Preparing for Post-Award Debriefings
Timing is everything when it comes to bid protests at GAO. There is a mountain of GAO case law dismissing untimely protests. Contractors must strictly follow GAO’s regulations to avoid that fate and obtain a Competition...more
As in prior years, the upcoming end of the federal fiscal year will be marked by a flurry of contract and task order awards, as federal agencies busily obligate remaining fiscal year 2023 appropriated funds while still...more
Welcome to Jenner & Block’s Government Contracts Legal Round‑Up, a biweekly update on important government contracts developments. This update offers brief summaries of key developments for government contracts legal,...more
Virtually every year, the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO’s) Bid Protest Annual Report includes “flawed technical evaluations” as one of the top five most common grounds for successful protests. Simply stated, this...more
This month’s Bid Protest Roundup covers two recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) decisions and a decision from the Court of Federal Claims. All involve defense procurements, but each offers a unique lesson for...more
On March 18, 2022, the Department of Defense (“DOD”) issued its long-awaited Final Rule implementing Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (“NDAA FY 2018”), and formally codifying defense...more
In a recent decision, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reinforced the rule that offerors who choose to defer a pre-award debriefing until after a source selection decision do so at their own peril. Close...more
On March 18, 2022, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a final rule to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to mandate that DoD provide enhanced postaward debriefings to contractors. As we...more
The GAO’s recent decision in K&K Industries, Inc. reinforces for disappointed offerors that once the government unequivocally states that a debriefing has concluded, the clock has started ticking on the time to file a...more
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has just locked in its Enhanced Postaward Debriefing procedures, making it easier for contractors to understand the source selection and contract award process and make informed bid...more
The General Services Administration’s Federal Supply Schedule contracts are an efficient method for agencies across the Government to meet their needs for many commercially available supplies and services. For requirements...more
As you may recall, Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 2018 NDAA required the US Department of Defense (DoD) to draft regulations to establish comprehensive post-award debriefing...more
The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently sustained a protest in the matter of TekSynap Corporation for the agency’s failure to reasonably evaluate proposals. While the decision is not a novel area of law, it...more
This installment of our monthly Law360 bid protest spotlight considers: (1) a company’s successful challenge to an agency’s decision to take corrective action and reopen a competition the company had already won; (2) a...more
No questions, no stay. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently ruled on the interplay of debriefings and automatic stays. In NIKA Technologies v. United States, the Federal Circuit reversed a Court...more
The automatic stay of award is one of the key elements of a bid protest under the Competition in Contracting Act. The CICA stay is only available when a protest is filed no later than ten days after contract award or no later...more
A few months ago, we wrote about how the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC) had defined when the protest clock starts running for a stay of contract performance pending a bid protest if the Department of Defense’s (DOD)...more
Under 4 CFR § 21.2, disappointed offerors protesting the award of a contract must file their protest within “10 days after the basis of the protest is known or should have been known.” Notwithstanding the seemingly clear...more
Contractors filed 2,071 bid protests at GAO in 2019– the lowest number in five years. One possible cause for the decline is the Department of Defense’s enhanced debriefing procedures. Enhanced debriefings mean that...more
One might forget these days that bid protests are still going on. But they are, and a recent Court of Federal Claims (COFC) case provides insight into the timeliness of protests for the purpose of obtaining a stay of contract...more
The Situation: The U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") dismissed a protest challenging a contractor's exclusion from the competitive range based upon the contractor's failure to diligently pursue a debriefing. ...more
Experienced Government contractors know the exception to the rule: a Government Accountability Office (GAO) protest must be filed within 10 days from the date the contractor knew or should have known the basis for the...more
In a recent decision, GAO addressed timeliness rules for enhanced debriefing situations. Enhanced Debriefing rule does not alter GAO timeliness rules....more
For those of you who have ever protested a solicitation before the Government Accountability Office (GAO), you know about GAO’s strict rules regarding timeliness. Under GAO rules, a document is considered filed on a...more
GAO’s New Electronic Protest Docketing System - GAO finally has unveiled its long-awaited Electronic Protest Docketing System (“EPDS”). Effective May 1, 2018, all new protests (excluding those containing classified...more