Richard J. Webber

Rick began his career in the US Department of Justice defending the government in contracts and statute-based claims. Since joining Arent Fox, his government contracts litigation practice has been diverse, with extensive experience in claims, bid protests, construction disputes litigation, and False Claims Act cases. Rick’s practice also includes counseling on a diverse range of subjects and the conduct of investigations related to alleged false claims, employee misconduct, and accounting irregularities.

Rick has also brought and defended actions between private litigants in contract and other disputes, construction matters, employee non-competition agreement violations, and business torts. These matters have included a number of arbitrations, as well as jury trials. He has participated in many mediations, sometimes involving multiple parties.  He has argued appellate cases in the Second, Fourth, District of Columbia, and Federal Circuits.

Rick advises clients on matters of contract interpretation and drafting, subcontracting, teaming agreements, non-disclosure agreements, labor laws, and small business issues. He assists companies in the handling of government investigations and mandatory disclosures. He also interacts with agency attorneys in the government to resolve issues confronting his clients.

Some specifics:

Bid Protests

Rick has handled over 125 bid protests in various fora. He has a finely tuned sense of what arguments are available in any given circumstance and how they have been received by GAO and the Court. His trial and appellate experience is particularly advantageous in GAO hearings and Court arguments.

Claims and Terminations

Rick has prepared a very large number of REAs and claims on behalf of clients. He has been successful in asserting creative theories for recovery – e.g., mutual mistake of fact, reformation, duress, implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, ratification, misrepresentation, waiver, and more. In addition he has litigated many construction claims, presenting expert testimony in critical path delay analysis, inefficiencies, and acceleration. He has prepared convenience termination settlement proposals and successfully challenged default terminations.

Other Representations

Rick has assisted clients in a wide range of other contract issues, including: defense of False Claims Act cases, internal investigations, due diligence reviews, mandatory disclosures, applications to DHS for Safety Act Designation and Certification, labor issues, small business issues such as size protests, suspension/debarment actions, organizational conflicts of interest, and many more.