Mr. Featherstun is a partner in the San Francisco office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP and has served as the chair of that office’s Litigation Department. For 35 years his practice has focused on commercial litigation with an emphasis on government contract law. As a result, he has extensive trial and claims preparation experience. He has tried cases in a variety of forums including federal courts, state courts, boards of contract appeals, state administrative bodies, and private arbitrations.
Mr. Featherstun became the Chair of the Section of Public Contract Law of the American Bar Association in August of 2010. Over the prior four years, he has also held the positions of Secretary of the Section, Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect. He has served on several committees of the Section of Public Contract Law, including Chairman of the Region Division, Vice-Chairman of the Subcontracts Committee, and Chair of the Northern California Section of the Region Division.
Over the last nine years, Mr. Featherstun has supported various clients in handling complex audits conducted by the Defense Contract Audit Agency dealing with Cost Accounting Standards issues. Currently, three of those matters, totaling approximately $300 million, are currently before the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. At the State level, Mr. Featherstun has handled various state and local bid protests, claims and litigation for clients in the information technology, construction, engineering services and alternative energy industries. For several years, Mr. Featherstun represented the contractor who administered the supplier diversity program at the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”).
In 2014, Mr. Featherstun obtained a complete defense verdict for the Raytheon Company in the case of L’Garde, Inc. v. Raytheon Company, Case No. CV 11-04592 GW (AGRx) in the United States District Court, Central District of California. The case involved a dispute over a letter subcontract between Raytheon and L’Garde on a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (“DARPA”) project to design and develop a stratospheric airship and radar system the size of a ten story building. The case was tried before a jury although the judge dismissed the case after five days of hearing just before final arguments.
Mr. Featherstun is also currently representing the Municipality of Anchorage in several lawsuits involving the $400 million design and development of the Port of Anchorage Expansion project. One suit is in Federal District Court in Anchorage, Alaska, while the second lawsuit is in the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Featherstun was a member of a team that represented Lockheed Martin IMS in a dispute with the state of California concerning the termination of the Statewide Automated Child Support Systems contract. This program was a federally mandated and funded project to develop a single statewide computer system to collect child support payments. The amount in dispute was over $200 million. After the case was tried, the judge awarded Lockheed $58.8 million and denied the state’s request for $147 million.
In another case, which involved the development of the C-17 transport aircraft by McDonnell Douglas for the U.S. Air Force, Mr. Featherstun helped to prepare and litigate over 40 claims totaling $1 billion for McDonnell Douglas.
In addition to litigation, Mr. Featherstun has supported clients in complex contract transactions. From July of 2002 until April of 2005, he helped Advanced Interactive Systems, Inc. of Seattle, Washington negotiate, perform and close out a six month $105 million contract to train Transportation Security Administration baggage handlers in the use of explosive detection equipment at U.S. airports.
From 1979 to 1982, he was with the Office of the General Counsel, Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C. where he tried cases before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals. In 1982, Mr. Featherstun joined the firm of Pettit & Martin in San Francisco, California as an associate in the Government Contracts Department. He was made partner in 1987 and remained there until March of 1995 when the firm closed.
