December 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. 

Thank you for attending Law Institute

2025 Law Institute Highlights

Save the Date for 2026 – November 3-5 in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah!

The 2025 Law Institute and Attorney Bootcamp were a success!

We had 148 attendees, including 130 state attorneys and 18 Chief Procurement Officers in historic Savannah, Georgia for the 12^th Annual Law Institute and the 4^th Annual Attorney Bootcamp.

Top feedback from the event:

• 100% of our attendees told us the conference exceeded or met their expectations,
• 97% strongly agreed or agreed we addressed issues most important to the attorneys’ role in state procurement,
• 100% agreed or strongly agreed that we expanded their network of professionals and provided practical strategies applicable to their work.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making the 2025 Law Institute an amazing event!

Procurement U 2026 Update

Become a member of PPA before December 31, 2025 in order to ensure your continued access to the Procurement U catalogue of online self-paced courses, instructor-led classes, and other resources. Click below to find out more! 

Strategic Risk for Government Procurement Attorneys

NEW RESOURCE AVAILABLE!

This new Legal Education publication explores what attorneys can do to deal with risk in the complicated world of public procurement including:

• What a strategic risk management approach is and how to apply it to government contracting
• An understanding on the government’s view of risk
• The benefits for suppliers contracting with the government
•  What proper strategic risk management looks like in practice with tools for implementation.

The paper includes a Strategic Risk Assessment Checklist for Government Contracting Attorneys with financial exposure analysis, potential legal compliance gaps, implementation stage risk controls, and more!  

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

News from Law Institute 2025 

At the 2025 NASPO Law Institute we heard from the State of Minnesota how they are preparing for the upcoming April 2026 deadline for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) digital accessibility compliance in the state governments. Minnesota’s Office of Accessibility has an amazing online library of resources to help make sure you are ready for the deadline as well! Check it out here – including their “Accessibility Quick Cards” for easy reference when creating content. 

Reform Insights

Maryland’s landmark Procurement Reform Act took effect on October 1, 2025. This is the most significant overhaul of the state’s procurement processes in decades. Initial changes include providing procurement officers with greater flexibility in decision-making and communication with bidders, cutting payment timelines for Small Business Reserve contracts in half, and requiring oral presentations as part of the evaluation process for certain high-value and complex procurements. 

NEW Report

The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development) issued a report  in October of 2025 titled “Governing with Artificial Intelligence” which evaluates over 200 AI use cases for government and identifies both benefits and risks of adopting AI in government. The report also includes ideas for guardrails, how to engage stakeholders, and how to plan for future changes and advancements. Read the full report here.

See You in 2026! Stay Tuned.

As we wrap up 2025, thank you for reading Legal Beat and staying engaged with the updates that impact public procurement. We appreciate your time, your feedback, and the work you do every day in service of your state and communities. Wishing you a restful close to the year and a strong start to 2026!