Govt contract - did not have a teaming agreement and the "partner" stole it, any relief?

I found the "perfect" contract - my first one to bid on for the Fed. A company that I had talked to for about quite some time - with no experience in the type of work/skills was supposed to be HELPING me put together my proposal. They ended up changing the wording to make it THEIR contract despite the fact that ALL of the past performance and skills were from my company.

MY proposal won - and the other company basically stole it from me. By the time the proposal went in my company had 50% - but it ended up where my company was working at Risk for almost 2 months and the other company stole another third of the work/revenue. Finally I was told my only alternative was to pull out and that the govt would re-bid.
I pulled out. Then the other company stole my employees and now the govt is not doing a re-bid.

Any help available? Are their FAR (regulations) that can help? There is a non-competition clause that one of my people violated (it is, I believe not too broad and should be specific enough to stand up).


Thanks for any help.

2 answers  |  asked Sep 27, 2011 10:31 PM [EST]  |  applies to Ohio

Answers (2)

Neil Klingshirn
It sounds like you might have a claim for tortious interference with a prospective contractual relationship. That claim involves:

1. The existence of a prospective contractual opportunity.
2. The third party's knowledge of it (in this case the company helping you)
3. Interference in that relationship (here, the company taking it for itself) and
4. A wrongful purpose or means.

Wrongful means would be, for example, where the third party that took the contractual opportunity breached a confidentiality agreement or used your trade secrets to get the deal.

Whether or not you have such a claim, and whether it would be worth pursuing if you did, depends on the facts, circumstances and amount at stake. To review all of that, we offer a consultation for $200. If you would like to schedule a consultation, call 330.665.5445, ext. 2 and we will get you on my calendar.

Neil Klingshirn

posted by Neil Klingshirn  |  Sep 30, 2011 08:24 AM [EST]
Bruce Elfvin
The type of procurement issue may actually be an issue with your "partner" company and whether they have engaged in fraud or some forms of misrepresentation or deception. You really need to see an employment lawyer and sort through what you know and have documented. The FAR may or may not help you if the Fed has clean hands.

It will help if the attorney you speak with is familiar with federal contracting and acqusition rules.

You can select an employment lawyer at www.oelasmart.net/directory

posted by Bruce Elfvin  |  Sep 28, 2011 07:03 AM [EST]

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