Kuwait Leaders General Trading ( 2015 )

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS Appeal of -- ) ) Kuwait Leaders General Trading ) ASBCA No. 58213 ) Under Contract No. W912Dl-11-P-0136 ) APPEARANCES FOR THE APPELLANT: Mr. Assad Dika Chief Operation Officer APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Raymond M. Saunders, Esq. Army Chief Trial Attorney CPT Evan C. Williams, JA MAJ Samuel E. Gregory, JA Trial Attorneys ORDER OF DISMISSAL FOR FAILURE TO PROSECUTE By letter dated 9 April 2012, a Department of Army contracting officer (CO) issued a final decision terminating appellant's contract, No. W912Dl-l l-P-0136, in part for default. On 6 July 2012, Mr. Assad Dika, Chief Operation Officer of Kuwait Leaders General Trading (KLGT) filed a notice of appeal of the CO's decision with this Board. The same day KLGT submitted its complaint, Rex Hodges, Esq., of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, entered a notice of appearance on behalf of appellant in lieu of Mr. Dika. Mr. Hodges represented KLGT in this appeal until 18 November 2013, when he filed a motion to withdraw as counsel due to inability to maintain necessary communications with his contractor client, and provided the Board with his contact information for Mr. Dika in Safat, Kuwait. Thereafter, the Board suspended proceedings to allow KLGT to attempt to retain legal counsel to represent it in this appeal and discussed with KLGT representatives during status conferences conducted by telephone that an officer ofKLGT may act as its representative in proceedings before the Board in this appeal. Despite various communications between Board personnel and the parties regarding this matter, KLGT did not designate anyone as its representative in this appeal. By Order dated 12 February 2014, the Board ordered KLGT pursuant to Board Rule 15(a) to send to the Board on or before 28 February 2014 a letter formally advising of the officer or attorney who is representing it in this appeal, along with contact information for that individual. While the Board was advised during various status conferences conducted by telephone with Army counsel and Ms. "Dolly" Mahmoud, program manager, that there was an issue concerning contractor documents in the possession of a New York State attorney and that, upon resolution of this issue, Mr. Hodges may once again enter a notice of appearance on behalf ofKLGT, he did not do so. On 7 April 2015, the Board issued an Order to Mr. Dika pursuant to Board Rule 17 (revised 21 July 2014) to show cause on or before 20 May 2015 why this appeal should not be dismissed by the Board with prejudice for failure to prosecute. No individual from KLGT has contacted the Board by telephone, letter, or email to show cause why this appeal should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute. Accordingly, this appeal is dismissed with prejudice under Board Rule 17 for failure to prosecute. Dated: 21 September 2015 TERRENCE S. HARTMAN Administrative Judge Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals I concur I concur RICHARD SHACKLEFORD Administrative Judge Vice Chairman Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals 2 I certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the Order of Dismissal of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in ASBCA No. 58213, Appeal of Kuwait Leaders General Trading, rendered in conformance with the Board's Charter. Dated: JEFFREYD. GARDIN Recorder, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals 3