Ims Services, Inc. v. United States

40 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,757, 32 Fed. Cl. 388, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 223, 1994 WL 690192
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedDecember 12, 1994
DocketNo. 94-776C
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 40 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,757 (Ims Services, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ims Services, Inc. v. United States, 40 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,757, 32 Fed. Cl. 388, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 223, 1994 WL 690192 (uscfc 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

HORN, Judge.

This case comes before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief. After careful consideration of the documents submitted by the parties and the arguments presented by counsel orally, and as is discussed more fully below, the court finds that it has jurisdiction to entertain plaintiffs claim. This opinion confirms and reduces to writing the oral ruling issued by the court from the bench on November 9, 1994.

Procedural History

Immediately upon receipt of plaintiffs complaint and request for injunctive relief, filed on October 26, 1994, this court scheduled a status conference to determine the urgency of the case and to schedule future proceedings. At the initial status conference on October 27, 1994, government counsel indicated that as a result of a decision issued by the General Accounting Office (GAO) on September 14, 1994, the government intended to amend Solicitation No. N68936-93-R-0172 in order to conduct a new round of best & final offers (BAFOs). At the status conference, the government also represented that a new contract would not be awarded prior to January 15, 1995. As a result, the plaintiff indicated that it would not press its request for a temporary restraining order (TRO). In a document, filed on October 28, 1994, titled “STIPULATION OF POSTPONEMENT IN AWARD OF NEW CONTRACT,” the defendant further confirmed its commitment that it would not award a new contract prior to January 15, 1995. Defendant states in the document:

Pursuant to this Court’s Order at the status conference on October 27, 1994, the United States hereby submits its stipulation that the Department of the Navy will not award a new contract pursuant to Request for Proposals No. N68936-93-R-0172 prior to January 15, 1995.

At the request of the parties, also on October 28, 1994, the court entered a protective order covering all pleadings and other materials submitted to the court in the above-captioned case ordering protection from public disclosure under the conditions specified in the order. For the purposes of the above-captioned case, protected information was defined as “the prices offered by the offerors under Solicitation No. N68936-93-R-0172, and the identity of the offerors’ subcontractors.”

On November 4, 1994, the government filed the instant motion to dismiss, for lack of jurisdiction, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the [390]*390Rules of- the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC). On November 4, 1994, SRS Technologies (SRS), a disappointed bidder who earlier had filed a successful protest with the GAO, submitted a motion for leave in this court to file a brief in support of defendant’s motion to dismiss. At the oral argument, the court granted the SRS motion to file the brief.

Subsequently, on'November 23, 1994, this court granted a motion filed by SRS on November 15, 1994, to intervene formally in this action. Although counsel for SRS did not argue at the original conference on October 27, 1994, or at the oral argument on November 9,1994, counsel for SRS was present and did respond to questions posed by the court. As a condition for permission to intervene, SRS agreed to be bound by all prior rulings and orders of this court in the above-captioned case, including the protective order entered by the court on October 28, 1994.

On November 2, 1994, the government filed a document titled “NOTICE REGARDING SCHEDULE FOR CONTRACT AWARD.” Because of the relevance of this document to the issues of jurisdiction raised in defendant’s motion to dismiss, it is quoted in full below:

NOTICE REGARDING SCHEDULE FOR CONTRACT AWARD

Pursuant to this Court’s instructions at the status conference on October 27, 1994, the United States, on behalf of the Department of Navy (“Navy”), hereby advises this Court of the Navy’s intended schedule regarding the selection of the bidder to be awarded the contract disputed in this litigation. The Navy’s tentative schedule is attached as Exhibit 1 and estimates that the prospective awardee can be selected between December 22, 1994, and January 12, 1995. At the October 27 status conference this Court was advised by undersigned counsel that the Navy estimated that selection of the prospective awardee would take only 2-3 weeks, rather than potentially 2% months as shown in the schedule. After further consultation with procurement specialists, the Navy has concluded that its initial estimate was unrealistic given certain activities and time periods, required by the FAR and judged necessary or prudent by the Navy, which must occur prior to the selection of the prospective awardee. Exhibit A includes a brief discussion of these activities and time periods.

The Navy must emphasize that this schedule is tentative and is subject to change. The Navy understands, however, that all parties involved in this dispute, including this Court, would be well served by as short a schedule as possible, and will strive to select the prospective awardee as quickly as possible.

[391]*391There is no dispute that this court has jurisdiction to review requests for injunctive relief in pre-award cases, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a)(3) (Supp.1991). Defendant, however, asserts that this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the instant claim filed by IMS because the government, by issuing the May 2, 1994 award/contract document, already has awarded the contract at issue to the plaintiff.

Plaintiff acknowledges that this court does not have jurisdiction to award equitable relief on contracts which already have been award[392]*392ed. In the instant action, however, in which no order to proceed has been issued by the government and no work has been performed on the contract, and amendments to the solicitation to reopen the BAFO stage of the procurement have been issued, plaintiff argues that the claim currently before the court should be considered a pre-award contract claim. Plaintiff contends that the government’s actions following award of the contract on May 2, 1994, indicate a clear intention to reopen the procurement process. Therefore, the plaintiff argues that this court is vested with jurisdiction to entertain plaintiff’s claim, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1491(a)(3), as review of a pre-award contract action.

FACTS

The facts in the case appear to be largely undisputed. Plaintiff, IMS Services, Inc., is a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Maryland, with its principal place of business in Rockville, Maryland. The defendant, United States, conducted the procurement at issue, acting through the. United States Department of the Navy, Naval Air Weapons Center, Weapons Division, Point Mugu, California.

On June 1, 1993, the Department of the Navy issued Solicitation No. N68936-93-R-0172 to obtain maintenance and operational support services for the Navy’s telecommunications and local area network systems at Point Mugu, California. The Solicitation required the contractor to furnish the following services: requirements analysis, design and installation of new communications equipment and networks, management, maintenance and operational support for digital, audio, video teleconferencing, intrusion alarm, security electronic access, and electronic mail systems.

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Bluebook (online)
40 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,757, 32 Fed. Cl. 388, 1994 U.S. Claims LEXIS 223, 1994 WL 690192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ims-services-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-1994.