September 2025

Welcome back to the Legal Beat Newsletter! The Legal Beat aims to deliver valuable insights, resources, and crucial reminders tailored specifically for the attorneys who support state central procurement. 

Have content ideas for future newsletters? Reach out to Megan Smyth. 

Registration is OPEN for Law Institute!

2025 NASPO Law Institute and Attorney Bootcamp

November 4-6, 2025

Savannah, GA

The 2025 NASPO Law Institute and Attorney Bootcamp will be at the Marriott Savannah Riverfront in Savannah, Georgia, November 4-6! Join your peers for learning, networking, and partnering with procurement attorneys from all around the country! 

New Attorney Bootcamp will be held on November 4^th, and Law Institute will be November 5-6^th. Hope to see you there!

New Course Offered in Partnership with InnovateUS

Responsible AI for Public Sector Legal Professionals  self-paced course is designed by and for public sector lawyers and legal support staff, providing AI fundamentals, everyday tools, and best practices for the safe and effective use of GenAI in legal work.

You’ll learn how to:

• Write clear, effective prompts

• Incorporate GenAI tools into daily legal tasks

• Identify and mitigate potential risks

• Apply best practices for responsible GenAI use in the public sector

Procurement Guide for Executive and Legislative Leadership 

NEW RESOURCE AVAILABLE!

Procurement Guide for Executive and Legislative Leadership is designed to succinctly explain the public procurement process and to communicate the immense value public procurement provides.

The guide is meant to help executive and legislative leadership engage with public procurement in a more informed, strategic, and collaborative approach.

Check out this guide, and please share it with anyone unfamiliar with public procurement, especially new executive and legislative officials and their staff members.

Strategic Partner Resource Highlight

NASCIO

Demystifying State Technology Procurement

This resource, from our strategic partner, contains great information and commentary on hot button issues such as required terms and conditions, limitations of liability, indemnification, data use and protection, and more!

Have resources to add? Please submit them here and we will include them in an update!

Be aware! 

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul, also known as the “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO)", is an initiative led by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to rewrite the FAR in plain language and align it with its statutory requirements, removing most non-statutory rules to “streamline federal procurement processes.”

There is an aggressive timeline for amendments – by October 13, 2025, agencies are required to identify FAR provisions inconsistent with policy objectives. Stay up to date on changes that may effect state government procurement by following along with trusted resources for information as the FAR is revised. 

Expansion of the Federal Wire Fraud Statute: 

In Kousisis v. United States, 605 U.S. the Supreme Court has significantly broadened the scope of federal wire fraud for contractors. A contractor was convicted for misrepresenting their eligibility for state contracts, despite performing the work satisfactorily. The ruling establishes that a material misrepresentation used to deceive someone into parting with money or property is enough for a conviction, even if the victim suffered no economic loss, setting a departure from previous interpretations of the wire fraud statute. 

NEW State Law

A new Florida law provides expanded P3 opportunities – HB 781 amended Section 255.065 of the Florida Statutes to include new, alternative processes for accepting unsolicited public-private partnership proposals. The new law allows public entities to accept P3 proposals without undertaking a public bidding or solicitation process, and the related P3 agreement no longer must require that the public entity ultimately own the unsolicited proposal project. 

As you know, Law Institute registration is open, and we are excited to welcome you to Savannah this year for our amazing program! One session this year will be modeled off the "TED Talks" you've no doubt seen in the past – but with a NASPO spin. We call them "Spark Sessions" named after the NASPO Spark in our logo.

The theme for the Spark Sessions this year is "Unique Solutions to Common Attorney Challenges" and we are seeking speakers! The talk should be no more than 15 minutes and focus on one topic. You may have slides – but remember that time is of the essence!
Please submit the following information to be considered for a Spark Session speaker position by the Law Institute Advisory Group to Megan Smyth – msmyth@naspo.org by Friday, September 19th.

You will be notified if you've been selected by Monday, September 29th, which will give you over a month to prepare.

Session Submissions should include:

• Your name, title, and state
• Session Topic and/or Title
• Brief outline of the content you will cover, including any interactive elements
• The key takeaway for the audience from your talk
• Any other information you want us to know!

Please let Megan know if you have any questions and we look forward to your ideas!

Call for Volunteers!

The ABA is partnering with NASPO to update the Model Procurement Code, last revised over 20 years ago. If you are interested in being on an Article Committee, please reach out to Micaela Fischer, Assistant Director, Model Procurement Code.

Model Procurement Code Article Committees You Can Join