is happening in the world that will keep you informed, compliant, and prepared.
February 13, 2025
On January 24, 2025, the Acting Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) released a Memorandum entitled “Acquisition Pause.” Generally, the Memorandum suspends all “GSA-funded” contracting actions, including new awards, task and delivery orders, modifications, and options. Several categories of contracting actions were exempted from the suspension, including emergency actions and essential services.
The stated intent of the Memorandum is to allow new GSA leadership to assess current government contracting actions and approve them on a case-by-case basis. This review is likely to ensure that any outstanding contracting actions are not contrary to any of the Executive Orders issued by the current administration.
Clients are advised that it is likely that this suspension will create delays in GSA contracting actions, to include awards of new contracts, modifications of existing contracts, and administrative contracting actions like extensions, notices to proceed, and exercising options. GSA contractors should assess their current projects to identify whether any of the listed exceptions apply. For contracting actions that are in process, clients should ensure that their deliverables and documentation are complete to avoid any back-and-forth with the agency that could further delay completion. Additionally, GSA contractors should maintain open lines of communication with their CORs and other agency contacts to ensure they are getting the most up-to-date information and any clarifications as to the Memorandum’s applicability and effects.
If you are a GSA contractor and have not been notified by GSA to stop or change their work, then it is important to proceed as normal under the contract unless and until you are instructed otherwise.
Overall, contractors should prepare for delays and do their best to mitigate any negative impacts that may result.
The Scale team is actively monitoring this and other government actions affecting contractors and will provide updates as the situation evolves. We anticipate that additional guidance will be issued by GSA in the coming days as more is learned about the specific contracting actions the Memorandum is intended to affect, and ambiguities are resolved. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
February 13, 2025
Recent communications from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) indicate that the agency’s goal under the new administration is to cut all aspects of GSA by 50%. This includes staffing, budget, and infrastructure – meaning they intend to dispose of 50% of their owned real estate inventory and terminate (or allow to expire) 50% of their leases. GSA is currently assessing which of their leases have no firm terms, are already in their “soft” terms, or have firm terms set to expire in the coming years. They have already started the process of ending those contracts.
The Real Estate Group at Scale LLP is advising government landlords to take the following steps to prepare for GSA potentially vacating their space and terminating their lease contract.
In addition to the individual impact felt by landlords leasing space to the government, GSA’s actions will have repercussions across the real estate industry. GSA’s website states that it “owns and leases over 363 million square feet of space in 8,397 buildings across more than 2,200 communities nationwide.” While most of GSA’s space is government offices, they also lease and own space used for research, industrial and port purposes, courthouses, high-security operations like FBI and continuity of operations facilities, post offices, data centers, health care, agricultural, and public-facing service centers.
The vision of “success” that American law firms have fostered has not made lawyers happier. A recent article published in Attorney at Work, titled “The legal profession in transition” explores this topic further.
This summer, we witnessed a woman presidential candidate on a national party ticket and US female Olympic athletes earning 53% of their country’s medals. So why is the landscape for women in law still so riddled with inequities? Is career advancement actually within your control? The answer is a resounding yes! Find out why.
For those in the legal profession, the need to build community has never been stronger. According to research conducted by the Harvard Business Review, lawyering still counts as one of the “loneliest professions,” and a growing body of research has raised alarms about the mental health of overworked attorneys: one 2023 study found that lawyers facing high stress, overwork and loneliness were more than twice as likely to contemplate suicide as other working adults. The crisis is not confined to attorneys putting in long hours at the largest firms, however, but affects lawyers across the profession including in solo practice, suggesting that isolation and lack of community are significant contributing factors in addition to workload.
A groundbreaking research project commissioned in 2023 by the California Lawyers Association and the District of Columbia Bar found that lawyers are “twice as likely as the general population to contemplate suicide.” An earlier study conducted by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs showed that nearly 21% of lawyers and others in legal professions were considered problem drinkers, and worse, over 36% of attorneys were struggling with alcohol abuse.
In HBO’s Succession, the family patriarch creates an unfair playing field, puppeteering a game that seemingly no one can win. For many Big Law and boutique attorneys, the experience can feel eerily similar. Some are realizing that the risk of betting on themselves instead of waiting in the wings isn't really all that risky. Modern firms like Scale solve numerous problems inherent in a traditional legal practice. So long, puppeteer.
I knew we could "do well while doing good" by providing quality counsel and balancing it with our service efforts, but I reached a point where I couldn't grow the firm any further on my own. My dream clients were out of reach with a team of our size, and I didn't know if my family could handle the additional years of effort it would take to grow organically.
The allure of working from home is here to stay. The pandemic showed us that not only is it possible, but it’s far more desirable for many, many lawyers and staff. Given the choice between taking a break from work by gossiping around the office water cooler or picking up their child from school, many have chosen the latter. Who needs to spend $20 on lunch when you can prepare a cheaper, healthier and more delicious lunch in your own kitchen? Why not clear your head by taking your dog for several walks throughout the day? And no one needs to sit in more traffic, ever.
The nature of law firms is changing rapidly, especially as firms strive to stabilize in a new post-pandemic reality. One of those realities is that law firms today are increasingly less local. Many traditional firms are struggling to redraw boundaries around the once indispensable requirement for its lawyers and staff to do their work primarily from a common office. Technology and the pandemic have helped the practice of law shift to less localized but equally connected modes. Remote firms like Scale LLP, which uses technology and a distributed platform to deliver services to its clients from primarily virtual spaces, are on the rise and growing and have even begun to snap up high-quality boutiques that fit their brand and profile.
It’s not hard to reach the conclusion that collaboration feels better, but is it any better for the bottom line? Despite what many lawyers believe, there is evidence in an article by Heidi Gardner, PhD at the Harvard Business School, about a collaborative culture’s positive impact on client revenue in the legal practice.
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