Good Faith Duties in Procurements Confirmed

Working around overbroad dicta in a recent decision of the Federal Circuit that DOJ has been trying to exploit, Judge Lettow in J.C.N. Constr., Inc. v. U.S. (Nov. 6, 2012) joined other CFC judges in affirming that the government still has an implied, good faith duty to treat bidders fairly and impartially. To work around the dicta, the CFC judges are saying this duty now emanates from subsection (b) of 28 U.S.C. § 1491, rather than from (a), from where it has traditionally been found to lodge.