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Government Contracts
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March 26, 2024
Suit Over Faulty VA Estimates Came Too Late, Claims Court Says
A contractor waited too long to sue the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs over faulty ridership estimates for a patient transportation contract, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims said, freeing the department from nearly $10.4 million worth of claims.
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March 26, 2024
Pharmacy Owner Gets 42 Months For $25M Kickback Scam
A medical equipment pharmacy owner was sentenced to 42 months in prison Tuesday for carrying out a $25 million kickback scheme with a patient-leads broker as part of a scheme to falsely bill the federal government for care.
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March 26, 2024
'Landmark' Trans Women Prison Housing Deal Gets Final OK
A Colorado state judge on Tuesday approved a consent decree between the state and a class of transgender women who sued over dangerous housing conditions in state prisons and now hope the plan to accommodate their needs will spread to other states.
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March 26, 2024
AI Weapons Detector Faces Investor Suit After Gov't Probes
Evolv Technologies, which makes metal detectors that purportedly use artificial intelligence to detect weapons, is facing a proposed shareholder class action in Massachusetts federal court alleging that false claims about its products' abilities to screen for types of tactical knives and guns led to federal investigations and share declines.
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March 26, 2024
Army Found Not Liable For Canceled Third-Party Lease
A Court of Federal Claims judge on Tuesday tossed a $2.6 million lawsuit seeking to hold the U.S. Army liable for the early cancellation of a railroad lease, finding the railroad operator's contract was with a "middleman," not the Army itself.
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March 26, 2024
Late Navy Lt.'s Dad Says Northrop Lied About Aircraft Safety
The father of a U.S. Navy lieutenant who died during an aviation training mission alleges Northrop Grumman Corp. lied to the Navy about the safety of its advanced Hawkeye aircraft despite receiving hazard reports on engine failures dating back to 2015.
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March 26, 2024
Polsinelli Adds Arnold & Porter Gov't Contracts Shareholder
Polsinelli PC has added an Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP partner in Washington, D.C., who focuses his practice on government contracts, procurement law and other related matters, the firm announced Tuesday.
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March 25, 2024
Former Next Health Exec Sanctioned For Evidence Slipup
A Texas federal judge sanctioned a former executive at the scandal-ridden ancillary services company Next Health, but didn't go so far as to level a case-killing default judgment against him, saying that while the plaintiffs lost access to key data, the executive didn't act with bad faith.
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March 25, 2024
Ex-LA Official Downplayed Role In Huizar Bribes, Jury Told
An FBI agent told California federal jurors in former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan's criminal trial Monday that Chan denied facilitating bribes between then-city councilor Jose Huizar and a developer when initially questioned by investigators, despite evidence showing he helped orchestrate Las Vegas trips and loans to help Huizar.
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March 25, 2024
SolarWinds Makes Renewed Bid To Toss SEC Cyber Suit
SolarWinds Corp. has asked a New York federal court to dismiss an amended suit it is facing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, saying the agency cites documents that contradict its claims against the government contractor.
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March 25, 2024
IHS Fears Budget Cuts Over Tribal Healthcare Funding Case
Federal government attorneys told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that Indian Health Services might be forced to cut its budget by 40% if two Native American tribes prevail in their bids to uphold rulings that ordered they be reimbursed millions in administrative healthcare costs.
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March 25, 2024
Wash. Asks Judge To Undo Block Of ICE Detention Center Law
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has urged a federal judge to reconsider a recent ruling halting the state from conducting unannounced inspections and imposing new health and safety standards at an immigration detention facility, saying the decision "rests on legal error."
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March 25, 2024
DOJ Slammed For Backing GEO Group In Detainee Wage Fight
A group of immigrant detainees has urged the Ninth Circuit to reject the federal government's stance that a privately run detention center in Tacoma is exempt from Washington's minimum wage, saying the United States has failed to point to any conflicting federal laws.
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March 25, 2024
5th Circ. Told Procurement Act Limits Biden's Wage Power
The Biden administration lacks authority to implement a $15-per-hour minimum wage for government contractors, three Southern states told the Fifth Circuit, because the Procurement Act only empowers the executive branch to trim federal expenditures.
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March 25, 2024
DOJ Calls Probe Of Alleged SpaceX Hiring Bias Constitutional
The U.S. Department of Justice has defended its investigation into allegations that SpaceX refused to hire asylum-seekers and refugees, telling a Texas federal judge that its authority stems from a constitutionally sound provision of federal immigration law barring workplace discrimination based on citizenship status.
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March 25, 2024
Texas Judge Extends Stay On Border Wall Funding Order
A Texas federal judge briefly extended a pause on an injunction directing the Biden administration to use funding Congress appropriated to build physical barriers on the Southwest border for that purpose, as the administration asks for clarification of the order, saying it could otherwise make it hard to build anything.
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March 25, 2024
Justices Won't Review 11th Circ. $285M Arbitrator Bias Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an Eleventh Circuit decision refusing to vacate $285 million in arbitral awards issued to the operator of the Panama Canal, a case that the petitioners said raised questions about the standard by which courts may nix awards over an arbitrator's "evident partiality."
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March 22, 2024
Up Next At High Court: Abortion, Jury Trials And Estate Tax
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this week over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision expanding access to popular abortion pill mifepristone as well as whether juries should determine a defendants' eligibility for repeat offender enhanced sentencing under the Armed Career Criminal Act and how long federal employees have to appeal adverse employment decisions.
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March 22, 2024
Watchdog Calls To Redo $896M Migrant Transport Deal
The U.S. General Services Administration must redo an $896 million contract to transport unaccompanied migrant children, after a federal watchdog determined that the deal was awarded to a company whose proposed contract lead may be unqualified to oversee the contract.
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March 22, 2024
Prostitutes, Wiretaps, Payoffs: Key LA RICO Witness Tells All
A witness in former Los Angeles deputy mayor Ray Chan's racketeering trial testified Friday about trying to boost his high-end cabinetry business by procuring prostitutes for a city council member, paying more than $150,000 in bribes and attempting to give a city official $10,000 at Chan's behest.
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March 22, 2024
Justices Asked To Review $36M Sanctions Order In TM Case
A man who works in the field of marketing and ad copywriting has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a $36 million sanctions order against him and several companies in a trademark case.
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March 22, 2024
Boston Soccer Stadium Project Gets Green Light From Judge
A plan by the city of Boston to turn a stadium inside historic Franklin Park over to a professional women's soccer team can continue moving forward, after a judge on Friday denied a requested injunction to halt it.
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March 22, 2024
Colo. City Wins $13.5M For Software Co.'s Trickery
A Colorado federal judge says a software company that was found to have lied to secure a multimillion project with the city of Fort Collins must pay $13.5 million for the city's costs stemming from its fraud.
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March 22, 2024
Judge Cuts ICE Contractor, Keeps US In Medical Abuse Suit
A Georgia federal judge on Friday left standing only a narrow sliver of class claims against the federal government from immigrant women alleging they underwent invasive, unnecessary medical procedures while in federal custody, dismissing the bulk of their lawsuit.
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March 22, 2024
States Say Prez Doesn't Have Power To Hike Contractor Pay
Four states told the Ninth Circuit that the Biden administration's implementation of a $15-per-hour minimum wage for federal contractors was unlawful, arguing that the government misinterpreted a statement of statutory purpose as a mandate for broad regulatory authority.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Congress Needs Better Health Care Fraud Data From DOD
The U.S. Department of Defense does not collect enough data to prevent health care and service contractor fraud and waste, so Congress should enact benchmarks that the DOD must meet when gathering and reporting data, enabling lawmakers to make better-informed decisions about defense appropriations, says Jessica Lehman at Verizon.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'
Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.
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A 'Deliberate Indifference' Circ. Split For Prison Medical Cases
Allison Becker and Kendra Stark at Gordon & Rees examine the circuit split over how a patient's incarceration status affects the applicable standard for “deliberate indifference” in correctional medical lawsuits, noting an uptick in cases related to outbreaks and staffing shortages at correctional facilities during the pandemic.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Nonmonetary Claims, Timeliness
Bret Marfut and Stephanie Magnell at Seyfarth look at recent decisions from the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that shed light on the jurisdictional contours of the Contract Disputes Act and provide useful guidance on timely filings and jurisdiction over nonmonetary claims.
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Aviation Watch: Osprey Aircraft May Face Tort Claims
A recent U.S. Marine Corps Command report found that the cause of a 2022 Osprey crash was a problem known to the manufacturer and the military for over 10 years — and the aircraft may now be on its way to a day of reckoning in the tort liability arena, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.
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4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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Opinion
FinCEN Regs Must Recognize Int'l Whistleblower Realities
In drafting regulations to implement an anti-money laundering whistleblower program, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network must follow the mandates laid out in the White House’s global anti-corruption strategy to protect and compensate whistleblowers in extreme danger worldwide, says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.
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Opinion
3 Ways Justices' Disclosure Defenses Miss The Ethical Point
The rule-bound interpretation of financial disclosures preferred by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — demonstrated in their respective statements defending their failure to disclose gifts from billionaires — show that they do not understand the ethical aspects of the public's concern, says Jim Moliterno at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
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Caregiver Flexibility Is Crucial For Atty Engagement, Retention
As the battle for top talent continues post-pandemic, many firms are attempting to attract employees with progressive hybrid working environments — and supporting caregivers before, during and after an extended leave is a critically important way to retain top talent, says Manar Morales at The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.
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No End In Sight For Pandemic Relief Fraud Enforcement
Congress' recent decision to extend the statute of limitations to 10 years for fraud related to pandemic relief means the era of enforcement actions brought under the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act has only just begun, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Strike Force Actions Underscore Foreign Risks For Tech Cos.
As recent prosecutions demonstrate, a multiagency strike force is ramping up enforcement of trade secret theft and export control violations, and companies will need to be proactive in protecting their sensitive technologies from foreign adversaries, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.
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Questions To Ask Before Drafting Proposals With AI
Before federal contractors adopt AI tools to simplify their proposal writing, they should ask questions about how a given AI tool’s model was developed, and consider the procedures they will need to avoid cookie-cutter submissions and ensure accuracy, privacy and security, among other practical and legal considerations, say attorneys at Wiley.
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In-Office Engagement Is Essential To Associate Development
As law firms develop return-to-office policies that allow hybrid work arrangements, they should incorporate the specific types of in-person engagement likely to help associates develop attributes common among successful firm leaders, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Trends Emerge In High Court's Criminal Law Decisions
In its 2022-2023 term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued nine merits decisions in criminal cases covering a wide range of issues, and while each decision is independently important, when viewed together, key trends and takeaways appear that will affect defendants moving forward, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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Perspectives
A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial
Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.