Government Procurement and Bid Protests

Smith Anderson provides comprehensive support to help clients navigate the complexities of every phase of the North Carolina state procurement process, from preparing proposals to addressing disputes. By combining the resources of our Government Relations and Government Contracting teams, we deliver a turn-key approach to assisting businesses with state procurement law, compliance issues and bid protests. Our attorneys counsel clients on challenging or defending state contract awards in order to be well-positioned to succeed in the highly competitive government contracting arena.

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Government Relations

Our Government Relations team leverages its established relationships with both state agencies and the General Assembly to help clients identify strategic contracting opportunities. We work to help position our clients for success within the contracting marketplace by introducing them to key state agency leaders, assisting with the crafting of compelling proposals and supporting their compliance with the heavily regulated procurement process.

Bid Protests

The Government Contracting team works closely with clients as they respond to requests for proposals (RFPs), request for qualifications (RFQs) and invitations to bid (ITBs) to help them navigate compliance issues, negotiate contracts, and prepare strategies for the contract bid protests that inevitability follow. Our litigators have decades of experience assisting clients in both challenging and defending many of the largest contract procurement bid protests in North Carolina state government. 

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Services

Bid Protests

• Filing and defending bid protests before state procurement agencies
• Administrative hearings before the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings, North Carolina Department of Information Technologies, and appeals
• Challenging evaluation criteria, scoring or award procedures

State Procurement Guidance

• Pre-bid counseling and strategy
• Reviewing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for compliance issues
• Assistance with drafting questions or objections before submission

Dispute Resolution

• Representing vendors and contractors in disputes with state agencies and local governments
• Negotiation and settlement of procurement disputes
• Litigation in state courts

Compliance & Advisory

• Advising on procurement laws and regulations
• Ethics and conflict of interest reviews
• Contractor eligibility and qualification challenges

Industry-Specific Focus

• Healthcare procurement
• IT and technology contracts
• Construction and infrastructure projects

• Represented an education services provider in a protest for statewide contract, successfully obtained stay of competing provider’s award, and obtained new procurement for client.
• Defended multiple awards of large healthcare consulting awards by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
• Represented bidders in protests before the North Carolina Department of Administration, including for large service and supply contracts serving many state agencies.
• Worked with prospective bidder on a state RFP to provide food service products to state agency, successfully obtained changes in RFP terms to allow fair competition.