Watching the Sunset: Anticipating GAO's Study of Concurrent Bid Protest Jurisdiction in the Cofc and the District Courts

Authors

Steven L. Schooner, George Washington University Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2000

Status

Accepted

Abstract

The 1970 D.C. Circuit ruling in Scanwell Labs. v. Shaffer, 424 F.2d 859, turned the issue of federal court jurisdiction over bid protest litigation into a legal experiment. Thirty years later, the putative sunset of statutory District Court jurisdiction, and a Congressional mandate that GAO undertake a comprehensive study of the need for concurrent jurisdiction, offered an opportunity to judge the success of this experiment. This brief paper reviews the history leading up to the GAO study; discusses how the protest regime helps ensure procurement integrity; critiques the scope and methodology of study; and, ultimately, argues that elimination of District Court jurisdiction hinders the opportunity of small businesses to challenge violations of federal procurement law.

GW Paper Series

GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 146, GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 146

SSRN Link

http://ssrn.com/abstract=717902

Recommended Citation

42 The Government Contractor Sec. 108 (March 22, 2000)