Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals    

Administrative Judge Biographies

Craig S. Clarke

            Judge Clarke attended the University of Michigan (BS Aerospace Engineering), the University of Arizona (MS Aerospace Engineering), and St. Mary’s University School of Law, TX (JD).  Admitted to the Texas, District of Columbia, and Virginia Bars.  Judge Clarke is also admitted to the patent bar.  Served on active duty as an Army officer in the Ordnance Corps and Judge Advocate General’s Corps (1970 – 1993).  While in the JAGC, served as trial counsel (U. S. Army Missile Command), contract attorney (U. S. Army Missile Command), trial attorney (Contract Appeals Division), contract attorney (Vint Hill Farms Station), and deputy chief trial attorney (Contract Appeals Division).  As an Army civilian, served as deputy chief trial attorney (1993 – 2008) and chief trial attorney (2008 – 2011), Contract and Fiscal Law Division, United States Army Legal Services Agency.  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in February 2011.

 

Jack Delman

            EDUCATION:  J.D., 1976, University of Pennsylvania School of Law.  Recipient of Benjamin R. Jones Award for outstanding legal writing in the public interest.  B.A., 1973, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Queens College, City University of New York.

            EMPLOYMENT:  Office of General Counsel, General Services Administration, Washington, DC (1977-1987) as trial counsel and senior trial counsel, specializing in government contracts litigation.  Adjunct professor, Webster University, teaching graduate courses in federal acquisition law since 1989.  Admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania and New York.  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals on August 10, 1987.

 

Diana S. Dickinson

            Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1950.  A mathematics and computer science major at Miami University, a B.A. in Philosophy from Wright State University and a J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law.  From 1971 through 1985, employed by Pioneer Standard Electronics, Inc., at the time the third largest distributor of industrial electronics in the United States, as the Division Controller and then the Corporate Controller where she managed a staff of over 100 accounting and human resources personnel and was directly responsible for all budgets, financial and management reports, state and local tax returns, personnel/human resources and all accounting operations.  Served in the office of the Chief Trial Attorney of the U.S. Air Force from 1987 through October 2007 where she was a legal intern (1987-1989), Trial Attorney (1989-1996), Senior Trial Attorney (1996-2000), Deputy Division Chief (2000-2001), Division Chief (2001-2005), Deputy Chief Trial Attorney (2005-2006) and Acting Chief Trial Attorney (2006-2007).  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in October 2007.

 

Monroe E. Freeman, Jr.

            Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, May 23, 1937. Received an A.B. degree from Georgetown University, College of Arts and Sciences, in 1958.  Served in the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1964.  Received an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1967.  Engaged in private practice of law, specializing in government contract claims and litigation, as associate and partner in vom Baur, Coburn, Simmons and Turtle, Washington, D.C., from 1967 to 1979.  Admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia, Virginia and U.S. Supreme Court.  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals on February 4, 1980.

 

Elizabeth M. Grant

            Elizabeth M. Grant was appointed an Administrative Judge on the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) on February 27, 2011.  In this capacity, she presides over hearings and writes decisions on federal government contract disputes pending at the ASBCA.  Before her ASBCA appointment, Judge Grant served as the Associate General Counsel (Acquisition) for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Headquarters, advising on acquisition issues, protests, contract litigation, and ADR.  She also worked with DLA Energy in a variety of positions, including deputy counsel, fraud counsel, and litigation counsel.  Prior to joining DLA, Judge Grant was engaged in private practice with the Washington law firm of Crowell & Moring. 

            Judge Grant is a frequent speaker in the field of Government contract law.  She has lectured for the Defense Acquisition University, for the Department of Justice Legal Education Institute, and for the George Washington University/Educational Services Inc. consortium.  She has served as an adjunct faculty member of the American University’s Washington College of Law, and has given numerous presentations for both the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Public Contract Law and for DLA. 

           Judge Grant received her undergraduate degree in history magna cum laude from Cornell University in 1978.  She attended the George Washington University Law School, served on the Law Review, and received her J.D. with honors in 1981.  Judge Grant is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and is a member of the Council of the ABA's Section of Public Contract Law.

Terrence S. Hartman

            Born in York, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 1957.  Received B.S. degree with honors from Syracuse University in 1979 and J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1982.  Served as law clerk to the Honorable H. Robert Mayer, Judge, United States Claims Court, from 1982 to 1984.  Employed as a Trial Attorney and Assistant Director, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, respectively from October 1984 to March 1990 and March 1990 to February 1993.  Admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia.  Appointed Administrative Judge, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, on February 7, 1993.

 

David W. James, Jr.

            Born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 6, 1937.  Received A.B. degree, magna cum laude, from University of Notre Dame in 1959 and J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1965.  Admitted to District of Columbia Bar and to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the 4th Circuit.  Served in Office of the General Counsel, Department of the Navy, in Bureau of Naval Weapons (1965-66), Naval Air Systems Command (1966-68), as Assistant to the General Counsel (1968-73), and as Counsel, Naval Ship Systems Command (redesignated Naval Sea Systems Command) (1973-76). Was international patent agent in firm of Uhthoff, Gomez Vega & Uhthoff, Mexico City (1976-78).  Engaged in private practice of law, specializing in government contract protests, claims, and litigation, as partner in Kominers & James (1978-80), in Lewis, Kominers & James, Washington, D.C. (1980-88), and in Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer & Quinn, Washington, D.C. (1988-1990).  Author of occasional public contract law articles.  Appointed Administrative Judge, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, effective October 9, 1990.

John Lane

            Born September 8, 1940, in New York, New York.  Received A.B. degree from College of the Holy Cross in 1961 and LL.B. degree from Fordham Law School in 1964, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review.  Admitted to the New York Bar in 1964, and practiced with Sullivan & Cromwell.  In 1965, joined Office of the General Counsel, Department of the Air Force, where he specialized in government contract matters, and served as Air Force Legal Member of the Armed Services Procurement Regulation Committee.  Admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1967.  In 1968, returned to private practice, specializing in government contract law, with Sellers, Conner & Cuneo in Washington, D.C., until 1970 and then with the government contract department of Reavis, Pogue, Neal & Rose in Washington, D.C. (now part of Crowell & Moring).  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, effective December 4, 1972.  Member of the Federal and New York State Bar Associations.  Chairman, Committee on Current Federal Procurement Statutes, Regulations and Forms, ABA Section of Public Contract Law (1972-1973).  Senior Editor, Public Contract Law Journal (1977 to 1978).  Author of several articles on Government contract law.

 

Mark A. Melnick

            Born in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Received B.S. in Economics from the Pennsylvania State University in 1985.  Received J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1988.  Entered the Department of Justice Honors Program in 1988 as a Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division.  Appointed Senior Trial Counsel in 1996.  Appointed Assistant Director in 1998.  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in February, 2011.

 

Reba Page

            Born in Paducah Kentucky.  Received B.A. (1971) and M.S. (1983) degrees in Biology and J.D. (1976) from University of Louisville.  Admitted to Kentucky, Florida, and District of Columbia Bars, and a member of the American Bar Association.  Appointed Administrative Judge, Corps of Engineers Board of Contract Appeals on July 1, 1994; appointed Chairman of the Engineer Board on January 30, 1999.  Member of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals on July 12, 2000 by merger of the ASBCA and Engineer Board.  Division Counsel for the Corps of Engineers Ohio River Division (1988-1994) and Division Trial Attorney (1986-88).  Served as Assistant District Counsel, Louisville District (1984-1986).  Twice received Department of Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award, Superior Civilian Service Award, Commanders Award, and the E. Manning Seltzer Award.  Prior to entering federal service, was Deputy Commissioner, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection and in corporate practice.  Lectures and publishes on government contracts and dispute resolution.

Carol N. Park-Conroy

            Carol Park-Conroy was appointed an Administrative Judge on the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA), effective October 23, 1989.  In addition to presiding over hearings and writing decisions on federal government procurement and contract matters pending on her ASBCA trial docket, Judge Park-Conroy also serves as a neutral in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) proceedings involving a wide variety of federal construction, supply and service contracts.  She is a frequent speaker and author of articles addressing Government contract issues and Board practice and procedures, in particular ADR.

            Judge Park-Conroy is an active member of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Public Contract Law and will serve as Chair of the Section for the 2012 term.  She has held numerous leadership positions in the Section, including Budget and Finance Officer, Co-Chair of the Federal Procurement Division, Co-Chair of the ADR Committee and Vice Chair of the Contract Claims and Disputes Resolution Committee.  She also represented the Section on the Advisory Committee of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution.  Judge Park-Conroy is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the National Association of Women Judges, where she was a Section 4 officer.  Additionally, she served on the Steering Committee of the Government Contracts and Litigation Section of the District of Columbia Bar, with four years as the Steering Committee’s Co-Chair. 

            She received her B.A., cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and her J.D., with honors, from George Washington University.  Judge Park-Conroy is a member of the District of Columbia and Virginia Bars.  Prior to her ASBCA appointment, she served as a Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice and was engaged in private practice with the law firm O’Connor & Hannan, Washington, D.C., as an associate and partner.  She was also a law clerk to the Honorable Joseph C. Waddy, Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

 

Michael T. Paul

            Born in Norfolk, Virginia.  Received a B.A. degree from the Catholic University of America, Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.A. degree in history from the same institution.  Did postgraduate work in history at the University of Virginia and received a J.D. degree from the University of Virginia Law School.  Served as law clerk to the Honorable Albert V. Bryan, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  Employed as a private attorney in Washington, D.C., and served as Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, U.S. Department of Justice.  Admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia, United Stated Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, United States Claims Court, and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals on August 31, 1987.

 

Robert T. Peacock

            Born in Richmond, Indiana in 1947.  Received B.A., University of Maryland 1969; J.D., University of Maryland School of Law, 1972; M.S., Georgetown University, 1980.  Admitted to Maryland Bar (1972); licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Maryland (1980).  Served on active duty as a Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force assigned to:  Moody Air Force Base, Vaaldosta, Georgia (February 1973 to July 1974); Headquarters, Turkish -United States Logistics Command, Ankara, Turkey August 1974-July 1976); and the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals from August 1976 to April 1979; Legal Assistant to the Chairman and Trial Examiner, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals from April 1, 1979 to October, 1985.  Appointed a member of the Corps of Engineers Board of Contract Appeals on October 21, 1985.  Appointed Vice Chairman Corps of Engineers Board of Contract Appeals effective February 13 1994.  Member, ASBCA, July 12, 2000 to present.  Published books and monographs include:  Peacock, Robert, T. and Ting, Peter D. Contract Disputes Act.  Annotated, Federal, Publications, Inc. (1998); Peacock, Robert, T. A Complete Guide to the Contract Disputes Act, The American Bar Association, Public Contract Law Section, (1986).

 

Cheryl L. Scott

            National Merit Scholar. A.B., 1970, The College of William and Mary, General Honors, Phi Beta Kappa. J.D., 1973, Duke University School of Law, Southern Regional Moot Court Champion (with two teammates).  Associate, Davidson, Dawson, & Clark, New York, New York 1973-1977.  Associate, Spengler, Carlson, Gubar, Churchill & Brodsky, New York, New York, 1977-1979.  Concentration in tax, litigation, contract, real estate, tax-exempt organizations, and general practice.  United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Trial Attorney, then Senior Trial Counsel, 1980-1985.  Extensive complex litigation.  Assistant General Counsel, Everest Legal Systems, Inc., 1985-1986, Contract, litigation, and general corporate practice.  Returned to Department of Justice, 1987.  Left position as Senior Trial Counsel in October, 1990 when appointed to the Department of the Interior Board of Contract Appeals.  Appointed Chief Administrative Judge, August, 2000.  Appointed Administrative Judge, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, January 2001.  Admitted to practice in New York and Virginia.  Member of the bars of the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.  Member and past president:  Board of Contract Appeals Judges Association, Board of Contract Appeals Bar Association, Senior Executives Association, Board of Contract Appeals Judges Chapter.  Member, Public Contract Law Section, American Bar Association, Associate Editor, Public Contract Law Journal.

Richard Shackleford

            Born Wake Forest, North Carolina, 1946.  B.A., North Carolina State University at Raleigh, 1968.  In 1968-69 headed a youth development program.  From 1969 to 1972 served as Assistant Program Director of Student Union at North Carolina State.  Received JD degree from Howard University Law Center, 1975.  Admitted to District of Columbia Bar.  Served in the Office of General Counsel at the General Services Administration as follows:  1973-1975 law clerk; 1975-1977 house counsel for personal property procurement and disposal; 1977-1983 trial attorney; and 1983-1987 chief counsel.  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, effective August 16, 1987.

 

Mark N. Stempler, Vice Chairman

            Born in Washington, D.C. Received his B.S. in Commerce with Distinction from the University of Virginia.  Received his J.D. from Georgetown University.  Served as Trial Attorney, Office of the General Counsel, Litigation Office, Department of the Navy (August 1976-November 1980); Senior Trial Attorney (December 1980-July 1982); Associate Chief Trial Attorney (August 1982-May 1985); Assistant Counsel, Naval Sea Systems Command (June 1985-February 1986). Admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia, United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, United States Court of Federal Claims, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and the D.C. Court of Appeals.  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals on February 28, 1986. Appointed Vice-Chairman on October 1, 1994.

 

Eunice Whitney Thomas, Vice Chairman

            Received a B.A. degree from Pembroke College in Brown University and an LL.B. degree from Yale University.  Admitted to the California and New York Bars.  Associate, Chadbourne and Parke, New York, NY; Assistant General Counsel, Rockwell International Corporation, El Segundo, California; Assistant General Counsel, Deloitte & Touche, New York, NY; Trial Attorney, Department of the Navy, Office of the General Counsel.  Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, effective June 5, 1988 and as Vice-Chairman on June 13, 2000.

 

John J. Thrasher

           John J. Thrasher was appointed an Administrative Judge on the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in February 2011. 

           Admitted to the Alabama bar, Judge Thrasher served on active duty as an Air Force Judge Advocate from June 1982 until September 1995 in a variety of acquisition positions including contract trial attorney in the Directorate of Contract Appeals and Division Chief and Program Counsel for the F-22 and Advanced Cruise Missile Programs, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH.  After leaving active duty in 1995, he progressed through several civilian acquisition law assignments at Wright-Patterson AFB including contract trial attorney before the ASBCA, legal advisor to the Air Force Acquisition Reform Office and legal advisor for all military family housing projects within Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC).  In June 2004, he was selected to enter the Senior Executive Service as the Principal Deputy to the AFMC Staff Judge Advocate and a year later assumed the position as the Director of the AFMC Law Office.

            As the Director of the Law Office, he provided legal services to a variety of clients at Wright-Patterson AFB, AFMC, and throughout the Air Force.  Areas of legal services included contracts, procurement fraud, intellectual property, ethics, real estate and, between 2005-2007, all Air Force contract dispute litigation before the ASBCA.  In 2010, Judge Thrasher received the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award for his leadership of the Air Force Materiel Command Law Office.

            Judge Thrasher received a B.A. degree from the University of Alabama in 1975, a J.D. in 1979 and an M.B.A. in 1981 from the University of Memphis, a Master of Laws in Government Procurement Law from George Washington University in 1992 and an M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 2004. 

 

Judge Thrasher is a frequent speaker and has published several articles on government contract law. 

 

 Peter D. Ting

            Born in New York City, New York.  Received a B.S. degree (1968) and a J.D. degree (1971) from the University of Tennessee.  Received an LL.M. degree (Environmental Law) from George Washington University.  Admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1972 and the District of Columbia Bar in 1973.  Also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, United States Tax Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

            Served as Attorney-Advisor, Procurement Division, Office of General Counsel, General Services Administration, from 1972-1974. Served as trial attorney, Claims and Litigation Division, Office of General Counsel, GSA, from 1974-1975, specializing in environmental litigation. Served as trial attorney, Claims and Litigation Division, Office of General Counsel, GSA, from 1975-1978, specializing in major construction litigation before the General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals.  Promoted to senior trial attorney in 1978.  Appointed as Chief Counsel for Appeals, Claims and Litigation Division, GSA, in 1979, and served in that position until 1983.  As Chief Counsel for Appeals, supervised a staff of 12 to 14 trial attorneys. Frequent speaker and lecturer on government contract subjects.  Appointed as a member of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, effective April 18, 1983.  Co-authored with Robert T. Peacock Contract Disputes Act Annotated (Federal Publications Inc. 1998), a text on the statute underlying federal contract disputes.

Elizabeth A. Tunks

            Judge Tunks was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on January 2, 1945.  She received a B.A. from Michigan State University in East Lansing Michigan in 1967, and an M.A. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1970.  She attended Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana, and received her J.D. in 1977.  She is admitted to practice in Louisiana and the District of Columbia.  After graduating from law school, Judge Tunks clerked for the Honorable Veronica D. Wicker of the Eastern District of Louisiana.  She moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1978 to join the Office of General Counsel of the Navy where she spent a year in the Pentagon as an attorney-advisor to the Comptroller of the Navy.  In 1979, she transferred to the Litigation Office.  She became a Senior Trial Attorney in 1984.  On June 1, 1987, she was appointed a Member of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.

 

Paul Williams, Chairman

            Judge Williams received his law degree from The Boston University School of Law in 1967.  He served as a trial attorney with the Naval Facilities Engineering command from 1967 until 1972, as Special Assistant to the Command Counsel for the Naval Ordnance Systems Command from 1972 until 1974, and as Trial Attorney, with the Navy Contract Appeals Division from 1974 until 1977.  He was appointed a Member of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, effective 25 October 1977, and became chairman of the Board effective 1 October 1985.  In 1988 he was appointed as a member of the Administrative Conference of the United States.

            Judge Williams is a frequent lecturer in the field of Federal Procurement Law.  For over 20 years, he was a member of the Adjunct Faculty for the University of Virginia at Falls Church, Virginia.  He also was a member of the Adjunct faculty for Penn State University School of Law at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he received the Edward C. First Adjunct Faculty Achievement Award in 1998.

            He has been an active participant on various ADR committees and training programs and has served as a neutral on numerous ADR matters involving a wide variety of federal procurement issues.  He established a formal ADR program at the Board and has aggressively promoted its use.  The Board’s ADR program received the 2003 Office of Federal Procurement Policy and Acquisition Council Award for Excellence.

 

Owen C. Wilson

            Judge Wilson was born in Richmond, Virginia.  He received a B.S. in Political Science in 1987 from James Madison University and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 1991.  He served as a Law Clerk at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals from 1991 to 1993.  Upon leaving the Board, he joined the Office of the General Counsel for the Navy and reported to the Military Sealift Command as an Assistant Counsel (1993 – 1998) and later appointed Associate Counsel (1998 – 2006) for the Special Missions and Prepositioning programs.  He transferred to the Naval Sea Systems Command where he provided advice on major weapons systems procurements (electronic warfare and naval gun programs) and the Deactivated Ship Donation program.  He received the Navy’s Procurement Excellence Award in 2005 and the Navy’s Superior Service Award in 2006.  Judge Wilson is admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania.  On September 17, 2007, he was appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.

 

Alexander Younger

            Born in New York, New York, on October 5, 1943. A.B., University of Pennsylvania, 1965. J.D., George Washington University Law School, 1969. Admitted to District of Columbia Bar, 1970.  Administrative Judge, Corps of Engineers Board of Contract Appeals, 1984-1987. Appointed to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals on August 31, 1987.