Bid Protests

REAVES GovCon and its Government Contracts Attorneys have decades of experience filing Protests and defending against Protests at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Court of Federal Claims (COFC), and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.  In 2025 alone, REAVES GovCon filed more than 20 protests, and its Bid Protest team has successfully brought and defended against hundreds of bid protests on procurements valued at several million to over a billion dollars. 
 
In the current Government Contracting environment, where contract awards continue to grow larger and Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts and GWACs proliferate, REAVES GovCon understands the importance of protecting and defending Contract awards, and also understands the need to protest Contract awards where an Agency has improperly awarded a Contract to a competitor. 
 
Importantly, the REAVES GovCon Bid Protest team will work with you every step of the way, from Contract Award (or Exclusion from Competition), through Debriefings (including DoD Enhanced Debriefings), helping you generate written follow-up questions for the Agency, and (finally) working with your management team to determine whether filing a Bid Protest makes sense from a both a legal merits and strategic business standpoint.  Although we regularly file (and defend against) Bid Protests, we also counsel clients not to file protests in appropriate situations.  We work together with your Management Team to provide you with the information that you need to make an informed business decision and to use resources wisely.
 
Finally, the REAVES GovCon Bid Protest team also regularly files and defends against both SBA Size and Status Protests related to the SBA’s various set-aside programs (Small Business, 8(a), SDVOSB, WOSB/EDWOSB, and HUBZone), and also handles appeals to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) and beyond.  Our Bid Protest and Government Contracts team has deep knowledge of all SBA Set-Aside Programs (our Bid Protest team includes a former SBA Office of Hearing and Appeals Judge) and we can help conduct due diligence for potential protests of competitors and defend against Size and Status Protests when filed against an awardee.
 
Some recent protest cases are outlined below:
 
  • Valkyrie Enterprises, LLC: In Valkyrie Enterprises, REAVES GovCon successfully represented the protestor and obtained a sustain decision at the GAO challenging a $33M contract award. Reaves GovCon argued that the agency improperly upwardly adjusted the protestor’s new hire direct labor costs, to which the GAO agreed, concluding that the agency’s methodology was not consistent with the plain meaning of the solicitation’s text. This decision further demonstrates the principle that an agency’s evaluation must be aligned with the requirements of the solicitation.
 
  • Management and Technical Services Alliance Joint Venture: In MTSA JV, REAVES GovCon successfully represented the intervenor and defended the award of a contract valued at approximately $52M. This decision reiterated long-standing precedent that mere disagreement with the agency’s decision is not a proper ground of protest.
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  • Primary Health Care, LLC: In Primary Health Care, REAVES GovCon successfully obtained corrective action, which enabled the protestor to be included in the competitive range on a five-year Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract.  
 
  • ITellect, LLC v. United States: In ITellect, REAVES GovCon successfully represented the intervenor and defended the award of a $33M contract. There, the protestor argued that an improper organizational conflict of interest (OCI) existed. REAVES GovCon argued that the apparent OCI was sufficiently mitigated, to which the COFC agreed and upheld the award.

  • NAICS Appeal of scDataCom, LLC: In scDataCom, REAVES GovCon successfully appealed the NAICS code assignment of a Veterans Affairs (VA) contract from NAICS code 334111 – Electronic Computer Manufacturing to NAICS code 561621 – Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths).

  • MilTrain JV II, LLC: In MilTrain, REAVES GovCon successfully represented the protestor and obtained corrective action, which allowed the protestor to compete for a $91M contract.
 
In addition to the protests above, REAVES GovCon has obtained numerous corrective action decisions of contract awards up to $100M and above.  REAVES GovCon is proficient in efficiently handling protests of all types and sizes.
 
If you are faced with a potential Bid Protest, Size/Status Protest, or if you need to defend against a Bid Protest and intervene, please contact any member of our Bid Protest Team.

Brad Reaves
Contact Brad
Kenneth Hyde
​Contact Ken
Jake Noe
Contact Jake