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Government Contracts
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April 09, 2024
Man Accused Of Vet Contractor Scheme Found In Contempt
A defendant in a long-running False Claims Act suit was found in contempt but dodged penalties in D.C. federal court on Tuesday as a trial over an alleged scheme to falsely procure government construction contracts meant for disabled veterans is set to begin next month.
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April 09, 2024
GAO Says Late Bid Blocks Protest Over VA Wellness Deal
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has tossed a dispute over a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs contract for health and wellness classes, saying a late bid barred the protest even though the VA agreed to consider the protester's proposal.
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April 08, 2024
W.Va. Blocks Citi, HSBC, Others Over Fossil Fuel 'Boycotts'
West Virginia's state treasurer announced Monday that Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings PLC, TD Bank NA and The Northern Trust Co. are ineligible for state banking contracts, finding they boycott fossil fuel companies under a Mountain State law, while two other banks escaped such a designation.
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April 08, 2024
7th Circ. Won't Demolish Obama Center Approval
Federal agencies properly reviewed the environmental impacts of building the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park, the Seventh Circuit ruled Monday, once again rejecting opponents' attempts to stop construction of the campus set to open in 2026.
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April 08, 2024
Miss. Residents Defend Jackson Water Contamination Claims
A group of Jackson, Mississippi, residents are asking a federal judge to preserve their second amended proposed class action against the mostly Black city over a water treatment plant shutdown that left more than 150,000 people without access to clean water.
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April 08, 2024
Canada's High Court Enforces Award In Greek Defense Suit
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed the enforcement of an arbitral award in a dispute over a contract between aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Inc. and Greece's Ministry of National Defence, saying a Canadian bank had to refuse payment to the beneficiary of a letter of credit because of fraud.
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April 08, 2024
Experts Call For New Agency To Regulate Space Operations
A group of military space officials has called on the White House to create a new cabinet-level agency for space operations to cut red tape and keep the U.S. ahead of its rivals as a global leader in space operations.
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April 08, 2024
Farmers Want USDA Barred From 'Discriminatory' Aid Choices
A group of Texas farmers asked a federal judge to bar the U.S. Department of Agriculture from prioritizing minority groups as a part of a distribution scheme for the agency's disaster assistance and pandemic relief programs, saying the programs continue to cause harm to them and the public.
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April 08, 2024
Oak Flat Mining Decision Treads On Human Rights, UN Told
The San Carlos Apache Tribe is urging a United Nations committee to ask the United States to withhold any permissions that would allow Resolution Copper Co. to proceed with any activity on a plot of land known as Oak Flat, arguing that a Ninth Circuit ruling allowing the land transfer merits urgent intervention to prevent further human rights violations on the sacred site.
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April 08, 2024
Greek Air Force Says $22M Contract Dispute Was Timely
Greece's Air Force has urged the Federal Circuit to revive its $21.7 million suit over faulty cameras purchased from a U.S. contractor, saying its claim accumulated later than the U.S. government had argued and was timely.
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April 08, 2024
Cannabis Co. Says DEA Administrative Procedure Is Illegal
A Rhode Island cannabis company sued the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration claiming the agency is subjecting it to an illegal proceeding before an administrative judge.
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April 05, 2024
Equatorial Guinea Says $8M Award Can't Be Enforced
Equatorial Guinea is urging the D.C. Circuit to nix enforcement of an $8 million arbitral award issued to a Swiss company that was ousted from a hospital operating contract, saying a lower court should have looked closer at whether the dispute was adjudicated in the proper forum.
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April 05, 2024
Mich. Panel Rejects 'Fees For Fees' In Contractor's FOIA Bid
A split Michigan state appeals court has refused to top attorney fees a construction contractor won against a county-level road agency that the contractor accused of failing to disclose certain hiring information, with the court finding the fees to be limited because the contractor dragged out litigation.
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April 05, 2024
Feds Say Bombing Survivors' Suit Is Outside Court's Authority
The Biden administration is again pushing to escape survivors' efforts to hold it accountable for U.S. allies' airstrikes in Yemen, telling a Washington, D.C., federal court it had no authority over the executive branch's foreign arms dealing.
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April 05, 2024
Judge Newman Pushes To Keep Suit Over Suspension Intact
U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman urged a D.C. federal judge Friday to let her pursue a constitutional challenge to the law under which she has been suspended, and to reject her colleagues' contention that her case does not pass legal muster.
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April 05, 2024
Utah Says It Stands To Lose Big In BLM Oil Lease Challenge
Utah is asking a federal judge for permission to defend the Bureau of Land Management's decision to sell oil and gas leases on more than 200,000 acres of public land, an action under legal attack from environmental groups.
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April 05, 2024
Claims Court Says Leaked Contractor Info Didn't Help Rival
A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has rejected an aviation fuel services company's suit alleging that the Defense Logistics Agency wrongly failed to mitigate the inadvertent release of sensitive information to the Miami company's rival, saying the agency reasonably determined that the information wasn't competitively useful.
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April 05, 2024
Contractor Settles Naturalized Citizen's Hiring Bias Claims
A federal contractor settled claims that it slammed the brakes on hiring a naturalized citizen after finding out that she was not born in the U.S., the U.S. Department of Justice said.
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April 04, 2024
Secret Service Defeats Protest of $4.1M Janitorial Deal
The U.S. Secret Service has survived a contractor's protest of a $4.13 million deal to provide janitorial work at the agency's Maryland training facility when the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled the agency adequately probed allegations of procurement integrity violations.
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April 04, 2024
Peters Proposes Bills To Boost Federal Contracting Efficiency
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., has introduced a pair of bipartisan bills intended to improve federal contracting, one aimed at increasing competition and making greater use of commercial items, the other requiring agencies to track the practical value they receive from contracts.
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April 04, 2024
Claims Court Backs Defense Health Agency $31M IT Deal Pick
A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge denied an information technology contractor's protest of a $31 million IT deal the Defense Health Agency awarded to a competitor, saying he found nothing wrong with how the agency evaluated the contractors' proposals.
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April 04, 2024
Ginnie Mae, HUD Must Face Bank's Vacated Lien Suit
A Texas federal judge trimmed but declined to dismiss Texas Capital Bank's suit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and its Government National Mortgage Association program over a vacated loan lien that the bank says was worth tens of millions of dollars.
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April 04, 2024
GAO Says Navy Awardee Ineligible Due To Registration Lapse
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has backed a protest over a nearly $5 million Navy custodial services contract, saying the awardee's attempt to re-register in a federal contractor database ahead of expiry didn't excuse a breach of a continuous registration requirement.
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April 03, 2024
We Had No Conflict In Postal Service Bid, Co. Tells Fed Circ.
A company excluded from a U.S. Postal Service explosives detection contract told the Federal Circuit on Wednesday that a claims court judge hadn't justified his ruling that a conflict of interest stemming from the company's previous work for the service couldn't be mitigated.
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April 03, 2024
US Escapes $7.5M Demand For Bomb-Sniffing K9s In Kabul
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has tossed a non-governmental organization's lawsuit seeking $7.5 million from the U.S. government for K9 bomb-sniffing work in an area of Afghanistan that housed foreign embassies, saying the government never agreed to guarantee payment.
Expert Analysis
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Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times
As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.
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Steps For Gov't Contractors On The OFCCP's Audit List
Federal contractors on the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' most recent list of firms flagged for potential audit should take certain steps now in light of the agency’s new scheduling letter, which significantly increases the burden and potential risks for contractors, say Andrew Turnbull and Sadé Tidwell at MoFo.
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5th Circ. Ruling Reminds Attys That CBP Can Search Devices
The Fifth Circuit’s recent Malik v. Department of Homeland Security decision adds to the chorus of federal courts holding that border agents don’t need a warrant to search travelers’ electronic devices, so attorneys should consider certain special precautions to secure privileged information when reentering the U.S., says Jennifer Freel at Jackson Walker.
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Avoiding The Ethical Pitfalls Of Crowdfunded Legal Fees
The crowdfunding of legal fees has become increasingly common, providing a new way for people to afford legal services, but attorneys who accept crowdsourced funds must remember several key ethical obligations to mitigate their risks, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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3 Action Items For Contractors Facing A Gov't Shutdown
Federal contractors can help ensure they are well situated to endure a potential government shutdown by reviewing project funding levels and contractual stop-work clauses, and communicating with contracting officers and subcontractors about their respective obligations, says Derek Mullins at Butzel Long.
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What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review
Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Checking In On How SuperValu Has Altered FCA Litigation
Four months after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. ex rel. Chutte v. SuperValu, the decision's reach may be more limited than initially anticipated, with the expansion of the scienter standard counterbalanced by some potential defense tools for defendants, say Elena Quattrone and Olivia Plinio at Epstein Becker.
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Tossed FIFA Bribery Convictions May Spur New DOJ Offense
After a New York federal court vacated the bribery convictions of two defendants in the U.S. Department of Justice’s sprawling FIFA probe, prosecutors may continue to pursue foreign commercial corruption through other means, albeit with some limitations, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Series
Participating In Living History Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My role as a baron in a living history group, and my work as volunteer corporate counsel for a book series fan association, has provided me several opportunities to practice in unexpected areas of law — opening doors to experiences that have nurtured invaluable personal and professional skills, says Matthew Parker at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
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Opinion
Private Equity Owners Can Remedy Law Firms' Agency Issues
Nonlawyer, private-equity ownership of law firms can benefit shareholders and others vulnerable to governance issues such as disparate interests, and can in turn help resolve agency problems, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Avoid Pleading Errors' Harsh Effects
Zachary Jacobson and Stephanie Magnell at Seyfarth examine three recent cases that illustrate the severe consequences different pleading errors may have on a government contractor's ability to pursue a contract dispute, sometimes forever precluding relief regardless of the merits of a claim.
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Not To Be Outpaced: How The 2024 NDAA Addresses China
Both the House and Senate versions of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act include numerous provisions aimed at strengthening U.S. deterrence and competitive positioning vis-à-vis China, while imposing significantly more disruptive burdens on government contractors and their suppliers than in prior years, say attorneys at Covington.
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How To Protect Atty-Client Privilege While Using Generative AI
When using generative artificial intelligence tools, attorneys should consider several safeguards to avoid breaches or complications in attorney-client privilege, say Antonious Sadek and Christopher Campbell at DLA Piper.
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How New Lawyers Can Leverage Feedback For Growth
Embracing constructive criticism as a tool for success can help new lawyers accelerate their professional growth and law firms build a culture of continuous improvement, says Katie Aldrich at Fringe Professional Development.
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Bracing For Rising Cyber-Related False Claims Act Scrutiny
Two recent cyber-related False Claims Act cases illustrate the vulnerability of government contractors, including universities, obliged to self-attest compliance with multiple controls, signal the importance of accurate internal controls and underline the benefits of self-disclosure, say Townsend Bourne and Nikole Snyder at Sheppard Mullin.