Brown, Goldstein & Levy partner Neel Lalchandani helped kick off a six-month training webinar series about the Randolph-Sheppard Act hosted by the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind and the National Association of Blind Merchants. During his May 30 presentation, Neel shared key insights on the Randolph-Sheppard Act and its application to military dining contracts with an audience of State Licensing Agency staff, blind vendors, and other attorneys working on the Randolph-Sheppard Act.
Congress enacted the Randolph-Sheppard Act to provide economic and entrepreneurial opportunities for the blind. In pursuit of these goals, Congress required federal agencies to give priority to blind vendors to operate food services and vending facilities on federal property. In the early 2000s, Brown, Goldstein & Levy attorneys won precedent-setting cases affirming that the Randolph-Sheppard priority applies to cafeterias on military bases. The Act has allowed tens of thousands of blind merchants to build successful businesses with hundreds of thousands of employees across the country.
Neel has deep experience advocating for clients in Randolph-Sheppard matters. Recently, he was part of a team that won a victory on behalf of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (“DBVI”) in a long-running dispute. On behalf of DBVI, BGL initiated the Randolph-Sheppard arbitration process and developed strong evidence that DBVI’s proposal was within the competitive range and should have resulted in an award of the contract.
BGL has successfully represented blind vendors and State Licensing Agencies under the Randolph-Sheppard Act for over 35 years and continues to do so on a regular basis. Read more about the practice here.
ABOUT NEEL LALCHANDANI
Neel has significant experience with complex litigation in both state and federal court as well as in arbitrations. He has successfully resolved cases involving employment discrimination and retaliation, unpaid wages, wrongful convictions and police misconduct, reasonable accommodations and disability discrimination, fair housing, and the Randolph-Sheppard Act. Neel has also successfully represented plaintiffs and defendants in commercial matters involving breach of contract, business torts, and trade secrets. More about Neel.
ABOUT BROWN, GOLDSTEIN & LEVY
Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, DC. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.