Civilian Board of Contract Appeals
If ADR Does Not Result in Settlement
It is important to remember that during the time that parties use ADR, statutory time limitations are not tolled. If ADR is not successful and a Contract Disputes Act (CDA) case has not yet been docketed at the CBCA, an appeal may be taken from a contracting officer's final decision, provided that the CDA statutory time limitation has not expired.
For docketed appeals, if ADR fails to resolve the dispute completely, the appeal will generally return to the presiding judge for adjudication. If the presiding judge served as the ADR Neutral, however, special rules apply. If the ADR proceeding involved private communications between the Neutral and individual parties, unless the parties and judge all agree that the judge should continue to serve as the presiding judge, that judge will have no further involvement with the case. If no private communications occurred during the ADR proceeding (all communications with the judge were made during a joint session with all parties present), the Neutral, after considering the parties' wishes, has the discretion to decide whether or not to retain the case as presiding judge and adjudicate the appeal.