Amazon gets a win JEDI court battle
Amazon Web Services was able to successfully block an effort by Oracle to have its in-house counsel included in information protected under a court order.
The legal battle between Oracle and Amazon Web Services over the Pentagon's $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud procurement continues, even as the federal court system faces a financial crunch arising from the partial government shutdown.
In the latest volley in Oracle's lawsuit against the Department of Defense (which AWS joined as a defendant), AWS sought successfully to block an effort by Oracle to have its in-house counsel included in information protected under a court order, calling the request "extraordinary and unusual." AWS said it objects to an Oracle officer, rather than an attorney from an outside firm, having access to proprietary information included in the source selection process. Oracle countered in its own filing that its in-house lawyer was a specialist in litigation and not involved in other spheres of business decisions that would trigger her exclusion under precedent.
Federal Claims Court Judge Eric G. Bruggink sided with AWS on Jan. 3, ruling that "the hazards flowing from an inadvertent disclosure are an unwarranted risk."
A Pentagon spokesperson said the ongoing trial isn't expected to interfere with DOD's plans to make an award in the JEDI procurement.