Bradley Partner Aron Beezley Quoted in Law360 on Government Contracts Cases to Watch

Bradley attorney Aron Beezley was quoted in Law360 on the government contracts to watch in the second half of 2019. In one high-profile dispute, Oracle is challenging the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract, a vital part of the DOD’s ongoing move to shift its IT infrastructure to the cloud. The DOD claims that the contract is currently a race between Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, but Oracle claims the DOD’s solicitation is suspicious.

Beezley noted that Oracle’s argument opened “the potential for interesting and noteworthy rulings on a variety of matters, including unduly restrictive procurement issues, and personal and organizational conflict of interest issues.”

An appeal in the case – and subsequent delay in awarding the contract – is likely if Oracle loses, Beezley suggested.

Another trend in government contracts is the use of outside litigation funding for qui tam or False Claims Act (FCA) cases, which allows funding to parties who may otherwise lack necessary resources to pursue a case.

“The bottom line is, generally speaking, third-party litigation financing is a hot topic in the law and it was only a matter of time before it found its way into False Claims Act law,” Beezley said.

The complete article, “Gov’t Contract Cases to Watch in the 2nd Half of 2019” first appeared in Law360 on July 3, 2019.