Vera prevails in pro bono protest challenging ill-conceived contract award for provision of legal services to unaccompanied alien children in Miami

Client(s) Vera Institute of Justice Inc.

Representing non-profit Vera Institute of Justice, Inc. (Vera), a team of Jones Day attorneys successfully protested a troubling U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contract award to provide legal services to unaccompanied alien children (UAC). The protest, filed with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, asserted that the Government's materially flawed evaluation resulted in an award to an organization incapable of providing the legal services so desperately needed by these children.

Despite having only 24 hours to file the protest, the team put together a compelling brief. Recognizing the serious errors in its award decision, the Government decided to take corrective action and issued a new request for proposals to ensure that the award was ultimately made to a responsible organization capable of serving the needs of the children. As a result of the corrective action, the Government ultimately found Vera most qualified and issued the award to Vera in late February 2016.

In the Matter of: Vera Institute of Justice, Inc., B-412323.1