Just. Do. It.: Arizona Court of Appeals Holds that Contractor Pursuing a Bid Protest Must Act to Preserve the Status Quo before Contract Performance Begins.

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Way back in the sixteenth century, Miguel de Cervantes observed that “[d]elay always breeds danger.” In Southwest Fabrication, LLC v. City of Phoenix, the Arizona Court of Appeals recently confirmed that this principle still very much applies to contractors protesting public contract awards.   In particular, the Court held that parties litigating the propriety of an award “must act to preserve the status quo before contract performance begins to avoid [the equitable defense of] laches.”  The protesting contractor in Southwest Fabrication failed to preserve the status quo and, as a result, its bid protest failed.  read more