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Sheffield Korte Joint Venture v. Daniel P. Driscoll, Secretary of the Army

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 2024-1134 · judgment May 22, 2025


Certiorari denied · January 12, 2026
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

In a landmark decision, this Court held in United States v. Spearin, 248 U.S. 132 (1918) (Spearin), that the federal government impliedly warrants to bidding contractors that a governmentfurnished design is free from defects. The questions presented are:

  1. Does the government impliedly warrant under Spearin that a government-furnished concept design for a design-build project is free from defects?

  2. If the Spearin implied warranty applies, was it breached when a design feature in the government-furnished design that the government accepted and upon which the contractor relied during bidding turned out to be erroneous?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Michael Elliot Wilson
UB Greensfelder LLP

For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Jan 12 2026
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Dec 10 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/9/2026.
  3. Dec 03 2025
    Waiver of right of respondent Federal Respondents to respond filed.
  4. Nov 05 2025
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 8, 2025)