Others do not feel they must go so far. But a joy of federal service is the actual and implicit command to be fair and do right. Generally, we are blessed with officials who stand by this view. A second instance is the government's failure to recognize that its own actions may have caused or contributed to a problem. It remains all too common, for instance, for agencies to lose records unintentionally and force negotiations to hinge on people's fading memories.
Errors can arise too easily under such circumstances.
A third instance is the most difficult decision that government attorneys face-charging a vendor with a criminal or civil claim. Prosecutors with government contract expertise often must consider not bringing such a case if vendor conduct is ambiguous. For instance, any suit brought as a False Claims Act charge against a Multiple-Award Schedule vendor today must clear the hurdle of the Data Translation case ruling. The court ruled that until quite recently vendors could not comply with MAS data disclosure requirements in effect since 1982. First, vendors who lose fair competitions should not use congressional clout to upend an award selection.