Two years ago, we walked through the basics of Public Assistance (PA) arbitration before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) in FEMA Public Assistance Arbitrations at the CBCA. Since then, FEMA has been operating under real strain: a large backlog of pending disaster declarations, an Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security review
A federal judge in Massachusetts recently ordered the Department of Defense (DoD) to pay $450,447 in attorneys’ fees to the Association of American Universities (AAU), after finding that DoD’s now-defunct “Rate Cap Policy” was not just unlawful, but never substantially justified in the first place. The August 5, 2026, ruling in Association of American Universities
In ACC Construction Co., Inc., ASBCA Nos. 63528, 64067 (July 16, 2026), the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals held that payment estimates withholding liquidated damages are not contracting officer final decisions — and do not start the Contract Disputes Act’s 90-day appeal clock — unless a properly authorized contracting officer signs them
On August 27, 2026, Judge Rita F. Lin of the Northern District of California ruled largely in favor of Anthropic PBC in its suit against the Department of War and other federal agencies over the government’s decision to bar all federal use of Anthropic’s AI products and prohibit defense contractors from doing business with the
Government contractors pursuing complex delay claims got a helpful reminder from the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) this month in the case of Bahadir Construction Engineering Contracting & Trading Inc. Co. & Impreza Costruzioni Giuseppe Maltauro S.p.A. Joint Venture, ASBCA Nos. 64038, 64336, 64428 (July 16, 2026): A claim does not
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) recently issued a significant decision addressing due process, administrative records, and the evidentiary standards required for suspending a company from the SBA 8(a) Business Development Program. In ATI Government Solutions, LLC, SBA No. BDPT-728 (May 18, 2026), OHA remanded the proceeding after
Federal contractors frequently encounter circumstances that increase costs, delay performance, or otherwise impact contract obligations. Changes in government requirements, differing site conditions, defective specifications, government-caused delays, and other unforeseen events can create significant financial and operational consequences. When these issues arise, contractors generally have two primary mechanisms for seeking relief: a Request for Equitable Adjustment
Federal contractors should be paying close attention to a growing issue in government procurement: the use of shadow AI and generative artificial intelligence by agency evaluators during proposal evaluations.
As federal agencies increasingly experiment with AI tools in procurement and acquisition processes, evaluators may be using generative AI platforms to summarize proposals, identify strengths and
A recent order from the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals in Zhang v. General Services Administration offers important guidance on the scope of discovery obligations in federal contract disputes — particularly where responsive records are held not by the respondent agency, but by a separate federal entity.
The decision merits attention for its analysis of
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently issued a significant ruling in City of Saint Paul, Minnesota, et al. v. Christopher Wright, addressing constitutional constraints on executive agency conduct in the context of federal grant terminations. The decision — issued by Judge Amit P. Mehta — saw the court enter judgment