BB&K Partners John Higginbotham and Victor Wolf represented the City of Corona in City of Corona v. Ionics, Incorporated, et al. The case involved construction of an $11 million desalinization plant by a large publicly traded contracting firm from the East Coast. Following completion, the contractor submitted a $3.5 million extra work claim, alleging that the City had delayed construction of the project and improperly withheld $1.3 million in liquidated damages. The contractor initially filed suit out-of-state. BB&K successfully moved to have that lawsuit dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. BB&K then seized the offensive by suing the contractor and several of its sub-contractors for multiple violations of the False Claims Act in State court. The contractor filed a cross-complaint for $3.5 million in extra work. Despite being out-spent nearly 3-to-1 by the contractor’s army of lawyers, BB&K achieved a highly favorable settlement which included the City retaining approximately $900,000 in liquidated damages and not paying the contractor anything on its cross-complaint.