1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |Lack of Documented Award Defeats Discussions with Putative Awardee

Lack of Documented Award Defeats Discussions with Putative Awardee

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 03.02.16

In SRA Int’l, Inc. (released last week), although the solicitation allowed the government to negotiate a final reduced price with the prospective awardee after it had been selected for award, GSA conducted discussions with the eventual awardee before documenting any best value determination and before the evaluations were even finalized. Because GSA did not conduct discussions with any other offerors, GAO held that the discussions were unequal and recommended that GSA go back, establish a competitive range, and open discussions with all remaining offerors.

Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 09.15.26

GAO Indicates Reasonable Conflict of Interest Investigation Must Include Inquiry of Involved Firm

The U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) recent decision in Viderity Inc.—Costs, B-424422.5, Sept. 1, 2026, offers useful insight into what constitutes a legally sufficient conflict of interest investigation. The decision arose in an unusual procedural posture: Viderity initially protested, alleging that an agency evaluator had a personal conflict of interest. After the agency took corrective action, Viderity filed a cost entitlement claim requesting that GAO direct the agency to reimburse Viderity’s protest costs. In evaluating that claim, GAO assessed whether Viderity’s underlying protest ground was “clearly meritorious.”...