Claims and Disputes Litigation
Overview
Disputes between the government, prime contractors, and lower-tier subcontractors are as old as government contracting itself, and an inevitable part of the business. These disputes often involve government laws, regulations, and contract clauses that have no counterpart in commercial transactions and that require specific knowledge of federal procurement law. Moreover, when a large government procurement goes bad, the amounts at stake can be staggering. Crowell & Moring's government contract lawyers have decades of experience involving some of the largest contractors and government programs and are knowledgeable in drafting claims, shaping entitlement theories, formulating methods of computing the amount of recovery, and processing and litigating claims.
Insights
Client Alert | 2 min read | 07.15.25
All Together Now: “Many Ways to Calculate Fee After a T4C”
A recent decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) reinforces the FAR part 49 provisions governing terminations for convenience, which provide that contractors are entitled to fair compensation and that settlements for such terminations should not rigidly rely on cost and accounting data. In D-STAR Eng’g Corp., ASBCA Nos. 62075, 62780 (Apr. 28, 2025), the government had terminated the contractor’s cost-plus-fixed-fee research and development contract for convenience. Following the contractor’s submission of its termination settlement proposal (TSP), the government questioned certain costs claimed, disputed the fee owed to the contractor, determined it had overpaid the contractor, and issued a debt demand claim for disallowed costs. The contractor then submitted its own, affirmative claim incorporating its TSP and seeking additional costs and interest. The most interesting portion of the ASBCA’s decision is its discussion of the methods available to the parties to calculate the amount of fee to which the contractor was entitled following the termination for convenience, which we describe below. However, the ASBCA also addressed the allowability and allocability of various cost types that may be of interest, including termination settlement costs, direct labor, engineering overhead, and G&A.
Client Alert | 2 min read | 06.18.25
Firm News | 11 min read | 06.05.25
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.03.24
Representative Matters
- Successfully argued as amicus curiae for reversal on reconsideration of an ASBCA decision holding that the inclusion of expenses related exclusively to performance of commercial contracts in an overhead pool allocable to commercial and Government contracts was a violation of the requirement in CAS 418 that indirect costs must be allocated on the basis of causal/beneficial relationships.
- Successfully argued as amicus curiae that an ASBCA decision finding that the failure of a contractor to complete a "segment-closing" adjustment under CAS 413 during the same year as the closing had damaged the Government should be reversed on reconsideration.
- Successfully argued to the Army Contract Adjustment Board that Holston Defense Corporation (HDC) should be awarded extraordinary contractual relief under Public Law 85-804 in the amount of $90 million, plus interest, for the projected costs of post-retirement benefits earned by HDC employees under a series of contracts with the United States Army.
- Successfully argued that a cost-reimbursement contract that was repriced because of Congressional funding changes after the contractor had made changes in its cost accounting practices was not an "affected contract" and therefore was not subject to a price adjustment reflecting the impact of the accounting changes.
- Successfully argued that the Government was not entitled to a price adjustment for CAS-covered firm-fixed price contracts due to a change in accounting practice because the change did not cause the Government to incur increased costs.
Insights
Client Alert | 2 min read | 07.15.25
All Together Now: “Many Ways to Calculate Fee After a T4C”
A recent decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) reinforces the FAR part 49 provisions governing terminations for convenience, which provide that contractors are entitled to fair compensation and that settlements for such terminations should not rigidly rely on cost and accounting data. In D-STAR Eng’g Corp., ASBCA Nos. 62075, 62780 (Apr. 28, 2025), the government had terminated the contractor’s cost-plus-fixed-fee research and development contract for convenience. Following the contractor’s submission of its termination settlement proposal (TSP), the government questioned certain costs claimed, disputed the fee owed to the contractor, determined it had overpaid the contractor, and issued a debt demand claim for disallowed costs. The contractor then submitted its own, affirmative claim incorporating its TSP and seeking additional costs and interest. The most interesting portion of the ASBCA’s decision is its discussion of the methods available to the parties to calculate the amount of fee to which the contractor was entitled following the termination for convenience, which we describe below. However, the ASBCA also addressed the allowability and allocability of various cost types that may be of interest, including termination settlement costs, direct labor, engineering overhead, and G&A.
Client Alert | 2 min read | 06.18.25
Firm News | 11 min read | 06.05.25
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.03.24
Insights
Litigation Forecast 2013: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year
|01.31.13
Crowell & Moring LLP publication
39th Annual Ounce of Prevention Seminar—Government Contracting Amidst a Global Shake-Up
|05.09.23 - 05.10.23
- |
04.29.16
Crowell & Moring's Government Contracts Legal Forum
Recent ASBCA Decisions Offer Refresher on Adherence to Board and CDA Requirements
|01.28.14
Crowell & Moring's Government Contracts Legal Forum
Applicable Statute of Limitations for CAS Violations Comes into Focus
|01.27.14
Crowell & Moring's Government Contracts Legal Forum
Professionals
Insights
Client Alert | 2 min read | 07.15.25
All Together Now: “Many Ways to Calculate Fee After a T4C”
A recent decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) reinforces the FAR part 49 provisions governing terminations for convenience, which provide that contractors are entitled to fair compensation and that settlements for such terminations should not rigidly rely on cost and accounting data. In D-STAR Eng’g Corp., ASBCA Nos. 62075, 62780 (Apr. 28, 2025), the government had terminated the contractor’s cost-plus-fixed-fee research and development contract for convenience. Following the contractor’s submission of its termination settlement proposal (TSP), the government questioned certain costs claimed, disputed the fee owed to the contractor, determined it had overpaid the contractor, and issued a debt demand claim for disallowed costs. The contractor then submitted its own, affirmative claim incorporating its TSP and seeking additional costs and interest. The most interesting portion of the ASBCA’s decision is its discussion of the methods available to the parties to calculate the amount of fee to which the contractor was entitled following the termination for convenience, which we describe below. However, the ASBCA also addressed the allowability and allocability of various cost types that may be of interest, including termination settlement costs, direct labor, engineering overhead, and G&A.
Client Alert | 2 min read | 06.18.25
Firm News | 11 min read | 06.05.25
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.03.24