Author Archives: Steven Koprince

SDVOSB Program: VA Must Pay Attorneys’ Fees in Ownership Transfer Case

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The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ordered the VA to pay attorneys’ fees to Miles Construction, LLC stemming from the Court’s February decision that the company’s  “right of first refusal” provision did not render it ineligible for the VA’s SDVOSB program.

In ordering the VA to pay attorneys’ fees, the Court held that the VA’s defense of its broad interpretation of “unconditional ownership” was not substantially justified–but also suggested that the Court might not reach the same result under the SBA’s SDVOSB rules.

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Sex, Lies, & Bid Protests: Adultery-Based Challenge Fails at GAO

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An alleged adulterous relationship between a Navy program manager and a contractor support employee did not provide a basis to challenge the Navy’s award to a different contractor.

The GAO’s recent decision in Harris IT Services Corporation, B-408546.2, B-408546.3 (Oct. 31, 2013) involved more salacious allegations  than one typically encounters in a bid protest case, but the GAO’s ruling was no surprise: after all, the awardee was not the company employing the allegedly unfaithful employee.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: Oct. 28 – Nov. 1, 2013

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I hope you and yours enjoyed a wonderful Halloween.  My kids enjoyed a brief round of trick-or treating but on the home front, we ran out of candy rather early (due, in part, to a rather disturbing trend on the part of some costumed kids to blatantly grab entire fistfuls of candy from the dish).

With Halloween festivities over, what better way to spend a Friday afternoon than catching up on government contracting news?  In this week’s SmallGovCon Week In Review, a small business subcontractor sues a prime for breach of a teaming agreement, the DoD announces plans to audit Buy American Act compliance, the Army pushes WOSB acquisitions, and much more.

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SBA OHA: Favorable SBA Size Determinations Not Binding In Future Cases

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A SBA size determination issued in 2007 was not binding on the question of whether the same company was still small in 2013.

According to a recent decision of the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, there is no rule providing that an SBA Area Office must follow its own prior size determination.  Rather, an SBA Area Office is free to issue a size determination contradicting its own prior ruling.

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Agency Pays 72.6% Price Premium; GAO Upholds Award

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I often caution would-be bid protesters that when it comes to “best value” procurements, the GAO gives agencies wide discretion to pay a price premium for a proposal evaluated as superior.

Case in point: a recent bid protest decision in which the GAO upheld the procuring agency’s decision to pay a whopping 72.6% price premium.

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SmallGovCon Week In Review: Oct. 21-25, 2013

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Halloween is almost here and government contracting is (mostly) returning to normal following the shutdown.

In this week’s SmallGovCon Week in Review, the Washington Post discusses three major small business IDIQs on tap for early 2014, Set-Aside Alert examines the possibility of a second shutdown, Federal News Radio has a piece on the prevalence of “low price” acquisitions, and much more.

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GAO: SDVOSB Improperly Downgraded For Not Identifying Its Subcontractors

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A SDVOSB was improperly downgraded for not identifying its subcontractors in its proposal, according to a recent GAO bid protest decision.

In Coburn Contractors, LLC, B-408279.2 (Sept. 30, 2013), the GAO held that the VA improperly applied an unstated evaluation criterion by requiring that the protester identify its subcontractors, because according to the solicitation, a subcontractor list was only required at the task order level.

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