Think that conflict of interest as a contractor concern area are dead and buried in federal acquisition?  Think again.  COI issues are at the center of a protest filed by Northrop Grumman and are holding up a $1.15 billion (yep, with a “b”) DHS cybersecurity contract.  If COI issues can hold up a project this big, they can get your company in trouble, too.  The Northrop case specifically centers on whether a former DHS employee hired by Raytheon, the putative winner of the procurement, provided information to Raytheon that gave them an unfair advantage.  This is a cautionary tale on hiring former feds.  It’s not a bad practice to hire them, but ensuring that everyone sticks to the rules on information and interaction are vital.  Regardless of whether Raytheon had an unfair advantage, they’re paying thousands in legal fees just to protect their interests.  Organizational conflicts are another issue.  Simply put, current business can preclude you from future business at the same agency if you’re not careful.  Bill Hader’s line in “Night in the Museum 2”, “We’re Americans.  We don’t plan, we do” was played for laughs.  Make sure, though, when it comes to conflicts of interest that you do plan so that the last laugh isn’t on you.