Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's Government Contracts Litigators Hand Huge Victory to...

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's Government Contracts Litigators Hand Huge
Victory to Client AshBritt, Inc. Just One Month After Joining the Firm

WASHINGTON, June 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- David J. Taylor,William J.
Spriggs, Katherine A. Allenand Rachel W. McGuane, four of the six government
contracts litigators who joined Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC last month,
delivered a huge United States Court of Federal Claims victory in favor of
client AshBritt, Inc. ("AshBritt"), in a bid protest against the United States
Army Corps of Engineers ("the Corps"). As a result of the court's decision,
the Corps must reprocure the services awarded under the contested contract in
a number of regions throughout the country, allowing AshBritt and others the
opportunity to receive additional awards.

The case began when AshBritt, Inc., a major national disaster recovery
services company, was denied a contract for any of the 10 geographic regions
included under the Corps' Advanced Contracting Initiative ("ACI") program,
which pre-positions debris removal contractors in designated regions across
the country in anticipation of a natural or man-made disaster. The Corps first
issued a formal Request for Proposal ("RFP") on June 23, 2007, seeking
proposals for regional contracts worth a maximum of $50 million per year and
$250 million over the life of each contract.

"This was a complex case, but it was clear that our client had been treated
unfairly," stated Bill Spriggs, AshBritt's attorney and chair of Buchanan's
Government Contracts Practice. "Not only did the Court agree with nearly every
one of our major arguments, it scolded the Agency for its behavior--a rare
occurrence in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims."

Following AshBritt's initial protest, filed in February of 2008 at the
Government Accountability Office, the Corps took "corrective action" and made
award to AshBritt in two regions, consisting of one primary contract and one
reach-back assignment. However, based on information learned during its
post-award debriefing, AshBritt filed a second protest, alleging additional
errors in the evaluation of proposals that led to the improper award of three
contracts and five reach-back assignments. In light of the Corps' reluctance
and outright refusal to be forthcoming with evidence in the case, this second
protest was filed at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

AshBritt's second protest argued that the Corps' evaluation of its
sub-contracting plan was arbitrary and capricious; the Corps engaged in
unequal and misleading discussions regarding prices for several contract line
items which induced AshBritt to offer higher prices than its competitors; the
Corps revised the Independent Government Estimate without advising offerors or
re-opening discussions; the Corps conducted inadequate discussions regarding
the pricing of an automated ticketing and tracking system to be employed
during debris removal; the Corps departed from the terms of the solicitation
by failing to evaluate price in its selection of reach-back assignments; and
the Corps disregarded the stated evaluation criteria by failing to reject
offers containing unburdened pricing.

In a court opinion issued June 24, 2009, Judge Mary Ellen Coster Williams of
the United States Court of Federal Claims stated, "[t]he Court concludes that
the agency's discussions regarding [subcontracting plan elements] and pricing
were unfair and misleading, that the agency failed to document its evaluation
of AshBritt's revised subcontracting plan, and that the agency departed from
the solicitation by failing to evaluate price in awarding reach-back
assignments."

Under the Court's ruling, AshBritt will retain its existing two contracts and
now has the opportunity to compete for additional awards in three primary
regions and five reach-back regions when the Corps reprocures the ACI services
within the next 12 weeks.

About the Firm
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC has more than 450 attorneys and government
relations professionals practicing throughout the United States, with multiple
offices in California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, as well
as offices in Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

SOURCE Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Tracie R. Gliozzi, Director of Communications & Public Relations, Buchanan
Ingersoll & Rooney PC, +1-412-562-1969, +1-412-303-2667 (cell),
+1-800-444-6738, ext. 1969, tracie.gliozzi@bipc.com