GAO Protests: Bid Protests at the Government Accountability Office

By: Leanna Ajour, Esq. California & Colorado Attorney In addition to overseeing the procurement process, the bid protest process at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) oversees how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.  Among other duties, the GAO fulfills this role by investigating allegations of improper actions in solicitations… Read more »

Project Proposal Contract Evaluation Criteria In Bid Protest Cases

What is The Purpose of  Bid Proposal Evaluation Criteria? The purpose of the government’s proposal evaluation criteria is to give the agency’s evaluation team a way to determine which company has  submitted a  response to a solicitation that  best meets the Government’s stated needs.  Your contract evaluation criteria also results… Read more »

Difference Between a Government Bid Protest and a Contract Dispute

For government contractors, there are two primary mechanisms to address disputes related to federal government contracts: filing a government protest and filing a Contract Disputes Act (CDA) claim. While both processes aim to resolve disputes related to government contracts, they are distinct and differ in their procedures and outcomes. When… Read more »

Technical Proposal Evaluation Risk Evaluation in GAO Protest

Contractors frequently find that their technical proposal evaluation contained some level of error. A GAO protest can be sustained if you can show that the agency failed to reasonably evaluate your technical proposal writing risk in accordance with the terms of the solicitation. This aspect of filing can be tricky because… Read more »

VA Service Disabled Veteran Owned SDVOSB Certification Requirements Bid Protest

Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business  / SDVOSB certification requirements) decisions for government contracts is becoming a hot item in bid protest litigation.  When it comes to Department of Veteran Affairs solicitations for SDVOSB Set Aside Contracts, government contracting agencies sometimes fail to follow statutory requirements for market research.  When… Read more »

Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 Restrictive Solicitation Requirements

Unduly restrictive solicitation under the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 can make your government proposal writing efforts more difficult if you don’t understand your rights to protest the Agency’s solicitation. Many government contractors may choose to simply respond to the request for proposal as is without considering whether it is too restrictive…. Read more »

FAR Bid Protest Rules Meaningful Discussions

Litigating bid protest for lack of meaningful discussions when bidding with the federal government is still an ongoing problem. When contractors receive debriefings, they sometimes find that discussions held were far from meaningful. A bid protest alleging lack of meaningful discussions must be approached carefully since many agencies attempt to… Read more »