Quick and Skillful Engagement with Regulators Prevented a Potential $1 Million Fine

Where we started: Our client, a manufacturer and supplier from outside Louisiana, came to us when the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors cited them for acting as a contractor without a license and hiring unlicensed contractors on a $10 million+ contract.  The investigation and citation arose from a jilted bidder filing an administrative complaint as well as a lawsuit in protest of the bid results. 

Our strategy – plus more: We worked to defend the client in both the administrative matter and the litigation. Our focus for the Licensing Board administrative investigation was to show the Board’s staff that the client, as a manufacturer and installer of its own product, was arguably exempt from the licensing law.   

Upshot: In a negotiated settlement of the Licensing Board’s investigation, statutory fines equaling 10% of the contract value – in this case over $1 million – were dismissed in lieu of reimbursing the Board for the administrative costs of its investigation: $1,500.  The resolution of the Board’s investigation aided our defense of the litigation matter as it provided evidence the client complied with state law.  The litigation was dismissed on a motion for summary judgment.