Government Contracts

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • April 03, 2024

    Insurer Wants $38M For Covering Unfinished Road Jobs

    An insurance company has asked a federal court to force companies connected to an insolvent contractor to hand over more than $38 million to compensate for costs it covered for unfinished jobs.

  • April 03, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Struggles With Ambiguity In $14M Army Corps Row

    Federal Circuit judges struggled Wednesday to understand ambiguous terms in a company's contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for post-hurricane power restoration, indicating that neither party had clearly explained if the contractor has a valid $14 million claim for additional work needed.

Expert Analysis

  • Lessons From Country Singer's Personal Service Saga

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    Recent reports that country singer Luke Combs won a judgment against a Florida woman who didn’t receive notice of the counterfeit suit against her should serve as a reminder for attorneys on best practices for effectuating service by electronic means, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • How US Companies Can Wield The New Foreign Bribery Law

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    U.S. companies operating in high-risk markets can use the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act that passed last month to their advantage both in preventing bribe demands and in negotiating with the Justice Department to prevent prosecution or to receive cooperation credit, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • A Potential Proactive Tool For Public-Private Joint Ventures

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    In the current environment of heightened antitrust enforcement, the National Cooperative Research and Production Act seems tailor-made for the collaborative work among competitors encouraged by the Biden administration's infrastructure and green energy funding legislation, say Jeetander Dulani and Susan Ebner at Stinson.

  • How Gov't Use Of Suspension And Debarment Has Evolved

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    A recent report to Congress about federal agencies' suspension and debarment activities in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 shows exclusion remains a threat to government contracting businesses, though proactive engagement with suspending-and-debarring officials and alternate forms of redress are becoming more common, says David Robbins at Jenner & Block.

  • Uncharted Waters Ahead For FCA Litigation In 2024

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    Following a year of significant court decisions, settlements, recoveries and proposed amendments, 2024 promises to be a lively year for False Claims Act actions and litigation, and one that will hopefully provide more clarity as FCA jurisprudence evolves, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What's On Tap For Public Corruption Prosecutions In 2024

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    All signs point toward another year of blockbuster public corruption prosecutions in 2024, revealing broader trends in enforcement and jurisprudence, and promising valuable lessons for defense strategy, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.

  • Federal Courts And AI Standing Orders: Safety Or Overkill?

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    Several district court judges have issued standing orders regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courts, but courts should consider following ordinary notice and comment procedures before implementing sweeping mandates that could be unnecessarily burdensome and counterproductive, say attorneys at Curtis.

  • The 5 Most Important Bid Protest Decisions Of 2023

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    Attorneys at Bradley Arant discuss noteworthy 2023 bid protest decisions from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and U.S. Government Accountability Office, offering perspectives on standing, document production, agency deference, System for Award Management registration requirements and mentor-protégé joint venture proposal evaluations.

  • 4 Questions On Groundbreaking New Foreign Bribery Law

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    The recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act will significantly alter the anti-corruption landscape under U.S. law by allowing prosecutors to pursue foreign officials for soliciting or accepting bribes, but it’s not yet clear how the statute will be used and by whom, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • OIG Report Has Clues For 2024 Healthcare Fraud Enforcement

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    A recent report from the Health Department's Office of the Inspector General reveals healthcare fraud and abuse enforcement trends that will continue in 2024, from increased telehealth oversight to enhanced policing of managed care, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond

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    The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.

  • DOD's Proposed Cyber Rule: What Contractors Must Know

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    A review of the U.S. Department of Defense's recently published Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification proposed rule, requiring independent third-party cybersecurity assessments for many defense contractors, suggests that there will be a competitive advantage to prompt demonstration of full compliance with the rule, says Robert Metzger at Rogers Joseph.

  • Tips For Contractors Preparing For Potential Gov't Shutdown

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    With elements of the Congress’ latest continuing resolution expiring on Jan. 19, companies that may be fatigued by preparing for potential shutdown after potential shutdown should consider the current political climate and take specific steps now, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • 2 FCPA Settlements Illuminate Self-Disclosure, Disgorgement

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    Two of last year’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act settlements — with biomedical company Lifecore and mining company Corsa Coal — suggest that the government will be much more flexible in negotiating disgorgement amounts if an entity voluntarily self-discloses misconduct, say Michael Gilbert and Lucas Amodio at Sheppard Mullin.

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