The proposed rule is now history. On August 11, 2026, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published its final rule, Reforms to 13 CFR 124.103 To Remove SBA’s 8(a) Program’s Rebuttable Presumption of Social Disadvantage for Individually Owned Firms Only, 91 Fed. Reg. 51568 (Aug. 11, 2026) (the Rule). The Rule takes effect September 10, 2026, and by its own terms applies to all pending applications of individually-owned applicants as of that date. A firm with an application sitting in the … Read the rest
In Life Science Logistics, LLC v. United States,[1] the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) affirmed that a disappointed bidder challenging an agency’s override of a Competition in Contracting Act (“CICA”) stay must only show the override was arbitrary and capricious. The court rejected the government’s argument that the plaintiff must also satisfy the traditional four-factor test for preliminary injunctions—likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, balance of equities, and benefit to the public. … Read the rest
It’s often said that the ineffective assistance of counsel test is so tough to satisfy that even evidence that a defendant’s attorney slept during trial is insufficient to satisfy the standard. The latest example is Alvarez v. Guerrero, 2025 WL 3719047 (5th Cir. 2025).
In Alvarez, “Juan Carlos Alvarez was sentenced to death for the murders of Michael Aguirre and Jose Varela.” He later appealed, claiming that one of his two trial counsel slept during trial.
A majority … Read the rest