Government Contracts

  • September 13, 2024

    SEC Inks $100M Deal With FirstEnergy, Sues Ex-CEO

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reached a $100 million settlement with FirstEnergy Corp. over its role in a $60 million corruption scandal Thursday, the same day the agency sued a former executive who collected tens of millions of dollars in executive perks while the wrongdoing unfolded.

  • September 13, 2024

    Trio Of BigLaw Mergers Expected To Drive More Deal Talks

    After months of a relatively steady pace of law firm mergers and acquisitions, the trio of proposed BigLaw tie-ups announced in recent days will likely spur more firms toward entertaining similar deal talks, experts say. Here, Law360 offers a snapshot of the proposed deals.

  • September 13, 2024

    Boeing Machinists Strike For First Time Since 2008

    Thousands of Boeing machinists and other workers walked off the job Friday after rejecting a proposed contract that union leadership had recommended for approval.

  • September 13, 2024

    Ex-ABL Space Counsel Jumps To Barnes & Thornburg

    A former Barnes & Thornburg associate is returning to the firm after an in-house stint with space launch service provider ABL Space Systems, but this time as a partner.

  • September 13, 2024

    HSF-Led National Grid To Sell Supply Unit To Gov't For £630M

    National Grid PLC said Friday that it has agreed to sell its electricity supply system to the U.K. government for £630 million ($827 million), which will bring it into public ownership.

  • September 12, 2024

    Medical Abuse Of DHS Detainees Suits Head To Mediation

    Two cases brought by immigrant women alleging they underwent invasive, unnecessary medical procedures while in federal custody were sent to mediation Wednesday.

  • September 12, 2024

    Faegre Drinker Adds White Collar Trio From Greenberg Traurig

    Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is building out its white collar team with former veteran prosecutors, announcing Wednesday it had added two partners and an associate from Greenberg Traurig LLP who will bolster its San Francisco and Philadelphia offices

  • September 12, 2024

    Navient Agrees To Pay $120M To End CFPB Student Loan Case

    Navient Corp. would be barred from servicing federal student loans and required to pay $120 million to settle allegations related to its student lending practices under a proposed settlement the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thursday.

  • September 11, 2024

    Litigation Spending To Rise As Cases Grow More Aggressive

    A substantial number of large companies are expecting to increase their litigation spending by double digits next year in the face of more complex and hard-fought cases — and they are more open to bringing in new legal talent to navigate the matters, according to a report released Thursday. 

  • September 11, 2024

    Gov't Spent $236B In Fraud And Improper Payments In 2023

    Federal agencies made $236 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2023, a drop of about $11 billion from the prior year, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

  • September 11, 2024

    Department Of Homeland Security's Top Lawyer Steps Down

    The Department of Homeland Security's top lawyer has resigned from his position in the administration, according to a LinkedIn post.

  • September 11, 2024

    Holland & Knight Adds Gov't Contracts Pros In Virginia, NY

    Holland & Knight LLP has bolstered its government contracts bench with a pair of recent partner hires, adding attorneys to both its Virginia and New York offices.

  • September 10, 2024

    Biden Says He'd Veto Proposed GOP Continuing Resolution

    President Biden said Monday that he would veto House Republicans' proposed continuing resolution for fiscal year 2025, asserting that the funding measure amounts to "brinksmanship" and would "place agencies at insufficiently low levels — both for defense and non-defense — for a full six months."

  • September 10, 2024

    Ex-Conn. Town Atty Slams Official's Defamation Suit Defense

    The former attorney for Newington, Connecticut, and the town's tax assessor bickered over whether the latter's allegedly defamatory sentiments linked to now-dismissed ethics complaints were made publicly, with the lawyer insisting the statements were made to select groups of individuals and therefore weren't motivated by concern for the municipality's citizens.

  • September 10, 2024

    DeSantis Blasts Mass. Suit Over Martha's Vineyard Flights

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shouldn't have to fight "conspiracy theory" claims in Massachusetts over whether the Sunshine State tricked migrants into boarding flights to Martha's Vineyard, the governor said in a sweeping dismissal bid.

  • September 10, 2024

    John Deere Will Pay SEC $10M To End Thai Bribes Probe

    Deere & Co. has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to end an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into bribes paid by executives at a Thai subsidiary that netted the heavy equipment maker millions in contracts with the Thai government and at least one private company.

  • September 10, 2024

    Meet The Lawyers Tapped To Defend In Glencore Bribery Case

    Six former Glencore employees, including the commodity giant's billionaire former head of oil, who have been charged with bribery by the Serious Fraud Office, have tapped an all-star list of the U.K.'s most experienced trial solicitors and barristers with a track record of prevailing against the white-collar agency.

  • September 09, 2024

    Army Corps Wants Border Fence Deal Rating Dispute Tossed

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has urged the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to dismiss a suit alleging it gave an unfairly low performance rating to a border fence construction contractor on a $789 million deal, arguing the rating was fair and reasonable.

  • September 09, 2024

    Wash. Ends First Inspection Effort Against GEO Group

    Washington State has dropped its original bid to force private prison operator The GEO Group to allow its health agency to conduct spot inspections at an immigrant detention facility, after it launched a new suit alleging officials had been blocked from entering.

  • September 09, 2024

    Siemens To Build $60M Bullet Train Production Facility In NY

    Siemens Mobility will build a $60 million bullet train production facility in Horseheads, New York, that is set to start operating in 2026, according to an official announcement Monday.

  • September 09, 2024

    House OKs Bill To Bar Contracts With Chinese Biotech Cos.

    Driven by concerns about U.S. genetic data being shared with the Chinese government, House lawmakers passed a bill on Monday to bar federal agencies from buying certain biotechnology linked to the Chinese government or from contracting with firms that use those products.

  • September 09, 2024

    Biotech Execs Face Investor Suit Over Medicare Claims

    Executives and directors of biopharmaceutical company Ardelyx have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in Massachusetts federal court alleging the company misled investors over its intentions and ability to apply for a Medicare reimbursement program for its kidney disease treatment.

  • September 09, 2024

    Sentencing Of Ex-Ecuador Official Delayed By Late Gov't Filing

    A frustrated Florida federal judge on Monday pushed back the sentencing of Ecuador's ex-comptroller — who was convicted of laundering more than $12 million in bribes — after admonishing the government for an "inexplicably and undeniably late" forfeiture motion filed at 4 p.m. Friday.

  • September 09, 2024

    Ex-NYC School Official Gets 2 Years For Bribery Scheme

    A former official in New York City's education system was sentenced in federal court Monday to two years in prison, while three others accused of conspiring with him also got prison time, after being convicted of taking bribes to help the co-defendants sell substandard foods to city schools.

  • September 09, 2024

    Baltimore Strikes $80M Opioid Settlement With Teva

    Teva Pharmaceuticals will pay Baltimore $80 million to resolve claims that the company inflamed the city's opioid crisis, the city of Baltimore announced Monday ahead of a trial slated to begin next week against the remaining defendants in the Maryland state court litigation.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Why DOJ's Whistleblower Program May Have Limited Impact

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower pilot program aims to incentivize individuals to report corporate misconduct, but the program's effectiveness may be undercut by its differences from other federal agencies’ whistleblower programs and its interplay with other DOJ policies, say attorneys at Milbank.

  • Takeaways From Virginia's $2B Trade Secrets Verdict Reversal

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    The Virginia Court of Appeals' recent reversal of the $2 billion damages award in Pegasystems v. Appian underscores the claimant's burden to show damages causation and highlights how an evidentiary ruling could lead to reversible error, say John Lanham and Kamran Jamil at Morrison Foerster.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Parsing FY 2024 DOJ Criminal Healthcare Fraud Enforcement

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    While the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division's strike force on healthcare fraud enforcement action shows an impressive doubling of criminal indictments, a closer look at the data offers important clues about underlying trends, including the comparably modest, accompanying increase in associated intended loss, say Roderick Thomas and Kathleen Cooperstein at Wiley.

  • How Gov't AI Protections May Affect Contractors' Data Rights

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    The U.S. Senate’s proposed National Defense Authorization Act for 2025, which includes provisions to maintain the government's data rights when contracting for artificial intelligence, should prompt contractors to examine how to protect their own rights when the current data rights framework is applied to AI, say Tyler Evans and Caitlin Conroy at Steptoe.

  • Lessons From Recent SEC Cyber Enforcement Actions

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    The recent guidance by the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance is helpful to any company facing a cybersecurity threat, but just as instructive are the warnings raised by the SEC's recent enforcement actions against SolarWinds, R.R. Donnelley and Intercontinental Exchange, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Flags Work Harassment Risks Of Social Media

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    The recent Ninth Circuit ruling in Okonowsky v. Garland, holding an employer could be liable for a co-worker's harassing social media posts, highlights new challenges in technology-centered and remote workplaces, and underscores an employer's obligation to prevent hostile environments wherever their employees clock in, say Jennifer Lada and Phillip Schreiber at Holland & Knight.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Misplaced Info, Trade-Offs, Proteges

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    James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions concerning the consequences of providing solicited information in the wrong section of a bid proposal, the limits of agency discretion in technical merit, best-value trade-off evaluations, and the weight of the experience and capabilities of small businesses in mentor-protégé joint venture qualification.

  • Del. Dispatch: Director Caremark Claims Need Extreme Facts

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery recently dismissed Caremark claims against the directors of Centene in Bricklayers Pension Fund of Western Pennsylvania v. Brinkley, indicating a high bar for a finding of the required element of bad faith for Caremark liability, and stressing the need to resist hindsight bias, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Opinion

    Time To Reimagine The Novation Process For Gov't Contracts

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    The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, which recently extended a long-standing request for public comments on its novation procedures, should heed commenters' suggestions by implementing specific changes in its documentation requirements, thereby creating a more streamlined and practical novation process, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • How Justices' E-Rate Decision May Affect Scope Of FCA

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s eventual decision in Wisconsin Bell v. U.S., determining whether reimbursements paid by the E-rate program are "claims" under the False Claims Act, may affect other federal programs that do not require payments to be made by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, says David Colapinto at Kohn Kohn.

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