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The Story of Bad Faith in Government Contracts

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 10.22.14

In his article "A Twice-Told Tale: The Strangely Repeated Story of 'Bad Faith' in Government Contracts," published in the latest issue of The Federal Circuit Bar Journal, C&M's Rick Claybrook tells the story of how the Supreme Court over 50 years ago suddenly injected intentional animus into the analysis of whether the government acted in bad faith in its dealings with contractors—and promptly got rebuffed by Congress. He suggests that the Federal Circuit, ironically, has repeated the same error in some of its more recent decisions.


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.”...