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Take Care to Preserve Ordering and Option Rights

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 02.23.11

In a 2-1 decision in Mabus v. Gen. Dynamics C4 Sys., Inc. (Feb. 4, 2011), the Federal Circuit held that GD was equitably estopped to void an order exercise by the government due to the wrong transmission method because it had repeatedly accepted that method during prior performance. The lesson for contractors is to scrutinize each order and option exercise and, if it is deficient in any way but is still desirable, to put the government on notice that it is being accepted despite the noted deficiency and without prejudice with regard to future exercises.

Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 07.23.26

Protester Beware: Recent GAO Decision Suggests Traditional “Reasonable Possibility” Prejudice Standard May Be Evolving

It is well established that “[c]ompetitive prejudice is an essential element of every viable protest.” Yet, for decades, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has tempered this requirement with two critical corollaries: protesters need only demonstrate a “reasonable possibility” that they were prejudiced by an agency’s actions, and GAO “will resolve doubts regarding prejudice in favor of the protester.” These principles have been consistent features of GAO’s bid protest jurisprudence for more than 30 years. See, e.g., United Int’l Eng'g, Inc., B-245448, Jan. 29, 1992, 71 CPD ¶ 177....