Teaming with a larger contractor can get you onto a bid you could not win alone, but the agreement decides whether you get real work after award. We draft and negotiate teaming agreements, joint venture agreements and SBA mentor-protégé documents with workshare, exclusivity and IP terms that hold up. Every engagement is a flat fee, quoted before work begins.
At a glance
- Practice
- GovCon
- Pricing
- Flat fee, quoted before we start
- Included
- 6 deliverables
- Process
- 3 steps, one named attorney
- Where we work
- Slack, email or a call
When founders call us
The moments that usually bring a company to us for this work.
- 01
A large prime wants you on its team for a bid and has sent a teaming agreement
- 02
You are a small business forming a joint venture to pursue a set-aside contract
- 03
A larger company has offered to be your mentor under the SBA mentor-protégé program
- 04
Your teaming partner won the award and is slow to issue the promised subcontract
What you get
Scoped in writing before we start. One flat fee for all of it.
- Teaming agreement with defined workshare, exclusivity scope and subcontract commitment
- Joint venture agreement addressing management, profit split and SBA requirements where applicable
- Mentor-protégé agreement drafted for submission with the SBA application
- Review of size and affiliation issues the structure may raise, noted as fact-dependent
- Limitations on subcontracting and ostensible subcontractor risk summary
- IP and confidentiality terms for proposal and post-award work
How it works
- 1
Define the deal
We confirm the opportunity, the set-aside status and what each party contributes.
- 2
Draft the agreement
We prepare the teaming, JV or mentor-protégé document around those facts.
- 3
Negotiate and file
We negotiate with the partner and prepare documents for SBA review where needed.
Mistakes we help you avoid
The ones we see most often, and catch before they cost you.
- Avoided
Signing a teaming agreement that is only an agreement to agree, with no enforceable subcontract commitment
- Avoided
Accepting broad exclusivity that blocks you from other teams across an entire agency
- Avoided
Structuring a set-aside JV that creates affiliation or ostensible subcontractor problems
- Avoided
Leaving IP from proposal work unaddressed, so the prime reuses your technical approach
Teaming, JVs & Mentor-Protégé: questions founders ask
It depends on how they are written and on the governing law. Courts have refused to enforce teaming agreements that leave key subcontract terms open for later negotiation. Defining workshare and core subcontract terms up front makes the commitment more likely to hold.
It is an SBA program that pairs a small business protégé with a mentor that provides business development, technical or financial help. A joint venture between a protégé and its mentor can qualify as small for certain set-aside contracts if it meets SBA requirements. The program has its own application and JV agreement requirements.
It is an SBA size rule that can treat a small prime and a large subcontractor as affiliated if the subcontractor performs primary and vital requirements or the prime is unusually reliant on it. That can cost the small business its eligibility for the award. Whether it applies is fact-dependent and turns on how work is divided.
No. DoD runs a separate Mentor-Protégé Program with its own eligibility rules and agreements. The SBA program is government-wide and is the one that offers JV size benefits for set-asides.
Get a flat-fee quote for Teaming, JVs & Mentor-Protégé.
A short call with an attorney. You leave with a written scope and one fixed price.
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