Court of Federal Claims

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Best Value and Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) procurements trigger very different bidding obligations for contractors.

As I’ve detailed in this space before, Best Value procurements place limited importance on price.  While cost is (always) a factor, a bidder can overcome a higher price by demonstrating its technical expertise and ability to add value…

Contract Disputes Act (CDA) claims offer Government Contractors the opportunity to recover costs incurred due to Government-caused changes or delays.  While the initial focus often rests on proving liability, a recent Court of Federal Claims (COFC) decision highlights the danger of failing to prove entitlement to damages.

In other words, claims can present the danger…

Join me today, Monday July 15, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. (Eastern) for Lawline’s Live Course: KEY QUESTIONS OF CONTRACT INTERPRETATION IN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.

During the 90-minute course, I’ll cover the key principles of contract interpretation as they relate to government contracting.  To take best take advantage our my limited time and maximize value for…

The Contract Disputes Act (CDA) provides a remedy for contractors seeking to recover additional time or costs on a government contract (as part of a Claim or Request for Equitable Adjustment).  But when the basis for recovery is tied up in a contract modification, contractors must beware the agency’s standard waiver language – or…

For federal contractors, it is not an exaggeration to say that performance evaluations are the lifeblood of the business.  A less-than-satisfactory evaluation in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) affects far more than just the agency’s assessment of performance on a particular project.  A negative evaluation follows a contractor around – impacting the ability…

Today, we take a look at the culmination of a long fight over the size status of a joint venture competing for a Federal contract.  After losing battles at the Small Business Administration (SBA) Area Office and Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) – the joint venture finally won the war when the Court…

Government contractors know the odds on GAO bid protests – are they are not all that good.  Even with a noticeable uptick, the statistics reveal that less than 1/4 (about 23%) of all bid protests were sustained in FY 16.  Even factoring in voluntary agency corrective action, the odds of a positive outcome are…

A response to an RFP is the government contractor’s chance to put its best foot forward and stand out from the crowd.  Particularly when it comes to best value procurements, this is your chance to tell the contracting officer that your company does it best (whatever it is).

But, a recent bid protest decision…

Government contractors responding to RFPs understand the need to read the fine print.

Mostly commonly, we discuss this topic in terms of pure proposal acceptability.  Protest decisions from the GAO and Court of Federal Claims make it abundantly clear that the burden falls on the contractor to follow directions and include all of the…

Government contractors are frequently faced with the situation where they are owed additional time or are entitled to damages from the government on a contract.  For example, the government might be responsible for delays to the project schedule.  Or it might direct changes to the contract that make it more expensive to perform.

There…