Jeff Belkin Discusses Government Contract Attorney Frustrations in Law360

Jeff Belkin was recently quoted in a Law360 article discussing some of the difficulties attorneys face when negotiating contracts with government agents.  Belkin argued that many government officials are not often clear about whether a provision is mandatory or not, which causes problems when said officials decline to negotiate a provision but won’t reveal why.  “When the agent says, ‘No, I can’t change that,’ most of the time, that probably is true,” Belkin said.  “But sometimes there is room to negotiate.”  He points to the fact that not all agencies have consistent standards for transparency as a flaw in the process.