Government Contracts Insights

March 07, 2024 - Protests & Litigation
Bid Protest Spotlight: Conflict, Latent Ambiguity, Cost Realism
By: Markus Gerhard Speidel
This month’s Bid Protest Roundup highlights a trio of U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) decisions. The first decision, Deloitte Consulting , highlights the risk of severing a teaming partner after quote submission. The second, Kauffman and Associates, Inc. , illustrates how a latent ambiguity in the
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February 13, 2024 - Protests & Litigation
Bid Protest Spotlight: Standing, Brand-Name or Equal, Insufficient Documentation
By: Victoria Dalcourt Angle
This month’s bid protest roundup highlights one decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and two decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). REV, LLC v. United States clarifies the elements required to establish prejudice and standing in multi-phase,
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January 25, 2024 - Protests & Litigation
December 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Supplementation, Conversion, Rejection
This month’s Bid Protest Roundup include decisions regarding supplementation of the record and whether an agency may convert a sealed bid opportunity into a negotiated procurement due to lack of funds, as well as a case in which the Court of Federal Claims found
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January 02, 2024 - Protests & Litigation, Cybersecurity & Data Privacy, Compliance
An Overview of the Defense Department’s Long-Awaited Proposed Regulations for Its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Program
By: Tina D. Reynolds
The U.S. Department of Defense released a special holiday treat for government contractors and subcontractors last week in the form of long-promised proposed regulations for its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. More than two years in the making, the current iteration of the
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December 06, 2023 - Protests & Litigation
November 2023 Bid Protest Roundup
By: James A. Tucker
This month's protest spotlight highlights three decisions by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The decisions feature arguments that unsuccessful offerors often want to make, but that are rarely successful, as well as two arguments that some will be surprised did not succeed. Matter of:
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November 14, 2023 - Protests & Litigation
October 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Instructions, Jurisdiction, Scrutiny
This month, we feature three bid protest decisions—two from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) and one from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”). Though each of these decisions focuses on a different fundamental point of procurement law, all share a common theme: they
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October 20, 2023 - Protests & Litigation
September 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Limits to Agency Discretion in Challenge to NAICS Code Assignments, Confines of the Close-at-Hand Principle
By: Roke Iko
This month’s Bid Protest Roundup focuses on a recent U.S. Court of Federal Claims decision involving the limitations of the government’s deference defense and a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) that involved the proper application and discretionary nature of the so-called close-at-hand principle. Consolidated
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October 19, 2023 - Protests & Litigation
Timeliness Traps: Adverse Action Before Receipt of a Written Agency-Level Protest Decision
By: James A. Tucker
In the right circumstances, an agency-level protest can be a quick and efficient way to address certain procurement errors, as we discussed a few years ago. One downside of agency‑level protests, however, is their potential for creating doubt or confusion about the deadline for
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September 19, 2023 - Protests & Litigation
August 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Former Government Employees; Buy American Act Waivers
By: James A. Tucker
This month’s bid protest roundup looks at two GAO protests from August. One examines the risks of using former federal employees to assist with proposal development when their prior access to non-public information might provide an unfair competitive advantage. The second decision considers the restrictions imposed
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August 08, 2023 - Protests & Litigation
July 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Personnel Loss, Conflicts, Timeliness
By: Locke Bell
This month’s bid protest roundup highlights two decisions from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (“Court”), one addressing an offeror’s loss of key personnel and a second addressing organizational conflicts of interest (“OCIs”) arising out of an offeror’s reliance on former government employees in
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Topic Archives: Protests & Litigation

Bid Protest Spotlight: Conflict, Latent Ambiguity, Cost Realism

By: Markus Gerhard Speidel

Bid Protest Spotlight: Standing, Brand-Name or Equal, Insufficient Documentation

By: Victoria Dalcourt Angle

December 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Supplementation, Conversion, Rejection

An Overview of the Defense Department’s Long-Awaited Proposed Regulations for Its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Program

By: Tina D. Reynolds

November 2023 Bid Protest Roundup

By: James A. Tucker

October 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Instructions, Jurisdiction, Scrutiny

September 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Limits to Agency Discretion in Challenge to NAICS Code Assignments, Confines of the Close-at-Hand Principle

By: Roke Iko

Timeliness Traps: Adverse Action Before Receipt of a Written Agency-Level Protest Decision

By: James A. Tucker

August 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Former Government Employees; Buy American Act Waivers

By: James A. Tucker

July 2023 Bid Protest Roundup: Personnel Loss, Conflicts, Timeliness

By: Locke Bell