Dellew Corporation, ASBCA No. 58538

Dellew Corporation appealed a contracting dispute to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) and sought attorneys’ fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) after a partial victory in a summary proceeding (ASBCA No. 58538).
Appellant originally requested $64,733.33 but, after correcting the statutory citation from 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d) to 5 U.S.C. § 504(a)(2) and applying the $125/hour cap, reduced the request to $42,631.25.
The parties agreed to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) summary binding decision by a single judge; the EAJA application was adjudicated under the same single-threshold rubric.
The Board found the government’s overall position was not substantially justified, but identified one discrete issue (DFARS 252.232-7007(c)) where the government was substantially justified.
The Board exercised discretion to reduce the fee award for partial non-prevailing matters, deductions for categories the contractor had already reduced in its summary position, and disallowed fees for $1,825 of work deemed unrelated to the appeal.
Final award: Dellew was found eligible and prevailing in part and was awarded $25,886 in EAJA attorney fees.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Eligibility for EAJA	Dellew is an eligible prevailing party entitled to fees under 5 U.S.C. § 504	Government did not contest eligibility substantively	Dellew qualifies as an EAJA-eligible party
Prevailing party status	Dellew prevailed in the appeal and thus may recover fees	Government argued its position had merit and thus was substantially justified	Board found Dellew a prevailing party; government position not substantially justified overall
Substantial justification of government position	N/A (Dellew argued government lacked substantial justification)	Government asserted its legal positions had substantial justification; pointed to some correct defenses	Board found government not substantially justified except as to DFARS 252.232-7007(c); reduced award by 25% for that issue
Amount and reasonableness of fees	Sought $42,631.25 after statutory adjustments; sought various categories of hours/costs	Government challenged procedural/statutory citation and sought reductions for unreasonable or unrelated work	Board reduced requested fees by 25% for the one justified issue, further reduced 10% for internal category reductions, disallowed $1,825 for unrelated work; awarded $25,886

Comm’r, INS v. Jean, 496 U.S. 154 (U.S. 1990) (EAJA application treated consistently across an ADR summary proceeding; single-threshold determination)
Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424 (U.S. 1983) (EAJA/fee awards should avoid relitigation of the merits and require proportional, reasonable fee determinations)