Procurement Lawyers

Challenges around awarding contracts

More than ten per cent of the GDP of the EU member states is generated by activity which is subject to procurement law regulations. Procurement law poses increasing challenges to both awarding bodies and contractors due to a rising tide of rules and the difficulty of staying abreast with case law.

Awarding bodies that create flawed tenders run the risk of lengthy review and complaints procedures which can delay the planning and realisation of a project by years.

Similarly, anybody who wishes to bid successfully on a public tender needs to be fully acquainted with the rules. Even the smallest formal error during the tender process can lead to exclusion.

Experts in procurement law

Our procurement law experts combine specialist legal knowledge with in-depth industry insights across all areas of public procurement.

We are familiar with the environment in which you operate and the issues that confront your sector. Accordingly, we can include all legally and commercially relevant aspects in our advice. This results in a legally robust tender procedure for awarding bodies and a greater chance of success for bidders.

We have specialist expertise in a range of sectors, including:

• Construction and infrastructure
• Compliance and training
• Healthcare, pharmaceutical industry and e-health
• IT and telecommunications
• PPP and privatisation
• Security and defence
• Transport
• Utilities and waste disposal

Familiar with both sides of procurement procedures

In the procurement law arena, CMS represents clients from the public sector as well as companies participating in procurement procedures. We can help you to ensure that a tender complies with the law, or assist with checking a bid for a public contract. We also represent contracting authorities and bidders in proceedings before public procurement tribunals, the procurement senates of the higher regional courts, the civil and administrative courts, the EU Commission and the European courts (ECJ, CFI).

Advising awarding bodies during tender procedures

We advise awarding bodies with the aim of ensuring legally compliant planning and conducting of tender procedures. Our services in this respect include:

• Initial considerations, e.g. clarification of tender requirements and possible scope for making use of exceptions from procurement law or simplified procedures
• Structuring and planning the tender procedure
• Drafting of tender notices and tender documents
• Assistance with formulating answers to bidder queries and complaints
• Evaluation of participation applications and of the bids
• Preparing and conducting bidder discussions and negotiations
• Support for contract award, concluding the contract and documentation
• Representation in review procedures and other disputes

Our services for bidders during tender procedures

We help bidders to maximise their chance of winning a contract, focusing in particular on the following areas:

• Strategy development for competitive tenders and submission of bids
• Agreements on joint applications and consortium bids
• Dealing with incorrect specifications
• Support during the tender procedure
• Optimisation of bid submissions
• Assistance with formulating bidder queries and complaints
• Representation in review procedures and other disputes