I am sure I will be chastised for my comments and my apparent attempt to stifle free and open discourse, but I have to make them anyway. First, Kathleen appears to have concerns over advice she was given by her legal counsel. Has she asked that same counsel for clarification, explanation or a sanity check from a higher-level legal office? As an attorney, I don't expect my clients to blindly accept everything I tell them. I do, however, hope that if they don't agree, don't understand or even just don't like my answer, they will do me the professional courtesy of giving me a chance to explain myself and/or to take a second look.
Secondly, as a government attorney, I have some concerns about the sharing of specific, detailed advice given to an agency customer by the agency counsel. When I advise my clients, I am doing so as an attorney representing the AGENCY. The individual contracting officer, program manager, etc., is ALSO representing the AGENCY. There is no attorney-client relationship between the two of us as INDIVIDUALS. Within the bounds of that relationship, what I tell my client is privileged and confidential, meaning I cannot be forced to reveal it to anyone not a part of that attorney-client relationship. However, when it is shared in a public form such as this, that attorney-client privilege is breached and the advice is no longer privileged and confidential and could be disclosed in a forum such as a bid protest (filed by a contractor unhappy over the outcome of Kathleen's acquisition). Don't think unsuccessful offerors don't scour the Internet for comments such as these. I know they do. Finally, it's important to remember that the privilege belongs to the agency, not to the individual. Thus, neither Kathleen nor any other individual below the HCA or similar official has the legal right to reveal specific advice they receive from counsel.
Having said all that, I respect and appreciate the value that WIFCON provides as a sounding board. However, as a gov't lawyer, I get paid to be anal-retentive, paranoid and otherwise a wet blanket. So please bear with me.