Represented a Florida construction company in claims against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding The Seven Oaks Dam in Southern California. The Seven Oaks Dam was the largest civil works project under construction by the Corps at the time and was and still is the largest earthen dam ever built in North America. The client encountered differing site conditions and defective specifications during construction of the dam, and filed to recoup the extra costs it incurred. The first trial arose from the Corps’ imposition of restrictions on sources of water to be used during construction of the dam. The construction company argued that the contract warranted that these water sources would be available, free of charge, for the contractor’s use during construction. After a two-week trial before the Engineering Board of Contract Appeals (now part of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals), the board ruled in favor of our client. The firm subsequently represented the client in two more trials before the Board of Contract Appeals, which ran back-to-back for four weeks. These trials involved two claims for differing site conditions and defective specifications for the materials specified for the drain and for the downstream faces of the dam. After a month long trial, the Corps agreed to settle these claims through a highly structured mediation process. The Corps also agreed to mediate the client's largest claim which stemmed from the placement of 15 million cubic yards of material on the upstream face of the dam, and involved the interpretation of the specifications and boring logs applicable to the excavation and placement of the material, express and constructive changes to the work by the Corps, and differing site conditions at the borrow area. The mediation was successful, and the Corps ultimately agreed to resolve all of the outstanding claims on the dam. Our total recovery for the client on this project exceeded $40 million.