Law360, New York ( January 5, 2015, 1:31 PM EST) -- Never assume that joint venture partners under the SBA's 8(a) mentor-protege program are automatically exempt from the rules of affiliation. That was the message handed down in a recent legal decision — the first of its kind — that prevented an already approved mentor-protege team of Kisan Engineering Company PC, the 8(a) protege, and its mentor, The Pike Company Inc. from forming a joint venture. The project involved a multimillion-dollar U.S. Army Corps of Engineers small business set-aside contract to design and build an Army Reserve Center. The ruling was based on the Small Business Administration's view that the joint venture partners were, in fact, affiliated under the SBA's rules of affiliation (13 CFR §121.103)....