In an important victory for service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVO) firms, PilieroMazza helped to reverse an adverse SBA determination regarding the eligibility of an SDVO joint venture for a set-aside contract.  On appeal to the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), our attorneys challenged the SBA’s finding that an SDVO joint venture was ineligible for an SDVO contract because the joint venture was set up as an LLC.  The appeal argued that the SBA wrongly applied the SDVO regulations because the SBA ruled on the eligibility of the joint venture without discussing the specific SBA regulation that pertains to joint venture eligibility for contracting purposes.  The appeal also argued that two prior OHA decisions were wrongly decided because those cases found that a joint venture formed as a separate legal entity is treated differently under the regulations than a joint venture that is not formed as a separate legal entity.  In sustaining our appeal, OHA overturned its existing case law on this issue and ruled that the SBA’s regulations permit an SDVO joint venture to be formed as a separate legal entity.  As a result, SDVO firms and their joint venture partners may form joint ventures for SDVO contracts as separate legal entities such as an LLC, corporation, or partnership.