Government Contracts MonitorBid ProtestsConstant Corrective Action Crushing or Compensating Contractors?July 27, 2015 The Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid protest docket tells a story that is hard to ignore: the remarkably high number of protests in which the agency takes corrective action – at least 40% -- suggests the federal procurement system is not working. “Corrective action” is the term for an agency’s voluntary decision to reexamine or re-conduct some or all aspects of a… Faulty Corrective Action Triggers Government Liability for Protester’s Legal FeesJuly 13, 2015 The Court of Federal Claims recently awarded legal fees to a protestor who successfully challenged the government’s irrational corrective action – action taken in connection with a prior protest – because the government’s position was not “substantially justified.” WHR Group Inc. Opinion. As set out in WHR Group, Inc. v. United States, the FBI’s planned corrective action “took a wrong… Amending the RFP Through a “Threatened” Pre-Proposal ProtestJuly 6, 2015 You are a small business, and believe you have the inside track on a substantial services contract opportunity. You have prepared your proposal, including pricing, and proposals are due mid-day tomorrow. You know the procurement is proceeding on a fast-track, with scheduled contract start-up in a month. However, the agency has just thrown a monkey wrench into the works by… Okay, You Got a Debriefing, But Was It “Required”?June 26, 2015 A protestor recently learned the hard way that not all debriefings are created equal. In order to take advantage of the debriefing exception to the bid protest timeliness rules, a debriefing must not only have been held, it must have been "required" to be held, for it to extend the time you have to file a protest. Absent a "required" debriefing, the filing deadline is 10 days after… Once again, the Devil’s in the Details -- and the DocumentsJune 26, 2015 In procurement, even the most seemingly insignificant things can actually rob you of any chance of an award. If you want to win contracts, you need to pay attention to detail. This lesson was driven home once again in the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision in Team Systems International, B-411139 (May 22, 2015). The case involved an Army procurement of… “It\'s Too Late, Baby Now, It\'s Too Late” – When to Protest Corrective ActionJune 22, 2015 We are all too familiar with the current agency practice of taking corrective action when a protest is filed. Agencies, fearful of incurring any liability for protester’s legal fees in the event the protest is sustained, often cave in at the slightest sign of weakness in the agency record and take corrective action in lieu of fighting to defend the award decision. This can be very… Short Take: Get It Done, and Done Right, in SAMJune 22, 2015 Nationwide Value Computer, Inc. protested an agency’s determination that it was not an eligible small business concern. The General Accountability Office (GAO) made short work of the protest. Why? The record showed, and Nationwide could not contest, that Nationwide represented it was not a small business in its SAM (System for Award Management) profile. Nationwide argued… Is Your Relationship Really Monogamous? Exclusivity Can Be DeceivingJune 15, 2015 On its face, the fact that protester has the "exclusive" right to sell the product the Government wants to buy seems like a pretty good ground for a protest challenging a contract award to a competitor. But looks can be deceiving, especially if you don’t read the fine print – both in your reseller agreement and the solicitation. The recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) … GAO Won’t Force Sole SourceJune 15, 2015 Offerors seeking to challenge unreasonable Government actions in connection with a federal government procurement generally find the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be a valuable forum for review. However, a recent GAO decision reiterates the limits on GAO’s willingness to hear certain issues, specifically that GAO generally will not entertain protests challenging an agency’s… Any Way You Look At It: Agency Discretion is a CitadelJune 8, 2015 Reciting a common refrain, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has once again upheld an agency’s broad discretion to determine its own procurement and solicitation needs. In its recent decision, Financial Asset Management Systems, Inc., B-409722.9 (Apr. 24, 2015), GAO provides an example of the latitude the "reasonableness" standard gives procuring agencies with respect to drafting… Short Take: Bad Bonding Bloke Bound for BrigJune 1, 2015 On May 26, 2015, Abel Carreon entered a guilty plea to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme involving surety bonds and government contracts, the Department of Justice just announced. Court documents state that between 2005 and 2011 Carreon defrauded the United States and government contractors, through his company Tripartite Escrow… Think You Are Disadvantaged? Prove It!June 1, 2015 Everyone knows the old phrase, "if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it must be a duck." Something akin to this must have crossed Lori Skaggs’s mind when she applied for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 8(a) BD Program for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses on behalf of her construction company, Arrow S. Company, Inc.… |
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