Thomas McLish Quoted in Law360 on Federal Circuit Decision in KBR Case Against U.S. Army

Akin Gump litigation partner Thomas McLish was quoted in the Law360 story “KBR Beats Army Bid For Fed. Circ. Retry On $10.4M Dispute” about a case in which he and fellow partner Scott Heimberg represented Kellogg Brown & Root Services Inc. in its bid for payment from the U.S. Army for $10.4 million in Iraq food service costs. The Federal Circuit refused to rehear en banc a precedential ruling reviving KBR’s effort to recoup payment, which said a military appeals board pegged the start of the statute of limitations for the claim too early

The article reports that, while only a relatively small amount of money was at stake, KBR’s dispute with the Army could have a broad effect on disputes between contractors and the government. McLish told Law360 that the Federal Circuit’s decision allows the case to move forward with greater clarity.

“The panel decision provided much-needed clarification and common sense on the timeliness of claims under the Contract Disputes Act and the court was right not to reconsider it. In this case, the government has never disputed the merits of the claim and we plan to move forward quickly on remand to obtain our clients’ long-overdue compensation for services provided to the government more than a decade ago.”