NIKA Overturned! The Federal Circuit Takes a Different View on Enhanced Debriefings
Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel – Followers of this blog will know that debriefings and protests (and more precisely, a debriefing’s potential impact on protest filing deadlines) are a common topic here at GovConExaminer. That’s mostly because the interplay between debriefings and protests is so vital to understand if you want to succeed in this industry. Last year, as part of our series on common bid protest mistakes, we blogged about how required and timely debriefings can impact deadlines, and also about the DoD Enhanced Debriefing Deviation in general. Last summer, we blogged about NIKA Technologies, Inc. v. United States– a case in which the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) provided some additional clarity regarding the DoD Enhanced Debriefing Deviation. Well, turns out, on appeal, the Federal Circuit didn’t quite agree with what COFC had to say. Last week, the Federal Circuit issued its decision in NIKA, overturning the previous COFC ruling.
