Legal Considerations in Contracting (CON 2160 / 216) — DoD / DoW (DAWIA)
A quick guide to our other federal law course options:
If you want a contracting-law focused course:
Acquisition Law— the big-picture legal framework behind how the government buys: the sources of law, ethics and integrity, competition, protests, and the rules that run across the whole acquisition lifecycle.
Federal Contract Law— a rigorous, doctrine-level command of the law governing federal contracts: formation, authority, the major statutes, changes, disputes, remedies, and termination.
Federal Contracting Law Made Simple— federal contracting law in plain language, built for practical, on-the-job use and protecting yourself and your organization.
If you want an appropriations-law focused course:
Federal Appropriations Law for Acquisition Professionals— a rigorous, in-depth command of fiscal law and the rules governing how appropriated funds may be obligated and spent.
Federal Appropriations Law for Acquisitions Professionals — Made Simple— fiscal law in plain language, built for practical, on-the-job use and staying on the right side of the rules.
This course is Legal Considerations in Contracting (CON 2160)— the legal grounding the contracting job requires, for contracting officers and specialists who want real command of the law behind their work.
Course Description:
The job assumes you know the law. The training rarely teaches it. This is Phoenix Canyon's presentation of CON 2160, the course that closes that gap — taught by an instructor with a law degree who can explain not just what the rules say, but what they mean, where they come from, and how they play out when a contract is challenged.
You start at the foundation — the sources and hierarchy of procurement law, the legal and ethical principles that govern federal contracting, and why the government has the authority to contract in the first place. From there you work through fiscal law along its three pillars — purpose, amount, and time — and the limits they place on how appropriated funds can be used, along with the intellectual property rights that run through federal acquisitions. With that grounding in place, the course works across the legal life of a contract: protests, assignment of claims, disputes, fraud, contractor debt, performance, and termination — building the legal judgment that protects you, your contract, and your organization.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, JD, who draws on her law degree, MBA studies, and the experience she earned working on more than $7.7 billion in contracts as a Contract Specialist and COR at the U.S. Navy and the Department of Health and Human Services / Indian Health Service. An award-winning instructor who has taught more than 1,000 federal acquisition workforce students across 20-plus agencies, Melinda brings a warm, engaging style to the classroom — she breaks complicated topics into easy-to-understand pieces and, most importantly, focuses on the "why" behind the "how," so students leave with a true understanding of the underlying concepts and the ability to apply them on the job immediately.
Best for: contracting officers and contract specialists — typically with two or more years of experience — who want real legal fluency in the rules that govern their contracts. The material is taught accessibly enough that those newer to contracting come away with a genuine working command of the law behind their work, so it delivers at any career level.
Format: Available as a five-day course, delivered in person or virtually. Phoenix Canyon issues every attendee a certificate of completion documenting the number of training hours and CLPs earned. Eligible federal acquisition workforce attendees earn 8 CLPs per day (40 CLPs total).
A note on certification and CLPs: Eligible attendees earn CLPs that can satisfy continuous-learning and agency-specific or elective training requirements. For DoD / DoW (DAWIA) students who need it toward certification, Phoenix Canyon can arrange course-level DAU equivalency for scheduled engagements — just let us know when you request a quote. Because agencies set their own rules on what qualifies, check with your Acquisition Career Manager (ACM) to confirm how it applies to your certification or continuous-learning plan.
Pricing is set per engagement. Contact Phoenix Canyon to request a quote.
A quick guide to our other federal law course options:
If you want a contracting-law focused course:
Acquisition Law— the big-picture legal framework behind how the government buys: the sources of law, ethics and integrity, competition, protests, and the rules that run across the whole acquisition lifecycle.
Federal Contract Law— a rigorous, doctrine-level command of the law governing federal contracts: formation, authority, the major statutes, changes, disputes, remedies, and termination.
Federal Contracting Law Made Simple— federal contracting law in plain language, built for practical, on-the-job use and protecting yourself and your organization.
If you want an appropriations-law focused course:
Federal Appropriations Law for Acquisition Professionals— a rigorous, in-depth command of fiscal law and the rules governing how appropriated funds may be obligated and spent.
Federal Appropriations Law for Acquisitions Professionals — Made Simple— fiscal law in plain language, built for practical, on-the-job use and staying on the right side of the rules.
This course is Legal Considerations in Contracting (CON 2160)— the legal grounding the contracting job requires, for contracting officers and specialists who want real command of the law behind their work.
Course Description:
The job assumes you know the law. The training rarely teaches it. This is Phoenix Canyon's presentation of CON 2160, the course that closes that gap — taught by an instructor with a law degree who can explain not just what the rules say, but what they mean, where they come from, and how they play out when a contract is challenged.
You start at the foundation — the sources and hierarchy of procurement law, the legal and ethical principles that govern federal contracting, and why the government has the authority to contract in the first place. From there you work through fiscal law along its three pillars — purpose, amount, and time — and the limits they place on how appropriated funds can be used, along with the intellectual property rights that run through federal acquisitions. With that grounding in place, the course works across the legal life of a contract: protests, assignment of claims, disputes, fraud, contractor debt, performance, and termination — building the legal judgment that protects you, your contract, and your organization.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, JD, who draws on her law degree, MBA studies, and the experience she earned working on more than $7.7 billion in contracts as a Contract Specialist and COR at the U.S. Navy and the Department of Health and Human Services / Indian Health Service. An award-winning instructor who has taught more than 1,000 federal acquisition workforce students across 20-plus agencies, Melinda brings a warm, engaging style to the classroom — she breaks complicated topics into easy-to-understand pieces and, most importantly, focuses on the "why" behind the "how," so students leave with a true understanding of the underlying concepts and the ability to apply them on the job immediately.
Best for: contracting officers and contract specialists — typically with two or more years of experience — who want real legal fluency in the rules that govern their contracts. The material is taught accessibly enough that those newer to contracting come away with a genuine working command of the law behind their work, so it delivers at any career level.
Format: Available as a five-day course, delivered in person or virtually. Phoenix Canyon issues every attendee a certificate of completion documenting the number of training hours and CLPs earned. Eligible federal acquisition workforce attendees earn 8 CLPs per day (40 CLPs total).
A note on certification and CLPs: Eligible attendees earn CLPs that can satisfy continuous-learning and agency-specific or elective training requirements. For DoD / DoW (DAWIA) students who need it toward certification, Phoenix Canyon can arrange course-level DAU equivalency for scheduled engagements — just let us know when you request a quote. Because agencies set their own rules on what qualifies, check with your Acquisition Career Manager (ACM) to confirm how it applies to your certification or continuous-learning plan.
Pricing is set per engagement. Contact Phoenix Canyon to request a quote.