ASBCA Senior Deciding Group Overrules Decades of Prior Precedent and Clarifies What Constitutes an Electronic Signature Under CDA Certification Requirement

For decades, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA or Board) held that typed, “//signed//,” email signature blocks, and similar signatures were not valid to certify a contractor’s claim under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA).  The ASBCA further held that these types of signatures were the equivalent of a lack of signature and a failure to certify—not a defective certification that could be corrected—resulting in the ASBCA lacking jurisdiction and, in some cases, subsequent claims by contractors being barred by the CDA statute of limitations. 

Recently, in Kamaludin Slyman CSC, ASBCA No. 62006 et al. (decision available here), the ASBCA provided necessary clarification regarding the validity of electronic signatures. We discuss this decision in this client advisory.