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… Continue Reading
Partner Amy O’Sullivan, in a two-part video alert series, discusses the impact that a smaller pool of procurement dollars has had on bid protest litigation, recent trends in bid protest litigation, and corrective action that is more frequently a procuring agency’s response to a bid protest. Both videos are embedded below for viewing. For a… Continue Reading
On June 1, 2015, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (“OFPP”) released a Memorandum for Chief Acquisition Officers and Senior Procurement Executives to provide guidance on “Effective Use of Reverse Auctions.”[1] Reverse auctions are a web-based procurement tool that allows sellers to compete with successively lower bids to obtain awards for products and services. Although… Continue Reading
(contributed to by Derek R. Mullins) When protesting to the Government Accountability Office, contractors must satisfy GAO’s “interested party” rule. In other words, a protester must be an actual or prospective bidder or offeror with a direct economic interest in the procurement. In post-award protests, it is expected that the entity that files a protest… Continue Reading
In its annual report to Congress under the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, 31 U.S.C. § 3554(e)(2), GAO disclosed the following bid protest statistics for FYs 2009-2013: For the first time since FY 2006, the number of cases filed in FY 2013 decreased from the previous year (the FY 2005 – FY 2009 statistics,… Continue Reading
Although the Government shut down on October 1, 2013, contractors must remain diligent in analyzing their protests, claims, and other litigation matters to ensure key deadlines are not missed. Importantly, while some Government offices are closed, most courts (including the Court of Federal Claims and the Federal Circuit) remain open and the Armed Services Board… Continue Reading
Fixed-price contracts allow the government to purchase goods and services for set prices and allocate the cost risk of performance to the contractor—if the contractor offers to perform the work for too low of a price, then it may reap little profit, or even take a loss. Thus, the government’s primary concern in evaluating fixed-price… Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office recently rejected a novel argument regarding how timeliness is to be determined for GAO protests filed after an agency either dismisses or denies an agency-level protest. In finding that the timeliness of such a protest does not depend on the nature of the adverse agency action, GAO has effectively prevented an… Continue Reading
In another example of the Court of Federal Claims ("Court") and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reaching different conclusions, the Court sustained a $32 million protest in a recent decision brought against the Department of Veterans Affairs ("VA"), whereas GAO had dismissed the protest as untimely on the grounds that LabCorp should have protested what… Continue Reading
Since the emergence of cybersecurity and privacy as high risk issues in the public sector, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been at the forefront – identifying risks, reviewing progress of federal agencies, and keeping Congress informed on the latest developments in the cyber and technology arena. In this role, GAO has reported on the… Continue Reading
In Kingdomware Technologies, B-406507, May 30, 2012, 2012 CPD ¶ —, GAO sustained a protest alleging that the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) improperly used the Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS”), rather than setting aside the procurement for service-disabled veteran-owned small business (“SDVOSB”) concerns. If this scenario seems familiar, that’s because it is. In several decisions over… Continue Reading
CORRECTION (5/15/12): A prior version of this blog post first posted on May 11, 2012, analyzed the proposed amendment to the Tucker Act discussed herein under the mistaken impression that it had been part of the committee mark version of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. We have since learned that the proposed amendment to the… Continue Reading
The Department of Defense (“DoD”) continues to contract out work that should be handled by federal employees, according to a new Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) study, which finds shortcomings in DoD’s tracking and management of such “inherently governmental” tasks. The study urges DoD to better police its inventory of contracts—and bring in-house those functions too… Continue Reading
On April 13, 2011, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved S. 498, the Independent Task and Delivery Order Review Extension Act of 2011. This bill extends the Government Accountability Office’s (“GAO”) protest jurisdiction over task and delivery orders under civilian agency procurements in excess of $10 million through September 30, 2016,… Continue Reading
For one reason or another, the date on which an agency anticipates granting a contract award often comes and goes with no award decision being made. In these situations, contractors are often asked beforehand to extend the acceptance period of their proposals to accommodate the expected delay in award. But what happens when the contractor… Continue Reading
On January 7, 2011, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, which, among other things, extends the Government Accountability Office’s (“GAO”) protest jurisdiction over certain Department of Defense (“DoD”) task and delivery orders through September 30, 2016. However, absent congressional action, GAO’s jurisdiction over protests of task and delivery orders… Continue Reading
With billions of dollars at stake in one procurement alone, or the future viability of a company hanging in the balance of a single contract award, federal Government procurements are highly competitive. And, as these procurements have been increasingly the subject of bid protests – which can alter both the terms of the solicitation or the… Continue Reading
A recent GAO report highlights the fact that when a solicitation and procurement strategy prioritize (1) capabilities and the quality or level of service to be procured over (2) the dollars to be paid, government contracting, project, and source selection personnel are forced to earn their paychecks. In these situations, two or more proposals, with… Continue Reading
This week, in UXB-KEMRON Remediation Services, LLC, B-401017 (Oct. 25, 2010), the GAO provided an important reminder about its exacting application of timeliness rules. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) published a delivery order proposal request under a multiple award, ID/IQ contract for landmine removal work in Afghanistan. The ID/IQ schedule contract under which… Continue Reading
Two recent bid protest decisions from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) provide a helpful reminder that a “price realism” analysis is never considered to be part and parcel with the Government’s standard price evaluation in a federal procurement, nor synonymous with a “price reasonableness” determination. A price realism review is only required when called for in… Continue Reading
