David’s experience includes bid protests, claims, and disputes at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Boards of Contract Appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, state courts, and binding arbitration/mediation.
This webinar will discuss best practices for bid submission and the durable split between the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) on the issue of timely submission of bids. Protesters claiming that their bid was timely submitted regularly lose their protest at GAO and win at COFC on the same facts. The split arose due to the difference in interpretation between GAO and COFC concerning the government control exception to the “Late is Late” FAR rule. The webinar will also cover the other timeliness exceptions including the systemic failure doctrine and unanticipated event rule.
Presented by The Federal Bar Association Government Contracts Section
Key topics to be discussed:
This course is co-sponsored with myLawCLE.
Date / Time: October 23, 2025
Closed-captioning available
David Timm | Burr & Forman, LLP
David helps contractors when their work with the Government goes wrong. His focus is on complex disputes, claims, and bid protests over federal, state, and local government contracts. David is the chair of the bid protest committee for the Federal Bar Association’s Government Contracts Section. David also serves as the co-chair for Burr & Forman’s AI committee.
David’s experience includes bid protests, claims, and disputes at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Boards of Contract Appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, state courts, and binding arbitration/mediation. David advises companies navigating the SBA’s rules, including the 8(a) program, HUBZone, SBIR, and others. David has extensive E-discovery expertise. He has qualified for a U.S. Top Secret Security clearance and frequently works on cases involving various levels of classified materials.
I. The “Late is Late” Rule | 2:00pm – 2:10pm
II. Exceptions: Government Control, Systemic Failure, Unanticipated Events | 2:10pm – 2:20pm
III. Choosing the Right Forum: GAO vs. COFC | 2:20pm – 2:30pm
IV. Recent Developments: Federal Circuit’s Dismissal of eSimplicity Appeal | 2:30pm – 2:40pm
V. Best Practices & Recommendations | 2:40pm – 2:45pm
VI. Resources and Q&A | 2:45pm – 3:00pm