Intervening In Bid Protests

---

Our bid protest lawyers understand it is extremely frustrating to spend considerable money and effort to win a contract, only to have it delayed and threatened by a protest.  As the awardee you are not required to intervene (i.e., participate) in the protest, but it is typically in your best interest to do so.

First, you have to understand that no one will represent your interests in the protest if you do not intervene.  The agency lawyer represents the agency, not the awardee.  While the the agency and the awardee often are on the same side of an argument, that is not always the case.  The agency may decide to take unwarranted corrective action or fail to adequately make arguments supporting your award.  A BCTW bid protest lawyer will seek to convince agency counsel that corrective action is not warranted and will vigorously make all arguments supporting your award.   

Second, you do not select the agency lawyer.  While most agency lawyers are very good at defending against protests, that is not the case with all agency lawyers.  Moreover, you do not control the amount of time an agency lawyer devotes to defending your award.  

Third, if the outcome of the protest is unfavorable to you, you do not get another chance at fighting the protest.  

Lastly, you are deemed to have knowledge of the information disclosed during the protest.  If you would have known something by intervening, but chose not to intervene, you will be held accountable for not intervening.  For instance, in denying Sonoran's protest as untimely, the COFC stated , "Why Sonoran chose not to intervene in either of [SPG's prior] protests is beyond the Court’s comprehension, as Sonoran should have known that its award was at risk of being rescinded and granted to SPG instead as a result of potential corrective action."  Sonoran Tech. and Professional Services, LLC, v. United States