Raymond F. Monroe is a Government Contracts Group partner in Crowell & Moring's Washington, D.C. office. Ray has over 30 years of experience representing multi-national and national corporations, quasi-public entities, and interstate compacts on a broad range of government contract litigation and counseling matters including: bid protests; claims; cloud computing; commercial items; compliance programs; Energy Savings Performance Contracts; False Claims Act and qui tam litigation; Homeland Security; indemnification (including Public Law No. 85-804 indemnification); infrastructure/construction; international government contracting due diligence; investigations; prime contractor-subcontractor disputes; public-private partnerships (P3); renewable energy; space law; suspension and debarment; and teaming agreements. In particular, Ray has extensive experience preparing, resolving, and/or litigating complex government contract claims in a wide variety of industries including aerospace, avionics, construction, power generation, rocket motor manufacturing, and transportation.
A skilled litigator, Ray's experience includes leading a team representing the world's largest defense contractor in a $230 million sponsored claim before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals involving ten contracts and subcontracts to manufacture state of the art rocket motors during the cold war. The case raised complex issues of first impression concerning government contract indemnification clauses authorized under Public Law 85-804, insurance, and recovery of environmental remediation costs and toxic tort litigation expenses coordinated with CERCLA litigation, remediation activity, and DCAA audits. See Appeal of The Boeing Company on behalf of Lockheed Martin Corporation, ASBCA No. 54853.
Ray also regularly counsels clients relating to the implementation of policy and procurement initiatives at the international, federal, state, and local levels. In particular, he is involved with cloud computing, disaster response, green technology, High Speed Rail, infrastructure improvement, public private partnerships (P3), and renewable energy initiatives. In addition, he assists both private and public clients in designing procurement policies and procedures and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms; he represents clients in ADR proceedings; and he has participated in arbitrations as a party arbitrator.
A sample of Ray's diverse and cutting edge representative matters include:
- Organized and performed a multi-country due diligence in connection with the expansion of the international public procurement business of one of the world's leading providers of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Cloud Computing.
- Represented a large non-regulated affiliate of a major utility to identify key risk areas and to mitigate performance issues in anticipation of potential high media and congressional visibility relating to the U.S. Army Energy Initiatives Task Force's $7 billion multiple award task order procurement for locally generated renewable and alternative energy using Power Purchase Agreements or their equivalents.
- Successfully represented the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), the interstate compact that runs Reagan National and Dulles International Airports, in a protest of the award of the $180 million design-build construction project for the Automated People Mover System at Dulles International Airport, Bombardier Transportation (Holdings) USA, Inc. v. MWAA, Civ. Action 03-343-A (E.D. Va. Aug. 6, 2003).
- Successfully defended a major government contractor in a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against alleged violations of the Civil False Claims Act brought by qui tam relators relating to performance of inspections under a telecommunications contract at an Army Base.
Ray also has prepared and taught numerous courses on government contracts including government contracts "Claims and Disputes" at the Federal Publications Masters Institute (December 2012).
Ray received his law degree with distinction from Duke University Law School where he served as executive editor of the Duke Law Journal. Following law school graduation, Ray clerked for Justice Stewart G. Pollock of the New Jersey Supreme Court.