Kym Nucci May 21, 2014

2,429 protests were filed at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2013 (slightly down from the prior year); the sustain rate was 17% and the effectiveness rate was 43%. 84 protests were filed at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC). Be flexible – Don’t always protest if you lose, but don’t be close-minded about filing protests when you believe a solicitation or award decision is unfair. 2

Protests against solicitation terms must be filed before initial proposals are due. Other protests, such as challenges to a competitive range exclusion or award decision, must be filed within ten days from the date you know or should have known the basis for your protest. To trigger the statutory automatic stay of contract award or performance, a protest must be filed at the GAO by the later of ten days from the date of award or five days from your requested and required debriefing. For protests filed at the COFC, you must seek an injunction in order to stop contract performance. 3

Timeliness/Standing Issues – DAI, Inc., B , Nov. 6, 2013, 2013 CPD ¶ 259 – Amazon Web Services, Inc. v. United States, 113 Fed.Cl. 102 (2013) – Preferred Systems Solutions, Inc. v. United States, 110 Fed.Cl. 48 (2013) 4

Automatic Stay/Agency Overrides – Dyncorp International LLC v. United States, 113 Fed.Cl. 298 (2013) – Supreme Foodservice GmbH v. United States, 109 Fed.Cl. 369 (2013) 5

Past Performance Evaluations – IAP World Services, Inc.; EMCOR Government Services, B et al., July 10, 2013, 2013 CPD ¶ 171 – Triad International Maintenance Corp., B , Sept. 5, 2013, 2013 CPD ¶ 208 6

Price Realism Analyses – Optex Systems, Inc., B , Oct. 30, 2013, 2013 CPD ¶ 244 – Triad International Maintenance Corp., B , Sept. 5, 2013, 2013 CPD ¶ 208 7

Late Proposals (Electronic Submissions) – Insight Systems Corp., et al. v. United States, 110 Fed. Cl. 564 (2013) – Laboratory Corp. of America v. United States, 108 Fed. Cl. 549 (2013) 8

Kym Nucci