Media Coverage
Source: Pub K Law
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
07.19.22
A team of Pillsbury Government Contracts & Disputes attorneys led by practice section co-leader David Dixon in Northern Virginia represented Sparksoft Corporation in its successful Government Accountability Office bid protest of an award of a Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) contract for information technology services.
In this case, Quality Technology, Inc., GAO B-420576.3, the agency initially awarded the contract to the incumbent, Quality Technology, Inc. (QuTech). Two unsuccessful offerors, including Pillsbury client Sparksoft Corporation, protested the award.
Sparksoft’s protest asserted that CMS erred in awarding the task order to QuTech because Sparksoft’s lower-priced and equally technically rated proposal was a better value under the terms of the solicitation; and that CMS’s evaluation of QuTech’s technical proposal was improperly based on unstated evaluation criteria. For the latter, Sparksoft argued that CMS’ rationale for the award was largely based on QuTech’s status as the incumbent, which was not an evaluation criterion.
In response, CMS took corrective action to reevaluate proposals. Following the reevaluation, CMS awarded the contract to Sparksoft. Quality then protested at the GAO.
Sparksoft filed motions to dismiss QuTech’s protest for being untimely and for failing to provide a factual or legal basis for protest. GAO subsequently suspended CMS’s requirement to file an agency report, and on July 1, 2022, issued a written opinion dismissing QuTech’s protest.
To read more about the case, click here.
In addition to David Dixon, Sparksoft was represented by Northern Virginia associates Robert Starling and Toghrul Shukurlu.