The GAO recently announced statistics on bid protests filed at the GAO in 2012 (get a copy here). For the fifth straight year, bid protests increased over the previous year. For 2012, there were 2,475 protests filed, an increase of 5% over 2,353 protests filed in 2011. This also is an increase of 42% from five years ago, with only 1,652 filed in 2008.

Only 570 protests went to a final decision on the merits, with the remainder either withdrawn by the protester, dismissed following voluntary Agency corrective action, or dismissed by the GAO for procedural defects. The GAO’s sustain rate increased from 16% in 2011 (67 decisions) to 18.6% (106 decisions sustained) in 2012.

More importantly, the GAO tracks what it refers to as the “Effectiveness Rate” of protests, or the instances in which a protester receives at least some portion of the relief that it requests in its protest either through voluntary agency corrective action or the GAO sustaining the protest. This rate continued for the third year in a row to be 42%. So, in just under one half of the protests filed, the protester receives some portion of the relief that is requested in the protest.

For more information on the GAO overview and bid protests generally, contact MWL attorney Bill Welch.