Case of the Month Club 2023 – February

The February 7 edition of PCI’s Case of the Month Club will once again feature a bid-protest case and a Contract Disputes Act (“CDA”) case.   The bid protest will be a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, CGS-ASP Security, JV, LLC v. United States, 2022 WL 17684772 (Fed. Cl. Dec. 14, 2022), dealing with an offeror’s attempt to resurrect a proposal which was rejected by the Dept. of State because the offeror was not registered in SAM when it submitted its proposal.   Although it would seem to be a fairly cut and dried situation, the plaintiff made every argument possible in its attempt to get back in the competition, and the decision serves as a tutorial on how the SAM process works and the importance of contractors complying with obligations that may seem ministerial or insignificant.  It also serves as a reminder of how difficult it is to supplement the Administrative Record in a case before the COFC.  The CDA case, Ace Electronics Defense Systems, ASBCA No. 63224, 22-1 BCA ¶ 38213, focuses on a prime firm-fixed-price contractor whose major supplier significantly increased its prices based on problems allegedly caused by Covid.  Relying in part on a memorandum issued by the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, the contractor unsuccessfully sought financial relief from the agency.  In a decision that should be interesting to any contractor that experienced price increases over the last couple of years, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals goes into great detail to explain what the term “firm-fixed-price contract” means.  Join our expert instructors, Brian Walsh and Tracye Howard, as they discuss these two decisions and explain their importance.

Please join our Case of the Month Club, a program in which our expert instructors will take a deep dive into recent decisions involving issues that affect all of us on a regular basis.  This class, meant for contracting professionals, will focus on different cases, going beyond the mere holding into the history, tactics, and significance of the case as a whole.  Whether the cases are bid protests or contract claims, our instructors, all of whom are experienced professionals, will discuss the facts of the cases at hand, the reasons why the cases are important, the strategies that were used, and the lessons that can be learned from them. To maximize your experience, we will send you copies of the cases in advance so that you are primed for the discussion when our program begins.   Sound interesting?  We hope so, and we look forward to having you with us for the start of the series.

Because the Case of the Month Club will look at recent cases based on their importance to Government Contracting, we will set the class’s Topic several weeks prior to the program.  This will help keep the program fresh.

Case of the Month 2023
First Tuesday of the Month, 10 Sessions
Taught by Tim Sullivan and the Wiley Team, 12:00 pm-1:00 pm (ET)

• January 3, 2023
• Febuary 7, 2023
• March 7, 2023
• April 4, 2023
• May 2, 2023
• June 6, 2023
• September 5, 2023
• October 3, 2023
• November 7, 2023
• December 5, 2023

Case of the Month Series 2023