The spring 2015 edition of Husch Blackwell’s Contractor’s Perspective caught our eye for a number of reasons: “Spending on federal contracts was down in 2014. But False Claims Act settlements were up. So were the number of new regulations, the number of GAO bid protests, and the number of claims at the ASBCA.”
We were curious about the increase in claims at the ASBCA, since we were not aware of the increase. A look at the numbers from the past 11 years from the ASBCA website tells the following story. From 2004 to 2009, the number of ASBCA cases has been trending down, presumably due to the successful application of alternate dispute resolution (ADR) methods prior to reaching the board. Starting in 2010, the trend has been up.
| Report Date - No. of Cases |
October 2004 - 652
October 2005 - 644
October 2006 - 552
October 2007 - 637
October 2008 - 572
October 2009 - 532 | October 2010 - 573
October 2011 - 566
October 2012 - 680
October 2013 - 893
October 2014 - 1,066 |
We took a closer look at the source of new cases docketed from 2010 to 2014 vs. 2004 to 2009. It appears a majority of the increases were from the Army, Corps of Engineers, Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Contract Management Agency. A review of the board’s annual report does not explain the uptick in pending appeals in 2013-2014, but the 2013 report does note several hearings and ADR proceedings were delayed or postponed due to furloughs and sequestration.
Check out the Husch Blackwell article on the ASBCA (http://www.contractorsperspective.com/claims-and-disputes/more-cases-more-settlements-at-the-asbca-in-fy-2014/) , as well as some very interesting articles, including one on attorney-client privilege in the Barko v. Halliburton case and a review of the Daubert expert witness reliability rule.
