Practice Areas
Government Contracts
-
January 27, 2012
Indiana Owes IBM $40M In Rumble Over $1.4B Contract: Judge
An Indiana state judge on Wednesday ruled that IBM International Corp. is entitled to $40 million in subcontractor assignment fees from Indiana in a gargantuan legal battle over the state's termination of a $1.4 billion contract to overhaul the state's welfare system.
-
January 27, 2012
Army Must Tackle Energy Costs In $259B Cuts: Chief Of Staff
The U.S. Army must trim energy costs from its home stations and its operational fuel use to help achieve the U.S. Department of Defense’s target to save $259 billion in the next five years, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said Friday.
-
January 27, 2012
First Annapolis Takes $14M S&L Merger Ruling To High Court
First Annapolis Bancorp Inc. this month asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit's decision to overturn a $13.7 million breach of contract ruling against the U.S. over broken goodwill agreements made to facilitate a bank merger during the 1980s savings and loan crisis.
-
January 27, 2012
Government Contracts Group Of The Year: Morrison & Foerster
Morrison & Foerster LLP's government contracts group successfully defended DynCorp International LLC's award of a $1 billion U.S. Army contract and helped Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc. protect its confidential contract information last year, making it one of Law360's Government Contracts Groups of 2011.
-
January 27, 2012
Construction Co. Swiped $136M Of Small-Biz Work: Suit
An ex-employee of a construction supply company whose owners have been indicted filed an amended False Claims Act complaint Thursday, claiming the firm took part in a $136 million fraud scheme involving hundreds of transportation-related contracts set aside for small, disadvantaged businesses.
-
January 27, 2012
Hospital Group Hid Whistleblower Suit: Investors
Health Management Associates Inc. shareholders filed a class action in Florida federal court Friday claiming stock prices plummeted after it was revealed the hospital group had used Medicare fraud to inflate prices and hidden a wrongful-termination whistleblower suit by an employee who uncovered the alleged fraud.
-
January 27, 2012
DOE Shouldn't Manage Nuclear Waste, Panel Says
A presidential panel said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Energy should relinquish its responsibility for managing the nation's nuclear waste to an independent body, contending that the agency was not stable enough to oversee the efforts.
-
January 27, 2012
Judge Strikes Honeywell Defense In Bulletproof Vest Fight
A Washington federal judge on Wednesday jettisoned one of Honeywell International Inc.'s defenses in a False Claims Act suit, rejecting arguments that the U.S. could not sue because it tacitly approved of the company selling it defective material for bulletproof vests.
-
January 26, 2012
Fed. Circ. Frees DirectTV From $80M Pension Transfer Claim
The Federal Circuit affirmed a ruling Thursday that freed DirectTV from a U.S. claim that it owed $80 million from pension surpluses it kept when it sold off its government contract units and associated employee pensions to The Boeing Co. and defense contractor Raytheon Co.
-
January 26, 2012
Pentagon To Save $259B By Shrinking Army, Slowing F35 Buys
To save $259 billion over the next five years, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Thursday that the U.S. military would reduce the number of active-duty troops and modify some weapons procurements, such as slowing the Pentagon's purchase of the expensive F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
-
January 26, 2012
Ex-CDC Official Gets 4 Years For Contract Bribes
The former head manager of the Cincinnati offices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison for taking bribes in exchange for construction contracts.
-
January 26, 2012
NYC Trims $1.2B Rail Tunnel Contract As Contractor Lags
New York City's transit authority has yanked part of a $1.2 billion contract from a Spanish construction firm to tunnel underneath Grand Central station as it tries to speed up a much-delayed project to better link regional rail and subway lines, the agency confirmed Thursday.
-
January 26, 2012
Government Contracts Group Of The Year: Jenner & Block
When General Dynamics Corp. needed a win in the U.S. Supreme Court to resuscitate its 21-year-and-counting case over the termination of a stealth aircraft development contract for the U.S. Navy, it turned to Jenner & Block LLP, which delivered with the deep bench and decades-long relationships that earned it a spot on Law360's Government Contracts Practice Groups of 2011.
-
January 26, 2012
CSI Takes Fight Over $31M Army Contract To Court
Contract Services Inc. on Wednesday launched a suit challenging the U.S. Army's decision to award a $31 million small business set-aside contract to provide logistics support services at Fort Riley in Kansas to FedServices Inc.
-
January 25, 2012
Forest Labs Bribed Study Authors To Boost Celexa: Suit
A whistleblower suit unsealed in Maryland federal court on Friday claims a Forest Laboratories Inc. unit paid kickbacks to the main author of a federally funded antidepressant drug study so he would rig it in favor of the company's drug Celexa, in violation of the False Claims Act.
-
January 25, 2012
Government Contracts Group Of The Year: Crowell
Crowell & Moring LLP racked up an impressive range of victories for government contractors in the past year, such as helping Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. retain a $3 billion military dental contract and winning a complete jury verdict in a potentially billion-dollar False Claims Act suit, earning the firm a place among Law360's Government Contracts Groups of 2011.
-
January 25, 2012
Ex-NY Sen. Espada, Son Deny False Statement Charges
Former New York state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. and his son pled not guilty Wednesday to new false statement charges in the suit accusing them of embezzling more than $500,000, including federal grant money, from Espada’s health care nonprofit, rigging a janitorial contract bid and falsifying tax returns.
-
January 25, 2012
Takeda Hid Gout, GERD Drug Interactions: Whistleblower
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. purposely concealed unsafe drug interactions in three treatments for gout and heartburn, causing state and federal governments to overpay for drugs, a former Takeda contractor alleged Wednesday in Massachusetts federal court.
-
January 25, 2012
Ex-Army Corps Director Pleads Guilty In $1B Bribery Case
A former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program director entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors Tuesday in a Washington federal court bribery case involving more than $1 billion worth of information technology contracts.
-
January 25, 2012
$50M In Noncompetitive Navy Contracts Justified: Report
The U.S. Department of Defense's inspector general found Friday that the U.S. Navy's aircraft equipment oversight arm in New Jersey did not err in awarding $50 million worth of contracts without competition.
Expert Analysis
-
Case Study: Commandeer Construction
As the government continues to alter its approach in exercising control over small business programs, mistakes — such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' ambiguous solicitation that led to a successful protest by Commandeer Construction Company LLC — will happen, says Edward DeLisle of Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC.
-
Expanding Venture Capital Access To SBIR
After years of delays and half-measures, Congress has finally taken action to extend the Small Business Innovation and Research program for a period of longer than a single year. This consistency will help agencies plan allocation of research dollars and will encourage greater participation in the program by small firms, say Leslie Lepow and Damien Specht of Jenner & Block LLP.
-
Year In Review: Significant Developments Under EEA
Last year was the most active and productive one since the enactment of the Economic Espionage Act more than 15 years ago. The convictions obtained and significant sentences imposed in 2011 send a strong message of general and specific deterrence, say Mark Krotoski and Richard Scott of the U.S. Department of Justice.
-
Widening The Net Under Iran Sanctions Act
As tensions grow between the U.S. and Iran, and the U.S. seeks to restrict Iran’s access to oil revenues, it appears likely that the U.S. will continue to pursue a mixture of persuasion and economic coercion against entities and perhaps even states that continue to do business as usual with Tehran, say attorneys with Steptoe & Johnson LLP.
-
The New Ease Of Terminating Section 501(c)(3) Status
A new provision that was slipped into the IRS's annual announcement of procedures for exempt organization determinations and letter rulings provides a way for governmental entities to voluntarily terminate their Section 501(c)(3) status. This is important for governmental hospitals that otherwise could be faced with new exemption requirements and penalties, says Elizabeth Mills of Proskauer Rose LLP.
-
Another Look At W-2 Reporting Requirements
The IRS has clarified the requirement under the Affordable Care Act to report the cost of employer-sponsored health coverage on annual W-2 forms. This applies to most employers, including federal, state and local government entities, churches and other religious organizations, and employers not subject to continuation coverage requirements under COBRA, say attorneys with Proskauer Rose LLP.
-
New IT Security Requirements For GSA Contractors
The U.S. General Services Administration's recently issued final rule requiring information technology contractors to create and implement IT security plans represents the increasing significance the federal government is placing on cybersecurity. Contractors should expect such requirements to permeate throughout federal contracting, say attorneys with Venable LLP.
-
Case Study: Glenn V. Brumby
While the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling on the Equal Protection Clause in Glenn v. Brumby applies only to governmental employees, the court first analyzed whether discrimination against transgendered employees is prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which does apply to private employers, says Guilene Theodore of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC.
-
Bringing A Boost To International Gov't Contracting
The revised World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement is a landmark trade agreement that will expand international competition in the government procurement sector. It contains some of the most significant changes in WTO rules on government contracting since the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Tokyo Round in 1979, say attorneys with Sidley Austin LLP
-
Responding To Gov't FAPIIS Postings
In light of a recent action of the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulation Council, contractors who successfully manage the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System will be those that not only implement management steps but do so quickly and react immediately to government posting of harmful information, says Bruce Shirk of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.