1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |Flawed Discussions Nixes Award

Flawed Discussions Nixes Award

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 06.11.12

In KPMG LLP (May 21, 2012), GAO sustained a challenge to CIA's conduct of discussions, finding the agency misleadingly informed KPMG that proposals should include resumes for all proposed personnel, yet the awardee proposed – and CIA accepted – only representative resumes, which allowed the awardee to offer a lower cost. GAO also found CIA's cost realism evaluation inadequate, stressing that CIA's evaluation documentation reflected "no meaningful consideration" of whether cost reductions associated with the awardee’s technical approach would actually occur.

Insights

Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.11.25

Director Squires Revamps the Workings of the U.S. Patent Office

In March 2025, President Trump nominated John A. Squires for the positions of Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). After being approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 20-2, Squires was confirmed by the Senate on September 17, 2025, by a vote of 51-47 after anti-filibuster measures were invoked. During and after the confirmation process, Squires emphasized several goals for the USPTO during his time as Director. Such goals included:...