The Administrative Law/Government Procurement Practice Group is committed to providing a comprehensive range of services and experience to entities seeking or doing business with the government sector. To assist our clients, our activities are oriented towards assisting the client in participating in the procurement planning process, from the initial decision of the governmental entity to the purchase of the service or product through bid solicitation and implementation.

In many instances, publicly advertised bids are neither the only, nor most practical mechanism for the procurement. We frequently advise our clients and work with government entities in formatting other legally available forms of purchasing. These may include waivers of advertising, pilot or experimental projects, use of existing agreements from other governmental entities, or other forms of public-private cooperation. Even within the confines of advertised bid regulations there are often opportunities for utilizing different legal methods of finalizing contractual arrangements including negotiations, pre-qualification, and best and final offer structures.

We have found that the purchase decision is often made or lost on the ability of the client to understand, and thus properly structure, its bid in response to the specifications. Therefore we advise and work with our clients to assure certainty of the specification requirements, attend bidders conferences, ask questions, seek clarifications and, if necessary, challenge the specifications prior to bid submission.

The Administrative Law/Government Procurement Practice Group advises clients on the viability of their own bids in situations where they have either been rejected or otherwise bypassed for award. Likewise, we have challenged awards to other vendors on the basis of noncompliant bids, bid irregularities, vendor qualifications and on the basis that the client's bid comprises the most advantageous offer for the governmental entity.

In the public procurement setting, there are technical rules governing bid preparation and relating to the conduct of business with government entities for which strict compliance is required. Failure to comply by the unwary bidder can, and often does, result in automatic rejection of a client's bid. Such items include bid execution and delivery, bonding requirements, shareholder disclosure certifications and affirmative action certifications and program compliance. The firm advises clients in all facets of these rules from proposal preparation and obtaining needed certifications, to the defense of or challenge to a proposal based on noncompliance and the potential application of exceptions to these rules.

The firm's representation of its clients does not end with the contract award. The firm often assists clients with post award issues relating to contract compliance, and with negotiation of change orders, term extensions, penalties, mitigation and other contract related issues with the government entities.