INSTRUCTIONS FOR CON 232 LEGAL CASE ASSIGNMENTS
· Notwithstanding the cases chosen by your group, all the legal cases are assigned for each student in every group to read/scan in advance as provided in the course syllabus. This is necessary to follow along with the group presenting and leading the discussion of a specific case.
· You may work as a group on all of the cases selected by your group, or your may divide them up amongst yourselves. Keep in mind that many of the cases have been grouped together based on a common principle. Your team should be able to discuss the theme that ties your cases together. Thus, there needs to be some level of discussion within your group to discover that theme.
· You will take the lead in presenting and discussing the assigned case. You are expected to be thoroughly familiar with the facts and circumstances surrounding your particular case to facilitate a guided discussion regarding the cost and/or CAS principle being litigated and resolved (or not).
· Some cases have multiple issues. You will have to have a basic understanding of the cost and/or CAS principle involved in order to discriminate amongst the various facts, circumstances and discussion presented in the case. Consequently, you will likely have to read ahead of the rest of the class in the FAR or other course materials to the get background on the principle involved. Your group may check with your instructor to validate the key FAR/CAS principles that make your case an integral part of the course’s learning points.
· As you lead the discussion of your case, you will want to include some form of visual aid. You need not make a Power Point presentation, although you may if that form of media is suitable for your case. Otherwise, timelines or other visual aids can be simply drawn on the white board in the front of the room to better facilitate discussion. (If flip chart or easel pad paper is provided in the room, you may borrow some sheets and prepare important facts in advance of the day of your presentation.) Some cases have tables providing dates and/or events and dollar values involved. If so, you will want to specifically direct the class to the specific page number where these exhibits can be found as you talk to them in presenting your case. Some teams have been very effective by having one team member present the contractor’s point of view while another team member presents the government’s position.
· Make sure you present enough background in your case so that it becomes clear what the party’s interests are in taking this to court. You should be able to answer the question, “Why are the parties fighting about this?” This will normally include a clear presentation of the kinds/types of contracts involved (fixed priced, government or commercial, cost reimbursable, incentive, etc.) and how the principle being litigated will affect the cost flows and/or cost recoveries under the contractors various contracts.
· Before making your presentation, you will need to prepare the student case summary based on the template provided. This handout, along with notes your classmates make regarding your presentation will become their study and job aid with respect to your case. Your presentation of the background, principle being litigated, legal and/or equity issues, supporting arguments for each side, decision, and basis for decision should take about 10-20 minutes. Also be prepared to take questions from the class and/or your instructor. You are to become your class’s subject matter expert on your case (see reverse analysis focus sheet on how to make that happen) and your duty is to pass that knowledge on to your classmates.
· You may use the American Bar Association guide Practicing Before the Federal Boards of Contract Appeals for a background in appeals to contracting officer decisions.
CON 232 Legal Case Student Summaries
A. Overall, when you ask yourself “why do I need to read and comprehend these legal cases?” keep in mind these three (3) points:
1. These principles being debated are real life, affecting real people with real and legitimate interests – this is NOT “academic.”
2. Exposure to questions/arguments that have, in fact, been raised before…this will help you better frame issues for which you will have to take a position on as a contracting officer.
3. Exposure to legal processes, procedures and burden of persuasion required in successfully supporting any principled position you may have to take in the cost/price area as a contracting officer.
B. Contracting Environment (situational awareness). Discern, to the extent practicable from the facts given in the case, the contractual environment of the Government contract(s) involved, and how it fits in the overall Contractor’s business environment. Remember from the course readings that contractors may have a mixture of government and commercial contracts. Also, that the contractor’s “typical” or default commercial contract type is Firm Fixed Price (FFP). But while governments’ contracts may indeed be FFP, they might instead be flexibly price (cost family and fixed price incentive). Under flexibly priced government contracts the final price paid is based on the contractor’s actual costs as recorded under the contractor’s accounting practice and allocations (direct, indirect, pool, and base relationships). Recall from the course readings that contractors may be more motivated to assign more cost directly to flexibly price contracts where those will pick up 100% of the cost rather than through an indirect allocation where they would only effectively pick up a pro-rata share of those costs.
C. Overhead/ CAS Focus Areas. In addition to discerning the contract type environment (paragraph B above) you should also discern the particular cost issue at hand and the principles involved. For example, is your case one where only the FAR cost principles (FAR Part 31) are involved, or is CAS also involved? Also try to discern from the case background the procedural determinations made by various contracting officials during contract formation and administration and their respective authorities leading up to the dispute.
D. Legal Concepts/Processes Focus Areas. When evaluating your case, you should discern the legal concepts and processes that are relevant to the case. In particular, you will want to be able to discuss what legal venue the case is being heard in (i.e. what court or board) and the path that the case has taken that has put it there. You should also be able to evaluate and present the legal arguments that each litigant is using to argue their position. If your case presents any unusual legal maneuvering or procedures, you will want to bring those out. In addition, if any unfamiliar legal terminology is used in your case (i.e. estoppel, contra proferentem, etc.), you should be able to discuss what they mean.
CON 232 LEGAL CASE STUDENT SUMMARY
Particulars
Legal Case Reference name from syllabus: _____________________________________________
Team#/Color: _________________Presenters:__________________________________________
Parties in Dispute: _________________________________________________________________
Primary Issue with Brief Narrative Summary (cost in dispute and parties’ respective position):
Contractual Background (what/why is contractor trying to do it their way and why the Government is challenging . . . consider not only this but other contracts and contract types in contractor’s portfolio)
Key Cost Allocation and/or Other Course Concept (authority, responsibilities, etc.) and associated key quotes or other case content with pertinent Page/Paragraph References
Concept/Issue Key Quotes/Facts/Content Page/Para. Ref.
-
-
-
-
Key Legal and/or Procedural Concepts and associated key quotes or contents with Page/Paragraph References
Concept/Issue Key Quotes/Facts/Content Page/Para. Ref.
-
-
-
Ruling/Decision (who won and why according to the board/court):