State Government ADR: Examples from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, November 3, 2009, Washington, DC (Click Here to Register)
ADR techniques are spreading more widely through state governments. In this FREE program, our four distinguished speakers will discuss the use of ADR techniques at the state government level, focusing on the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. The panelists will consider the pros and cons of ADR and various ADR techniques that are being used at the state level. Co-sponsored by the ADR Committee of the Public Contracts Law Section, the ABA Standing Committee on Continuing Education of the Bar, and the Interagency ADR Working Group Contracts and Procurement Section.
Jonathan D. Shaffer, Moderator
Smith Pachter McWhorter PLC
Jonathan Zischkau
Chief Judge
District of Columbia Contract Appeals Board
Stan Turk
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Deputy Counsel, Contract Litigation Unit
State of Maryland
Richard A. Mahevich
Senior Assistant Attorney General
Construction Litigation Section and Real Estate & Land Use Section
Office of the Attorney General
Commonwealth of Virginia
From Noon to 12:30 PM, everyone is welcome bring a lunch for an open, "Brown Bag Session." This will be an opportunity to network with other ADR professionals and participate in a brief meeting of the ABA Public Contract Law Section ADR Committee to hear about Committee plans and upcoming ADR programs. The panel discussion will begin at 12:30 PM.
Download the program handout HERE.
Space is limited, and a dial-in option is available. Please REGISTER ON LINE.
PCL ADR Committee Seeks YOUR Ideas
For several years the PCL ADR Committee has co-sponsored public presentations addressing ADR in the context of public contract law. These successful presentations have attracted a balanced mix of speakers from the private sector, federal agencies, courts, and academia. They reach a national audience that can attend in person at the Paul Porter Conference Center in Washington, DC, or via a dial-n connection provided by the ABA.
Please email your suggestions to the committee. We hope to hear from you!
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition (ODRA) Publishes ADR Statistics
The ODRA at FAA recently published its case statistics. In calendar year 2008, the ODRA saw a significant increase in the number of new cases filed. Both bid protests and contract disputes increased, particularly during the second half of the year. The ODRA continued to resolve high percentages of its cases through the use of voluntary ADR in 2008. During the year, 61% of all bid protests and 92% of all contract disputes were resolved in ADR. In addition, the ODRA?s dispute avoidance process yielded resolutions in 88% of the pre-disputes completed during the year. The multi-year report and the 2008 report are both available. Visit the ODRA website for more information.
Navy Authorizes Contracting Officers to Use Binding Arbitration
The Administrative Dispute Resolution Act and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) permit the use of binding arbitration, but only after the head of the agency issues appropriate guidance. On March 5, 2007, the Secretary of the Navy signed SECNAVINST 5800.15, "Binding Arbitration for Contract Controversies." With this new policy, the DON becomes the first agency subject to the FAR to have the authority to use binding arbitration.
This new policy grants authority to contracting officers to use binding arbitration as a creative, less costly option to resolve issues in controversy that arise under its procurement contracts and contracts involving non-appropriated fund instrumentalities. The policy promotes "ad hoc arbitration," and is entirely voluntary. The goal is to resolved disputes more quickly than the procedures found in the Contract Disputes Act.
