Brian Walsh Discusses Common Mistakes to Avoid in GAO Bid Protests

February 24, 2016

Brian Walsh, an attorney in Wiley Rein’s Government Contracts Practice, was quoted in a February 22 Law360 article about common mistakes to avoid when pursuing bid protests before the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). 

Contractors typically have 10 days from either the contract award or a debriefing to launch their GAO protests – and Mr. Walsh stressed the importance of not missing the filing deadline. He noted that unless debriefings are mandatory, the period for filing a protest and obtaining a stay of contract performance pending the litigation of the protest begins at the time of the award, and asking for a later date on nonmandatory debriefings does not reset the clock.

He also cautioned that while all potential arguments should be included in an initial protest, it may not be worthwhile to continue advancing some of the weaker contentions. “Unless the agency has totally forgotten what it was supposed to be doing, in a lot of cases it hasn’t done all 10 things wrong that you’ve argued up front,” Mr. Walsh said. “If you continue with all 10 arguments, I think you lose some credibility with GAO.”

The article can be found here.