Photo of Steve McBrady

Contractors that use a fiscal year ending 12/31 submit their annual cost submissions in June of the following year.  For 2010 incurred cost submissions (ICS) submitted in June 2011, many contractors may receive affirmative claims from the Government seeking to disallow some or all of those incurred costs, because the Government has a 6-year statute

Photo of Steve McBradyPhoto of Skye MathiesonPhoto of Laura J. Mitchell BakerPhoto of Charles Baek

On June 14, we presented a webinar titled “Frequently Asked Questions About Requests for Equitable Adjustment and Contract Disputes Act Claims.” The webinar featured some of the most common questions we encounter in the field regarding CDA claims and REAs, as well as a discussion of procedural, substantive, and business considerations that go into the

Photo of Steve McBradyPhoto of Skye MathiesonPhoto of Charles BaekPhoto of Laura J. Mitchell Baker

Join us for a webinar titled “Government Contracts Recovery: ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ About Requests for Equitable Adjustments and CDA Claims.”  During the 60-minute webinar, a team of claims professionals from C&M’s Government Contractor Recovery Practice will address some FAQs that arise in the context of contractor claims / REAs, and solicit audience questions, as we

Photo of Steve McBradyPhoto of Christopher FlynnPhoto of Sharmistha DasPhoto of Dan Wolff

In a recent decision, the Court of Federal Claims rejected the Government’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed under the Tucker Act seeking to recover “risk corridors” payments pursuant to §1342 of the Affordable Care Act. In Health Republic Insurance Co. v. U.S. (Jan. 10, 2017), the Court held that “HHS is required to make

Photo of Steve McBradyPhoto of Skye MathiesonPhoto of Charles BaekPhoto of Laura J. Mitchell Baker

ABS Development Corp. (ASBCA Nov. 17, 2016) highlights the importance of providing a fully-compliant certification for CDA claims over $100,000—which includes, according to the Board, the requirement for contractors to provide an identifiable and verifiable handwritten signature or digital e-signature. As the contractor in ABS discovered, the Board considers “typewritten” signatures, regardless of font, to be insufficient.

In ABS, the Board dismissed for lack of jurisdiction certain contractor claims that had been “certified” by means of typewritten names (in signature-font) because a typewritten name “cannot be authenticated, and, therefore, is not a signature.” The Board made clear that the CDA’s purpose is to bind contractors by means of a signed certificate that “cannot be easily disavowed by the purported author.” The Board explained that a signature “is a discrete, verifiable symbol that is sufficiently distinguishable to authenticate that the certification was issued with the purported author’s knowledge and consent or to establish his intent to certify.” Because anyone could type another person’s name on a signature block, the purported author could
disavow the certification and the signature would be nearly impossible to authenticate.Continue Reading The Pen is Mightier: Typewritten Signature Invalidates CDA Claim

Photo of Steve McBradyPhoto of Skye MathiesonPhoto of Charles Baek

In AeroVironment, Inc. (Mar. 30, 2016), following an apparent settlement of the government’s cost disallowance claim, the ASBCA denied the government’s request to amend its answer (in order to “clarify” entitlement to additional quantum) because the proposed amendments constituted new “claims” that required new final decisions.  Acknowledging that parties may ordinarily revise quantum without

Photo of Steve McBrady

On October 20, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals published its FY 2015 Report of Transactions and Proceedings.  The report provides statistics regarding the adjudication of appeals between contractors and the Army, Navy, Air Force, Corps of Engineers, DLA, DCMA, other Defense agencies, CIA, NASA, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.  This year’s

Photo of Steve McBradyPhoto of Skye Mathieson

In Appeals of LRV Environmental, Inc., the ASBCA considered the issue of whether or not the Government’s “reconsideration” of a contracting officer’s final decision acts to re-set the 90-day clock for jurisdictional purposes under the CDA.  In LRV, the CO issued a final decision, and subsequently reconsidered a portion of that decision, leading

Photo of Steve McBradyPhoto of Skye MathiesonPhoto of Jason Crawford

On April 8, Crowell & Moring lawyers will present “The World of Sponsored Claims – Being Caught in the Middle,” at a forum hosted by the Association of Corporate Counsel of the National Capital Region.  This forum will be of interest to prime contractors and subcontractors alike, and will focus on some of the key