Law360, New York ( January 28, 2016, 4:21 PM EST) -- I recently spoke on a panel in which we covered some of the common mistakes contractors make in their proposal process that create issues preventing them from receiving an award. One of the topics discussed was the importance of strictly following the instructions of a solicitation in preparing and submitting your proposal. Contractors are always seeking an edge to differentiate themselves from the competition. Differentiation in the form of a snazzy graphic or some truly innovative solution will rarely get a contractor into trouble. However, this quest to stand out will sometimes result in a contractor trying so hard to be clever in its reading of the solicitation that it ends up only outsmarting itself, and potentially jeopardizing its opportunity to win the award....