We assist clients in what may be the most important part of the bid process – reviewing the bid specifications to ensure they are clear, correct and unrestrictive and to challenge and fix them if they are not. Our attorneys are highly experienced in bid specifications review and the legal processes for submitting questions, requesting extensions and, if necessary, seeking judicial review of specification decisions and stays of bidding pending review.
Stevens & Lee attorneys have assisted clients in successfully challenging intended contract awards valued in the hundreds of thousands to the billions of dollars. Our reported decisions form the main jurisprudence of contract law in New Jersey. We also have successfully assisted clients in defending their bid awards.
The bid challenge and defense process is exceedingly quick and requires immediate action following an adverse ruling against a bid. In most state cases, you have 10 business days to submit your protest, but in emergency cases, the state may provide significantly less time. Protests must be fully detailed and articulate the entire case in the initial filing, and the file must be recovered to review the competitor’s bid and the rationale for the award being granted to this competitor. Our team has assisted clients in navigating this process and knows what to look for within a competitor’s bid and how to successfully defend that of our client.
Challenges to local contract awards, although different in timing and manner, still require immediate action. We know and practice in the local government arena and understand the court processes needed to challenge or defend bid awards at the local level.
As always, time is of the essence. If the bid specifications are unclear or erroneous, act immediately. Likewise, if your company’s bid has been rejected for an award and you believe the decision to be improper, or if someone challenges your bid award, act immediately. Protect your rights and above all, trust and use the process. Any actions companies take in correctly following these processes will not be held against them by the government entity in present or future procurements. Our team has assisted clients in many hundreds of bid specification reviews and bid challenges in our more than 40 years of work in this field and is adept at tackling the issues that arise in the bidding process.
While steps can be taken to make sure a public contract proceeds successfully, issues can and do arise. If a dispute arises during contract implementation, your company may receive a claim for damages, direct or liquidated, or the public entity may file a formal written complaint. It’s important to resolve the claim or complaint in a manner that does not affect your record going forward, as a record of poor performance on a government contract may be cited in future contract award decisions.
Our attorneys have years of significant experience negotiating government contract claims and damage assessments and in assisting clients in protecting their performance records.
