If you are involved in a bid protest governed by Florida’s Administrative Procedures Act (Florida Statute s. 120.57), you know there will be an administrative hearing presided over by an administrative law judge. The judge will issue a recommended order to the public agency in the form of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The public agency will then issue a final order. The final order, deemed final agency action, will typically adopt the findings of fact and conclusions of law in the judge’s recommended order.
This Court’s [judicial] review of final agency action arising from a bid protest is governed by section 120.68(7). Section 120.68(7) gives the Court statutory authority to, among other things, remand or set aside agency action if such action depends on findings that are not supported by competent, substantial evidence or an agency’s erroneous interpretation of law and a correct interpretation compels a different result…. [The Court] must reverse and remand if the agency erroneously interpreted the law and a correct interpretation compels a different result.
Heritage Oaks, LLP v. Madison Pointe, LLC, 2019 WL 3070048, *2 (Fla. 1stDCA 2019) (internal quotations and citations omitted) (involving appeal of public agency’s final order after bid protest and affirming final order).
Make sure you are working with counsel if you believe you have bid protest grounds to ensure your protest rights are timely preserved and, if necessary, you understand your rights associated with the judicial review of a final agency action.
Please contact David Adelstein at dadelstein@gmail.com or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.