'No Prejudice' Response to Protest of Past Performance Evaluation Tantamount to Concession of Error
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 07.31.14
In a recent decision, GAO sustained Native Resource Dev. Co.'s protest that its past performance should have been rated Outstanding given the undisputed record of the agency's superlative written findings. GAO held that the agency's response, which was solely that if the protester's past performance merited a higher rating, then so did the awardee's, was "tantamount to a concession" that it could not defend its assignment of a Satisfactory rating and dismissed the agency's findings about the essential equivalency of protester's and awardee's past performance as merely a post hoc argument to be given little weight.
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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:
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.10.25
Creativity You Can Use: CJEU Clarifies Copyright for Applied Art
Client Alert | 4 min read | 12.10.25
Federal Court Strikes Down Interior Order Suspending Wind Energy Development
Client Alert | 14 min read | 12.10.25
SBA Office of General Counsel Audit of Participants in the 8(a) Program and Beyond
