During the building of a new VA medical center, the government issued defective drawings and specifications and failed to coordinate its purchases of government-furnished equipment. It then tried to shift the blame for delays and cost overruns to the general contractor. The government refused to pay change orders and grant time extensions, it threatened termination for default, and it took other punitive actions.
The general contractor called Bradley to defend it against the government’s hostile actions and to pursue claims for additional money and time. This medical facility included 2 million square feet of ambulatory care, medical clinic, hospital, atrium and mechanical space, with an original contract value of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Bradley was challenged with aggressively pursuing claims and litigation during construction against a hostile owner threatening termination for default. The challenge was complicated by the need to keep the subcontractors on board while the project drew negative attention from the media and Congress.
In Brasfield & Gorrie, L.L.C. v. United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the Bradley attorneys and their colleagues succeeded on all accounts. They prosecuted claims worth hundreds of millions of dollars in active litigation during construction. They helped the client respond to and avoid every hostile action the government took. The litigation resulted in:
The project garnered a tremendous amount of media and congressional attention, involving multiple hearings before Congress in which representatives from the client and Department of Veterans Affairs provided testimony.
