When an agency conducts discussions with offerors, the offerors must be given the opportunity to revise any aspect of their proposals in their final proposal revisions (“FPR”), including portions of their proposals that were not the subject of discussions. Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) 15.307; Imagine One Tech. & Mgmt., Ltd., B–412860.4, B–412860.5, Dec. 9, 2016, 2016 CPD ¶360. However, agencies are permitted to reasonably limit the scope of final proposal revisions

Readers of this column are well aware that contractor must make a valid claim to the contracting officer (“CO”) prior to litigating that claim at the Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”) or a Board of Contract Appeals (“BCA”). Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. § 7103 (a)(1). Only after the CO has issued a final decision on that claim (or failed to issue the decision within a specified time, in which case the claim will be “deemed denied,” id., §7103(f)(5)) can the contractor beg

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”), which pertain to government actions brought in either the Court of Federal Claims (“COFC”), or the Boards of Contract Appeals (“BCA”), includes the following in Rule 12, Defenses and Objections: When and How Presented; Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings; Consolidating Motions; Waiving Defenses; Pretrial Hearing: 12 (b) How to Present Defenses. Every defense to a claim for relief in any pleading must be asserted in the responsiv

Administrative Judge J. Reid Prouty, Acting Chairman of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, recently issued his opinion, Futures, Inc., ASBCA No. 61566, April 16, 2066, concerning a contractor that served as a volunteer, providing services gratis to the United States Government. It is an excellent example of the warning that if a company or a person volunteers to provide something to the government for free, they should not expect to be paid. Below is the Judge’s

The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued Caduceus Healthcare, Inc. (“CHI”) a task order under a schedule contract for Surge Support Emergency Response Operations (involving quarantines). The order listed the contract line item number (“CLIN”) for each service provided along with a ceiling price and description. The Contracting Officer denied payment of $147,000 for services rendered because CHI exceeded the contract’s T&M ceiling price without giving requir

Once again, a forum has sanctioned a private party for use of non-existent cases and quoting of non-existent dialogue. The Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (“Board”) sanctioned a pro se litigant for its misconduct which possibly resulted from the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) in drafting his motions. Decision Regarding Sanctions, Louis J. Blazy v. Dept of State, CBCA 7992, 7993, Feb. 24, 2026. The Board issued appellant seven orders to submit copies of the alleged

As noted in an earlier Blog, “Clarifying Government Accountability Office Pleading Standards” (March 2025), the submission of credible allegations supported by evidence is essential in submitting any GAO protest. The submission of bare speculative assertions will cause a protest to be dismissed. GAO clarified its pleading standard last year, and is now applying it as follows: [Government Accountability Office (“GAO”] Bid Protest Regulations require that protests include a d

The bid protest rules of the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) state that a protest based on something other than alleged improprieties in a solicitation must be filed no later than 10 calendar days after the protester knew, or should have known, of the basis for protest, whichever is earlier. 4 CFR § 21.2(a)(2). The GAO rules further state that if a timely agency-level protest was previously filed, any subsequent protest to GAO must be filed within 10 days of actual