Court of Federal Claims

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Last week, on March 9, 2023, in Percipient.ai, Inc. v. United States, the Court of Federal Claims held that Percipient.ai, Inc. (“Percipient”) had standing to protest a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (“NGA”) procurement called “SAFFIRE” intended to improve the agency’s production, storage, and integration of geospatial intelligence data.  Percipient’s complaint, filed in January of this year, argued that SAFFIRE violates the statutory mandate at 10 U.S.C. § 3453 to procure commercial items “to the maximum extent practicable.”  The Court’s conclusion that Percipient had standing to protest is notable because (1) NGA issued the SAFFIRE solicitation in January 2020 (over three years ago); (2) NGA awarded the SAFFIRE contract to CACI, Inc. – Federal (“CACI”) in January 2021 (over two years ago); and (3) Percipient never submitted a proposal in response to the solicitation. 

The Government and CACI moved to dismiss Percipient’s complaint, arguing, among other things, that Percipient lacked standing to protest because it had not submitted a proposal and therefore was not an “interested party,” and because the protest—filed two years after contract award—was in fact a challenge to NGA’s administration of the SAFFIRE contract.  The Government and CACI also argued that the protest was untimely under the Federal Circuit’s decision in Blue & Gold Fleet, L.P. v. United States, 492 F.3d 1308 (Fed. Cir. 2007), which generally requires that protests challenging the terms of a solicitation be filed before the proposal due date.

Continue Reading Court of Federal Claims Holds Non-Bidder Has Standing to Protest Two Years After Contract Award

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Last week, the Court of Federal Claims issued a decision highlighting – and further widening – the gap between the limited agency record typically available to protesters at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) and the much more fulsome record available at the Court.  In Trace Systems Inc. v. U.S., the Court signaled its increasing willingness to scrutinize the adequacy of the record produced, rather than simply accept Government representations of completeness.

Trace Systems considered a challenge to the cancellation of a competitive procurement in favor of a sole-source award by the Defense Information Systems Agency (“DISA”).  After the Government filed an administrative record containing nearly 23,000 pages of documents purportedly detailing the cancellation decision, the protester objected and sought the production of additional documents, claiming only six of the originally produced documents were relevant.  The Court ordered DISA to complete the record, and the Government produced additional documents.  DISA explained, however, that it was withholding other records that were “internal, predecisional, and deliberative agency documents.”  The protester again objected and asked the Court to compel the Government to file all relevant documents.  In response, the Government represented that, beyond the pre-decisional documents it had withheld, the record was now complete.…

Continue Reading COFC: Strictly Scrutinizing the Completeness of the Government’s Administrative Record

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Crowell & Moring’s “All Things Protest” podcast keeps you up to date on major trends in bid protest litigation, key developments in high-profile cases, and best practices in state and federal procurement. In this episode, hosts Christian Curran and Olivia Lynch discuss a recent Court of Federal Claims decision with interesting implications for awardee standing.…

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In this episode, hosts Rob Sneckenberg and Olivia Lynch are joined by colleague Amy O’Sullivan to discuss the Court of Federal Claims’ recent decision in HWI Gear, Inc., which held that the solicitation’s inclusion in full of the text of FAR 52.219-28 required a small business offeror to recertify its size status prior to award…

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In Bitmanagement Software GmbH v. United States, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded a decision by the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) that found the Navy was not liable for copyright infringement even though it was undisputed that the Navy made 429,604 copies of Bitmanagement’s BS Contact Geo software when it only paid for…

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Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without. This latest edition is hosted by partners David Robbins and Peter Eyre and includes updates on the STOP FWA program, the fiscal…

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In a recent decision, the Court of Federal Claims rejected the Government’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed under the Tucker Act seeking to recover “risk corridors” payments pursuant to §1342 of the Affordable Care Act. In Health Republic Insurance Co. v. U.S. (Jan. 10, 2017), the Court held that “HHS is required to make…

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Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to release its “2016 Litigation & Regulatory Forecasts: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year.” The reports examine the trends and developments that will impact government contractors and other corporations in the coming year—from the last year of the Obama administration to how corporate litigation strategy is transforming from the inside out. This year will bring remarkable change for companies, as market disruptions and the speed of innovation transform industries like never before, and the litigation and regulatory environments in which they operate are keeping pace.
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Continue Reading Crowell & Moring’s 2016 Litigation & Regulatory Forecasts: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year

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Last month, the Federal Circuit decided a case over 70 years in the making.  Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and full-scale U.S. entrance into World War II, the government entered into a series of contracts with oil companies to ramp up production of aviation gasoline (“avgas”) desperately needed for the war effort.  But along with increased production came increased waste and toxic byproducts, notably spent alkylation acid and “acid sludge.”  Safe waste disposal could not keep up with production, and much of the waste was eventually dumped at a site in Fullerton, California. 

Until last week, the oil companies were on the hook for the cleanup costs.  Thanks to the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling, though, the government must now reimburse the contractors for their remediation costs.  The discussion below traces the course of the litigation, outlines the Federal Circuit’s legal analysis, and discusses how the decision represents but one potential avenue for U.S. government contractors to recover environmental remediation costs.
Continue Reading Federal Circuit Requires Government to Indemnify Contractors for CERCLA Remediation Costs Based on “Taxes” Provision in WWII Contracts