On February 12, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658 to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10 per hour for all workers on federal constructive and service contracts, up from the current $7.25 per hour minimum. The final rule was issued to the Federal Register on October… Read more »
Environmental cleanup costs incurred with government contracts can be extremely high when applying Public Law 85-804. It is important to understand when you, as a government contractor, are liable for these costs and when you may be able to recover them from the Federal Government, potentially saving you millions of dollars. Allowable… Read more »
Federal government construction contractors often lose a considerable amount of money when the contracting officer denies a construction delay claims under the FAR Changes Clause. The first concern is to know whether your claim is actually a compensable claim or not. For example, under FAR construction regulations, all excusable delays will… Read more »
To get a government contract claim excused from performance due to defense to breach of contract of impossibility or commercial impracticability, you must inform the contracting officer early in the process. You cannot wait until the case is at the appeals level to bring it up. Failure to follow this simple… Read more »
When submitting construction contract claims against the Federal Government, or any service contract disputes, there are unique and dangerous rules and regulations that unaware companies. There is a common legal practice that many construction companies should be aware of. It is called preserving your right for a potential appeal…. Read more »
When Do You Qualify for Quantum Meruit Claim Recovery in Federal Government Contract Claims Against the Federal Government? If you have a written contract, this can be a tricky undertaking. Filing quantum meruit claims against the federal government can be confusing to businesses and individuals. Understanding what quantum meruit damages… Read more »
Recently, many contractors have questions about the grounds supporting a termination for default letter. When seeking to appeal default termination, the evidence, procedure, and how the court decides a case is essential to the litigation strategy. For example, when looking at the Termination for Default clause (T4D) of the contract,… Read more »
Breach of Duty Good Faith and Fair Dealings Standard In a recent decision, Metcalf Construction Company v. United States, the Federal Circuit appeared to relax the standard needed to find a breach of the expressed covenants of good faith and fair dealing with government contracts. Government contractors seeking to litigate… Read more »
One of the most reviewed cases of a federal contractor defense to procurement fraud was Daewoo Eng’g & Constr.Co. v. United States, 73 Fed. Cl. 547, 597 (2006) where the Court of Federal Claims held that Daewoo had committed fraud under the Federal False Claims Act (FCA). The court awarded… Read more »
Government procurement fraud litigation has escalated over the past few years due to increased government oversight. A particular target of federal procurement law is the federal False Claims Act. 28 USC 2514. To prevail under section 2514, the government must “establish by clear and convincing evidence that the contractor knew that… Read more »