Wiley Rein LLP


Government Contracts | BID PROTESTS

Wiley Rein has one of the most active bid protest practices in the nation, one that is widely regarded as "an excellent choice for bid protest litigation" (Chambers USA 2010).  For example, the 2009 edition of Chambers USA pronounced our Government Contracts practitioners "tremendous litigators who offer innovative solutions to complex procurement problems."  The 2009 Chambers USA also recognized Wiley Rein for its representation of The Boeing Company in "the hugely significant KC-X Tanker bid protest", its "successful challenge to the Air Force's award of a $35 billion contract for the next generation of aerial refueling tankers to Northrop Grumman and EADS."  We regularly represent companies either challenging or defending procurement procedures or contract awards in bid protests before contracting agencies, the GAO, the COFC and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, including protests of classified procurements.  Through our vast experience on some of the highest-profile protests, we are able to provide insightful counsel regarding various approaches for success, including structuring effective protest timelines, determining where a protest should be filed to maximize the chances for a "win" and formulating strategies for how best to defend against a competitor's protest. 

Wiley Rein's Government Contracts Practice regularly handles dozens of bid protest matters before agencies, the GAO or the COFC each year.  Our successes span the range of protest bases and address many issues of first impression, including the following protest outcomes: 

  • Successfully protested on behalf of The Boeing Company the Air Force award of a $35 billion contract for the next generation of aerial refueling tankers, prevailing on several protest grounds in one of the most prominent GAO protests in recent history. [See Decision]
  • Successfully protested the award of a $3 billion contract by the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command for the production of the family of medium tactical vehicles (FMTV). [See Decision]
  • Successfully defended a major aerospace contractor in a protest brought by a disappointed bidder that began as a GAO protest, was followed by an injunction action before the COFC and, when that action was also dismissed, moved to civil proceedings in federal district court and before the Ninth Circuit.  Arguments made by Wiley Rein's attorneys in the COFC provided the principal basis upon which the Ninth Circuit dismissed the competitor's antitrust action.  [See COFC, CD Cal-First Dismissal and CD Cal-Second Dismissal and 9th Cir. Decision]
  • Successfully defended client's single largest contract award against multi-count protest by losing incumbent at the COFC.  [See Decision]
  • Successfully defended the award of one of the four Durable Medical Equipment MAC (DME MAC) contracts in the first GAO protest under the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 that mandated Medicare Contracting Reform. [See Decision]
  • Successfully argued that the COFC enjoyed jurisdiction to hear protests of U.S. Postal Service procurements under the protest jurisdiction Congress conferred in 1996-the first firm to do so. 
  • Defended a significant award to a major software manufacturer of an Air Force contract for commercial off-the-shelf enterprise resource planning software to use in its expeditionary combat support system.  [See Decision]
  • Successful protest of multi-billion dollar Army procurement for warfighter field operations support services. [See Decision]
  • Successful protest of Air Force procurement for engineering and technology acquisition support services worth several hundred million dollars.  [See Decision]
  • Successfully obtained dismissal on timeliness grounds of protest challenging $332 million sole-source award.  [See Decision]

In the federal market, bid protests are an integral oversight mechanism, ensuring that federal acquisitions are carried out in accordance with applicable statutes and regulations.  Whether they are successful awardees or disappointed bidders, all companies must understand the realities of the bid protest process in order to defend their own contract awards and to vindicate their rights to full and open competition.  With collective participation in hundreds of bid protests, there is little-if anything-that our Government Contracts lawyers have not seen before, which is critical in bid protest litigation where there is no "ramp-up" time or room for "on-the-job training."