By Alix K. Town on June 28, 2018 | Posted in Claims and Disputes
Liquidated damages are useful tools for parties to allocate risk at the beginning of a contract. A liquidated damages clause allocates the risk of a contract being completed late. For a liquidated damages clause to apply, the damages must be approximately the damages likely to be incurred by the assessing […]
By Alix K. Town on April 19, 2018 | Posted in False Claims Act
The case of Green Valley Company, ASBCA No. 61275, presents an interesting conundrum for contractors facing fraud allegations who also have a contract claim against the government. In 2006, the contractor presented invoices for payment to the government. In 2017, the contractor converted those invoices into a certified claim requesting payment. Under the […]
By Alix K. Town on February 14, 2018 | Posted in Bid Protests
At times, a prime contractor can effectively be the middle man between the government and a subcontractor. The FAR directs that the prime contractor should always provide value to the overall procurement; however, many prime contractors require the assistance of subcontractors to fulfill this contract requirement. The recent CBCA case […]
By Alix K. Town on January 29, 2018 | Posted in Claims and Disputes
It is a common principle of contract interpretation that a court will not set aside the clear intent of the parties particularly when it comes to assignments or releases of claims. However, the unique legislative history of the Contract Disputes Act (“CDA”) grants the agency boards of contract appeals the […]
By Alix K. Town on January 12, 2017 | Posted in Claims and Disputes
While the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA or Board) has jurisdiction over contract claims, the ASBCA does not have jurisdiction over fraud. This can lead to competing cases in multiple jurisdictions if the government has a claim of fraud against a contractor while the contractor is pursuing a […]
By Alix K. Town on November 4, 2016 | Posted in Claims and Disputes
In base operating support (BOS) services contracts, end users and Contracting Officer’s Representatives can call in maintenance requests for the BOSS contractor to perform. When these requests are within the scope of the contract, the contractor can usually proceed with the work. However, if the request exceeds the scope of […]
By Alix K. Town on May 17, 2016 | Posted in Claims and Disputes
The nonmanufacturer rule is one of the more complicated small business rules. Under 13 CFR § 121.406(b), a small business may qualify as a nonmanufacturer if it 1) does not exceed 500 employees; 2) is primarily engaged in the retail or wholesale trade and normally sells the type of item […]
By Alix K. Town on March 16, 2016 | Posted in Bid Protests
On Tuesday, the Court of Federal Claims sent another reminder of the importance of always marking proprietary information throughout the duration of contract performance and not just during the proposal phase. In Dyncorp International, LLC v. United States, DynCorp protested the Air Force’s release of its proprietary indirect cost and […]
By Alix K. Town on June 2, 2015 | Posted in Suspension and Debarment
Last week we discussed the FY2014 Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee Report released in April, and discussed how the data in that report is compiled. This week we are breaking down the numbers in the report. FY 2014 saw an increase in overall numbers of suspensions, proposed debarments, and debarments. There […]
By Alix K. Town on May 28, 2015 | Posted in Suspension and Debarment
It’s the time of year again to obsess over numbers that are mostly irrelevant. On April 1, the Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee released its FY2014 report releasing the number of exclusion actions government-wide that agencies initiated. These numbers include suspensions, proposed debarments, and debarments as well as administrative agreements. […]
By Alix K. Town on April 21, 2015 | Posted in Suspension and Debarment
In the previous post, the World Bank’s system for debarment was discussed. This post discusses the collateral impacts of a World Bank debarment in the context of the World Bank’s debarment of Alstom SA. What did the World Bank debarment of Alstom mean in the broader context of international procurement? […]
By Alix K. Town on April 1, 2015 | Posted in Suspension and Debarment
On February 25, 2015, the World Bank lifted its debarment of Alstom SA. The company had been debarred after it was discovered it had made improper payments for consultant services to an entity controlled by a former senior government official on a World Bank-finance project in Zambia in 2002. The terms of the debarment required […]
By Alix K. Town on January 15, 2015 | Posted in Suspension and Debarment
This month I wanted share an article I recently found on the OECD Foreign Bribery Report, written by Richard Bistrong. Mr. Bistrong is a former international sales executive who himself was convicted of bribery and debarred, and Mr. Bistrong spent 14 ½ months in prison. Prior to his conviction, Mr. […]
By Alix K. Town on December 4, 2014 | Posted in Suspension and Debarment
In the not so very distant past, companies mainly needed to worry about exclusion from public contracting in the United States. However, the exclusion trend has caught on internationally. Recently, Canada has revised their exclusion policies to require companies to certify that neither the company nor its affiliates have committed a […]
By Alix K. Town on September 30, 2014 | Posted in Suspension and Debarment
While suspension and debarment has long been a Federal Government action, state and local governments are starting to adopt the practice as well. For example, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the county contracting code was amended in 2012 to require a 5 year debarment of contractors convicted of bribery and other […]