Government Accountability Office

As I mentioned in a recent post, the Department of Defense (DoD) is using its “other transaction” authority with increased frequency to attract non-traditional defense contractors and to capitalize on the cutting-edge technological advancements found in the commercial marketplace. Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) are not procurement contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements and, as such, many procurement laws and regulations do not apply, including the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). 
Continue Reading Bid Protests: Are Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) Really Bulletproof?

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s 12th Annual Intelligence Community Legal Conference to discuss acquisition reform with some of the top government attorneys in the intelligence community. Much to my surprise, the majority of the conversation focused on bid protests and the impact that protests have on federal procurements. During my time as a government attorney defending against bid protests, I gained valuable insight into how the government works to defeat them and what contractors can to do improve their chance of success. Some of these lessons are shared below. 
Continue Reading Bid Protests: An Insider’s Perspective

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issues statistics each year regarding the outcome of bid protests.  In 2015, there were 2,639 cases filed and there we 587 decisions on the merits.  Of those, only 68 protests were sustained.  According to the way the GAO presents its statistics, that would indicate that protestors prevailed approximately 12% of the time.  In reality, since many protests were withdrawn or summarily dismissed, the protesters only prevailed in 68 of the 2,639 protests filed and the true success rate was closer to 3%.  With those odds, why would anyone file a GAO bid protest?  The answer requires a little closer scrutiny since statistics can be misleading.


Continue Reading Deciding Whether to File a GAO Bid Protest

By: Edward T. DeLisle

On April 26, 2010, President Obama issued an executive order to study the way in which the government provides assistance to veteran-owned and service-disabled, veteran-owned businesses. This executive order could not have come at a better time. It appears that the government has a two-fold problem: achieving federally mandated goals for