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"//signed//" Doesn't Cut It

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 04.30.08

A claim certification was invalid, and the ASBCA had no jurisdiction to decide the case, when the contractor's president submitted it by email and simply typed "//signed//" above his name. The Board in Teknocraft Inc. (Apr. 3, 2008) acknowledged that both the contractor and the government had used the typed designation "//signed//" in their emails during performance, but held that "//signed//" was not a "discrete, verifiable symbol of an individual" and constituted an "incurable defect" in the certification.

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....