The Court of Federal Claims hears protests as lawsuits: Article-adjacent judges, supplemented records, injunctive relief. Slower and costlier than GAO — and decisively better for some cases, which is the point of choosing rather than defaulting.
COFC earns its cost where the CICA-stay windows were missed, where the record needs discovery to show the defect, where the legal question deserves precedent, or where GAO's remedial habits underserve the harm. The forum guide runs the decision as a checklist.
Often the only one — COFC's timeliness doctrine differs from GAO's windows, though waiver rules for known solicitation defects still bite. Bring the dates; the analysis is exact.
Protest schedules there are expedited by ordinary court standards — weeks-to-months territory, with TRO practice available for true emergencies. It is deliberate speed, not GAO's statutory sprint.
COFC has its own bar with nationwide reach — and out-of-town firms routinely appear with District-based support for the mechanics. That is precisely this firm's local-counsel practice.