The Procurement Playbook

It is not uncommon for a disappointed offeror in a fixed-price procurement to be astonished at how low the awardee’s proposal price ends up being. This astonishment can lead to the desire to file a bid protest based on the argument that the awardee’s price is unreasonably low. Unfortunately, in many of […]

Communication is key to any protest or lawsuit.  While it is common for parties in a legal dispute to hold their cards close to the vest, significant problems arise when strategic discretion becomes closer to manipulation of facts.  In Level 3 Communications, LLC v. United States, the United States Court of Federal […]

In these early days of Donald Trump’s administration, domestic sourcing requirements are receiving heightened focus.  President Trump’s Jan. 24, 2017, “Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of American Pipelines” asks the Secretary of Commerce to “develop a plan under which all new pipelines . . . inside the borders of the United […]

Oles Morrison attorney, Adam K. Lasky,  has been invited to present at the Alliance Northwest 2017 Conference on Thursday, March 19 at the Washington State Fairgrounds Showplex. His presentation, “A Contractor’s Guide to Mitigating Negative Past Performance Reviews” will provide contractors with a roadmap for dealing with negative past performance reviews, […]

Back in October 2016, we wrote about the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule (commonly known as the contractor “Blacklisting” rule) and how its implementation had been temporarily halted by a federal court in Texas.  The Blacklisting rule would have allowed agencies to essentially debar contractors on a contract-by-contract basis […]

President Trump’s Executive Orders have been front page news for the past week, many of which have been quite controversial. Yesterday the President issued another Executive Order that, although unlikely to garner major media buzz, may be the most impactful yet for government contractors. The Presidential Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and […]

In the Size Appeal of Gregory Landscape Services, Inc., the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) Office of Hearings and Appeals (“OHA”) heard an appeal following a Size Determination in which the SBA Area Office held that Gregory Landscape Services, Inc. (“Appellant”) was not a small business under the applicable size standard associated with the subject procurement. […]

While the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA or Board) has jurisdiction over contract claims, the ASBCA does not have jurisdiction over fraud.  This can lead to competing cases in multiple jurisdictions if the government has a claim of fraud against a contractor while the contractor is pursuing a […]

Two pieces of federal legislation that  recently became law will have a major impact on government contractors seeking to protest Department of Defense (DoD) and Civilian Agencies task order awards.  Some changes are for the worse, others are for the better.  However, the best news for contractors is probably that […]

As past performance reviews become an increasingly important part of the bid evaluation process, the performance assessments catalogued in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (“CPARS”) will have greater significance than ever before. CPARS reviews generally set forth the Government’s evaluation of a contractor’s performance based on several factors, including […]

Recently, the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) issued a proposal that would align its size standards for determining whether a business qualifies as a “small business” with the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) current SBA Loan Program standards. Such a change would decrease inconsistencies among the entities, and potentially increase EXIM lending […]

Sea Sheppard Conservation Society (“Sea Sheppard”) recently found itself in the unfortunate situation of being in an auction bidding war against a single ineligible bidder in a General Services Administration (“GSA”) auction, resulting in Sea Sheppard having to pay a substantially higher sum for two vessels than if only eligible buyers had been allowed […]

Back in January, we wrote about the dramatic spike in bid protests sustained at GAO during the first quarter of fiscal year 2016.  At the time we noted that GAO was on pace to shatter the prior year’s number of bid protest sustains.  Today, GAO released its Bid Protest Annual Report […]

On Nov. 22, 2016—just 10 days before the rule was scheduled to go into effect—U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant entered a nationwide preliminary injunction preventing implementation of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule increasing the minimum salary level required to qualify as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards […]

On Wednesday, November 16, Howard Roth will present an interactive workshop at the Tri-Cities Regional Chamber of Commerce that will provide essential information small businesses need to know to protect their business.  Learn about recent updates including the SBA’s new Mentor/Protégé Program, Affiliation rules and Teaming/Joint Venturing.  To register for […]