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Government Contracts
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January 24, 2024
Former Judge Andrew F. Szefi Joins Knox Law's ADR Practice
A former Allegheny County judge will continue to preside over civil disputes as a mediator after recently joining Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett P.C.'s Pittsburgh office.
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January 24, 2024
NJ Utility Regulator Awards 2 Offshore Wind Contracts
Nearly three months after Danish energy company Orsted backed out of its project to build a wind farm off the New Jersey coast, the state's utility regulator has approved two new offshore wind projects expected to bring over 3,700 megawatts of wind energy to power almost 2 million homes.
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January 23, 2024
Appeals Board Says Feds Forfeited 'Sum Certain' Arguments
The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals refused to toss ECC International Constructors LLC's appeals in a long-running contract dispute with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, saying the government was late in arguing the firm failed to seek a specific sum.
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January 23, 2024
AECOM Says Contractor's $5M Pretrial Concession 'Too Late'
The design and engineering giant AECOM said it was too late for a joint venture to concede liability on a $5 million damages claim in a Colorado toll lanes project dispute, telling a federal judge that the venture blew its chance and the firm is "no longer willing" to negotiate a pretrial deal.
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January 23, 2024
Watchdog Says Feds Wrongly Nixed Heavy Machinery Bid
The U.S. Government Accountability Office called on the International Boundary and Water Commission to redo a machinery deal with Caterpillar Inc., after determining the agency rejected the only other offeror based on criteria that weren't in the solicitation.
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January 23, 2024
College Wants 9th Circ. Opinion In $1.5M Fraud Coverage Spat
A for-profit college that settled with the U.S. government after being accused of stealing money meant to fund veterans' education asked the Ninth Circuit to weigh in after a California federal court said its insurer didn't have to cover nearly $1.5 million in connected investigation defense costs.
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January 23, 2024
US Trustee Not Auditing Enough Debtor Filings, Report Says
A watchdog report released Tuesday said the U.S. Trustee's Program is not auditing a sufficient number of bankruptcy petitions and needs to find a way to pay for enough audits to comply with the law.
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January 23, 2024
Claims Court Blocks $282M USPS Telematics Contract
A Court of Federal Claims judge has barred the U.S. Postal Service from proceeding with a $281.8 million contract for a vehicle telematics system, saying the USPS wrongly subjected a protester's proposal to unstated assessment criteria and didn't properly assess risk.
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January 23, 2024
Board Lets Biz Keep Excess Cash From Military Housing Deal
A Pentagon contract appeals board said Vectrus Systems Corp. was entitled to some of the excess funding for housing maintenance for U.S. military families in Germany, refuting the U.S. Air Force's claims that the contractor waived its rights to the funds.
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January 23, 2024
Fed. Circ. Says VA Broke Exclusivity Promise To Medical Co.
The Federal Circuit has remanded a medical equipment company's bid to hold the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs accountable for tapping other companies for services despite having contracted with the company, saying the VA agreed to work with the company exclusively.
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January 23, 2024
No Wrong In USDA Trusting Low Marks For IT Co., GAO Says
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reasonably found weaknesses that sank a bid from Virginia-based IT Concepts Inc. to provide organizational management and support services to the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded, finding the agency's evaluations were sound.
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January 23, 2024
Court Will Rethink Tribes' Claims In Railroad Dispute
An Idaho federal judge has reinstated two Quiet Title Act claims the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation lodged against the federal government in a dispute over land once used by a railway, agreeing that a Supreme Court ruling requires the reversal of a prior order dismissing the claims.
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January 22, 2024
DC Circ. Mulls Enforcing $486M Award Against Djibouti
The D.C. Circuit spent the better part of an hour Monday morning trying to sort out the intricacies of a dispute between the Republic of Djibouti and a Dubai-based state-owned shipping coordinator over a $486 million arbitral award.
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January 22, 2024
Ind. Wants In On Medicaid Row After Health Org.'s $345M Deal
Indiana on Monday urged a court to belatedly let it into a fight against a healthcare system in the state that recently struck a $345 million deal to settle False Claims Act allegations against it, arguing the state has a "predominant interest" in prosecuting the remaining Medicaid-related claims in the case.
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January 22, 2024
Officer's Conduct A Departure From BIA Policy, 9th Circ. Told
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has said that despite one of its former officer's "reprehensible abuse of authority" in sexually assaulting a Northern Cheyenne woman, the federal government isn't responsible for his actions because it was a clear departure from any conduct authorized by his employer.
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January 22, 2024
Anesthesiologists Want Quick Ruling On Medicare Calculation
Four anesthesia practices are asking a federal court to expedite resolution of a complaint in which the providers say a merit-based methodology for calculating Medicare rates will cost them almost $4 million in reduced reimbursements in 2024.
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January 22, 2024
Shipyard Claims Navy Owes $3M For Destroyer Upgrades
A Virginia ship repair company alleged the U.S. Navy didn't pay it for its work on a destroyer and then denied the company's $3 million claim, saying the department agreed only to pay a small portion of the costs.
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January 22, 2024
Judge Tosses Fired Doctor's False-Claims Suit Over Airlifts
A federal judge has rejected a neurologist's claims that his former hospital in Delaware defrauded the federal government by transferring stroke patients to Philadelphia-based Jefferson Healthcare System via helicopter, finding the suit didn't provide the billing details necessary to make such transfers a violation of Medicare regulations.
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January 22, 2024
Iowa County's CO2 Pipeline Rules Are Preempted, Judge Told
The developer of a proposed interstate carbon dioxide pipeline has told a federal judge that rules restricting its project passed last week in Palo Alto County, Iowa, are preempted by federal law, as the company pointed to a ruling last month blocking two other local ordinances.
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January 22, 2024
Ex-Director Denies Agreeing To Keep Pharma Firm's Info Secret
The former director of government sales for Merz Pharmaceuticals LLC has struck back in North Carolina's business court against allegations that he took trade secrets to a rival, claiming he didn't sign any confidentiality agreements concerning documents he needed for legal purposes.
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January 22, 2024
BP Wants 10th Circ. Re-Do Over $700K Royalty Payout
BP urged the full Tenth Circuit to reconsider letting it off the hook for nearly $700,000 in royalty underpayments for federal natural gas leases in Wyoming after a panel affirmed an order by the U.S. Department of the Interior requiring the oil and gas producer to pay up.
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January 22, 2024
Colo. Justices OK Urban Renewal Tax Formula
Colorado's justices on Monday upheld the state's method for deciding how much of an area's increased property tax revenue should go to the redevelopment agencies that helped revitalize it, unanimously ruling that an urban renewal law doesn't require a specific methodology.
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January 22, 2024
DOL, Biden Defend $15 Min. Wage For Contractors At 5th Circ.
The U.S. Department of Labor and President Joe Biden said Monday it was within their authority to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour, telling the Fifth Circuit the raise passes muster because paying workers higher wages creates several benefits.
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January 22, 2024
Strong Oversight Coming For New Air Force Missile Program
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chair of the House Armed Services Committee, pledged to conduct "vigorous oversight" of the U.S. Air Force's new intercontinental ballistic missile program following an update from the military service that the program had exceeded its budget.
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January 22, 2024
Ex-DHS Official Wants Probation For Software Theft Case
A former senior official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's watchdog asked a D.C. federal judge to spare him prison time for stealing proprietary software he helped design for the government, saying he never profited from the theft.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Thomas Report Is Final Straw — High Court Needs Ethics Code
As a recent report on Justice Clarence Thomas' ongoing conflicts of interest makes evident, Supreme Court justices should be subject to an enforceable and binding code of ethics — like all other federal judges — to maintain the credibility of the institution, says Erica Salmon Byrne at Ethisphere.
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Joint Representation Ethics Lessons From Ga. Electors Case
The Fulton County district attorney's recent motion to disqualify an attorney from representing her elector clients, claiming a nonconsentable conflict of interest, raises key questions about representing multiple clients related to the same conduct and highlights potential pitfalls, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Grace Wynn at HWG.
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Enhanced Debriefings 5 Years Later: Are They Working?
Five years after the U.S. Department of Defense adopted enhanced debriefing requirements, attorneys at Wiley Rein examine whether the increased transparency, intended to reduce post-award protests, has achieved its goal.
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Lawyer Discernment Is Critical In The World Of AI
In light of growing practical concerns about risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence, lawyers' experience with the skill of discernment will position them to help address new ethical and moral dilemmas and ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a way that benefits society as a whole, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.
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Don't Forget Alumni Engagement When Merging Law Firms
Neglecting law firm alumni programs after a merger can sever the deep connections attorneys have with their former firms, but by combining good data management and creating new opportunities to reconnect, firms can make every member in their expanded network of colleagues feel valued, say Clare Roath and Erin Warner at Troutman Pepper.
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Without Stronger Due Diligence, Attys Risk AML Regulation
Amid increasing pressure to mitigate money laundering and terrorism financing risks in gatekeeper professions, the legal industry will need to clarify and strengthen existing client due diligence measures — or risk the federal regulation attorneys have long sought to avoid, says Jeremy Glicksman at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
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Every Lawyer Can Act To Prevent Peer Suicide
Members of the legal industry can help prevent suicide among their colleagues, and better protect their own mental health, by learning the predictors and symptoms of depression among attorneys and knowing when and how to get practical aid to peers in crisis, says Joan Bibelhausen at Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.
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Building On Successful Judicial Assignment Reform In Texas
Prompt action by the Judicial Conference could curtail judge shopping and improve the efficiency and procedural fairness of the federal courts by implementing random districtwide assignment of cases, which has recently proven successful in Texas patent litigation, says Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper.
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What To Watch In High Court's FCA Scienter Standard Case
Depending on what role subjective intent plays in False Claims Act liability after the U.S. Supreme Court decides SuperValu and Safeway — to be argued April 18 — FCA defendants may be able to successfully move for dismissal prior to discovery or, conversely, find that internal discussions about legal exposure have become discoverable, say attorneys at Bryan Cave.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Competency Review, Self-Certification
Victoria Angle at MoFo considers the potential impacts of two recent decisions — one on court jurisdiction over Small Business Administration certificates of competency, and the other on investigating an offeror's self-certification that its devices don't fall under a U.S. ban on certain Chinese telecommunications equipment.
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Do Videoconferences Establish Jurisdiction With Defendants?
What it means to have minimum contacts in a foreign jurisdiction is changing as people become more accustomed to meeting via video, and defendants’ participation in videoconferencing may be used as a sword or a shield in courts’ personal jurisdiction analysis, says Patrick Hickey at Moye White.
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Opinion
Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts
The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.
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Buy America Guidance Still Unclear On Treaty Obligations
Both initial and proposed guidance on implementation of the Build America, Buy America Act failed to address potential conflicts with international treaty commitments, which means federal agencies and states may implement Buy America procurement policies in a manner that violates U.S. trade obligations, say attorneys at Akin.
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Don't Let Client Demands Erode Law Firm Autonomy
As clients increasingly impose requirements for attorney hiring and retention related to diversity and secondment, law firms must remember their ethical duties, as well as broader issues of lawyer development, culture and firm integrity, to maintain their independence while meaningfully responding to social changes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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6th Circ. Ruling's Seismic Shift In FCA Kickback Causation
It is difficult to overstate the significance of the Sixth Circuit’s recent decision in the False Claims Act kickback case U.S. v. Hathaway, which shifts the government's burden of proof by adopting a more defense-friendly causation standard and curbing an expansive definition of remuneration, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.