EP 29: Nichole Atallah – Stuck w/ Bad Terms? How GovCons Lose Bargaining Power

Contract terms usually feel manageable when the opportunity is still exciting.

The teaming conversations are moving. The prime seems interested. The scope looks close enough. The subcontract is coming soon.

But by the time performance starts, a contractor may realize something uncomfortable:

They accepted terms they do not fully like.
They gave up flexibility they thought they still had.
And now pushing back feels almost impossible.

In this episode of Unsolicited, host Hope Skibitsky sits down with Nichole Atallah, Partner at PilieroMazza Law Firm, to unpack a problem that shows up across government contracting:

When contractors feel stuck with bad terms, did they lose leverage during negotiations, or did they give it away earlier without realizing it?

Nichole brings a practical legal and business perspective from her work advising government contractors and employers on labor and employment, government contracting, compliance, subcontract negotiations, teaming agreements, business strategy, and FAR Part 22 issues.

This conversation is not legal advice.

It is a practical business risk conversation about how contractors, especially small businesses and subcontractors, can better understand where leverage is created, where it disappears, and what decisions make a contract harder to defend later.

In this episode, we discuss:
- Why bargaining power starts slipping before the subcontract ever arrives
- How early capture, teaming, and pricing conversations shape later negotiation options
- Why “standard terms” are not always harmless
- How termination for convenience language can affect subcontractor risk
- The difference between knowing your value and overestimating your leverage
- Why small businesses should not rely on status alone as their business strategy
- How unclear scope, weak assumptions, and rushed proposals can become execution problems
- Why contractors should ask hard questions before bids are submitted and agreements are signed
- How primes, subcontractors, and acquisition teams can reduce avoidable disputes by clarifying expectations earlier
- What contractors can do when they feel pressure to accept unfavorable terms just to stay close to the opportunity

This episode quietly answers: Did we lose leverage, or did we give it away before we understood the consequences?

Learn more about Nichole Atallah and PilieroMazza:
- PilieroMazza website: https://www.pilieromazza.com/
- Nichole Atallah profile: https://www.pilieromazza.com/people/nichole-d-atallah/
- Contact Nichole: natallah@pilieromazza.com
- PilieroMazza Government Contracts practice: https://www.pilieromazza.com/practices/government-contracts/

Sources referenced in this episode:

- Federal News Network: Is SBA moving the small business contracting goal posts?
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition-policy/2026/04/is-sba-moving-the-small-business-contracting-goal-posts/

- FAR Part 19, Small Business Programs
https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-19

- FAR Overhaul, Part 19
https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul/far-part-deviation-guide/far-overhaul-part-19

- SBA: Prime and subcontracting
https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-guide/prime-subcontracting

- GAO: Bid Protests
https://www.gao.gov/legal/bid-protests

- GAO Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2025
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-900695

- FAR Part 22, Application of Labor Laws to Government Acquisitions
https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-22

- FAR Subpart 22.10, Service Contract Labor Standards
https://www.acquisition.gov/far/subpart-22.10

If you liked this episode, check out our conversation with Chelsea Roberts on OTAs, nontraditional acquisition paths, and where small businesses may still have room to create opportunity when the traditional path feels crowded or closed off.

For more real, raw, and unsolicited conversations about government contracting, acquisition, execution, and risk, make sure to like, subscribe, and turn on notifications.

Sometimes the riskiest contract term is not the one you fought over.
It is the one you accepted before you realized what it would cost.