Counsel Commentary: The Art of Protest War

Contract Management Magazine has published an article from RJO shareholder Stephen Bacon about how gathering market intelligence on competitors is essential to developing a winning bid protest strategy.

Bacon’s article, “The Art of Protest War,” discusses several areas where collecting market intelligence regarding a competitor’s weaknesses can be particularly useful in gaining a strategic advantage during a bid protest “war.” These areas include product features, past performance, key personnel, organizational conflicts of interest and small business affiliation issues.

“If the offeror is unsuccessful, however, market intelligence gathered during proposal preparation can be repurposed to develop a viable protest strategy,” Bacon writes. “Offerors that know their competitors are better situated to make credible allegations that challenge the propriety of an award made to another offeror.”

The piece, which appears in the magazine’s February issue (subscription required), is the latest entry in Bacon’s monthly Counsel Commentary column and is published by the National Contract Management Association. It was used with permission.

Read Bacon’s latest Contract Management article here.