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Government Contracts
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March 14, 2024
McDermott Eyes White Collar Growth With Orrick FCPA Pros
McDermott Will & Emery LLP announced Thursday the addition of a seven-partner team from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP that will focus on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the False Claims Act, saying it hired the team with an eye toward its white collar and government investigation capabilities.
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March 14, 2024
DOD's Weapons Monitoring In Iraq Fell Short, Watchdog Says
The U.S. Department of Defense failed to properly inspect and account for military equipment sent to Iraq to fight ISIS, raising the possibility of weapons going missing and falling into adversaries' hands, the department's internal watchdog said.
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March 13, 2024
GAO Backs $12.3M DISA Support Deal Despite Lower Quote
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has denied a business consultant company's protest of a $12.3 million Defense Information Systems Agency task order, backing the agency's decision not to choose the company despite its lower price quotation and same ratings as the awardee.
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March 13, 2024
Hospital Manager Cements $3.5M Gabon Arbitration Award
The Gabonese Republic must pay a $3.5 million arbitration award obtained by an Austrian healthcare management company, a D.C. federal judge ruled after the central African nation failed to appear in court.
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March 13, 2024
CoreCivic Beats Asylum-Seeker's Miscarriage Liability Suit
A California federal judge handed CoreCivic Inc. a win Tuesday in a negligence lawsuit filed by an El Salvadorian asylum-seeker who alleged she miscarried while detained at the prison giant's immigration detention center near the U.S.-Mexico border, finding there to be no triable factual dispute over whether she miscarried in custody.
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March 13, 2024
Hospital Operator Defends Releases In Ch. 11 Plan
California-based hospital operator Alecto Healthcare Services LLC asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday to approve its small business Chapter 11 reorganization, saying it is not leaving money on the table by releasing potential clawback claims.
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March 13, 2024
Claims Court Lets $282M USPS Telematics Deal Protest Stand
A Federal Claims Court judge has refused to toss a fleet-tracking technology company's protest of a $281.8 million U.S. Postal Service deal for a vehicle telematics system, rejecting USPS' contention the company couldn't sue without first exhausting agency-level remedies.
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March 12, 2024
Lima Loses Bid To Duck $140M Arb. Awards In Highway Row
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday refused to overturn $140 million in arbitral awards against the city of Lima, Peru, stemming from its dispute with a highway contractor, ruling that the contractor won those two awards "fair and square."
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March 12, 2024
Contractor Seeks Arbitration In $3M Guam Military Base Fight
An electrical contractor has petitioned a Guam federal court to order a California-Japanese joint venture that had hired it for a project to improve U.S. military facilities to arbitrate their dispute related to nearly $3 million in allegedly unpaid costs.
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March 12, 2024
Suncor Deal With Colo. Over Air Monitoring Gets Judge's OK
A Colorado state judge has approved a settlement agreement between Suncor and state air regulators over air quality monitoring around the oil and gas company's refinery near Denver.
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March 12, 2024
FEMA Claims Process Leaves NM Fire Victims Lost, Suit Says
Five New Mexico residents are suing the Federal Emergency Management Agency over its response to a massive 2022 fire, alleging it has created delay, confusion and ambiguity in the claims process for the fire's victims.
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March 12, 2024
2nd Circ. Revives Parts Of McKesson Whistleblower Suit
The Second Circuit on Tuesday revived parts of a lawsuit brought by a McKesson Corp. whistleblower who accuses the pharmaceutical company of a kickback scheme, finding that the lower court should reconsider the claims that were brought under state anti-kickback laws.
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March 12, 2024
Feds Cement Plea Deals In Ready-Mix Bid Rig Case
A Georgia concrete company and an executive accused of participating in a price-fixing and bid-rigging scheme have reached plea agreements with the federal government, according to notices filed Tuesday.
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March 12, 2024
TransUnion Unit Pays $37M On Credit Card Data Misuse Claim
TransUnion's data unit Argus Information & Advisory Services will pay $37 million to the federal government to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by allegedly misusing anonymized credit card data it obtained from banks under contracts with federal regulators over a decade-long period, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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March 12, 2024
Contractor Says Claims Over Nixed $18M Army Corps Deal Valid
An Army Corps of Engineers construction contractor told a Court of Federal Claims judge it had properly supported its arguments that the Corps waived a contract deadline before terminating an $18.1 million contract for default, and that the company had been entitled to a time extension.
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March 12, 2024
Court Bars Ex-Exec From Sharing Info On Co.'s Body Armor
A North Carolina federal court granted a defense contractor's request to stop a former sales executive from sharing confidential information and export-controlled data with a foreign rival, while the court reviews the contractor's allegations.
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March 12, 2024
Pharmacy Calls $11M False Claims Case A 'House Of Cards'
A compounding pharmacy and its president trashed the Connecticut attorney general's $11 million false claims and kickback allegations against them as a "house of cards" that awarded "a sweetheart cooperation deal" to an alleged co-conspirator and improperly benefited private attorneys, calling instead for a judgment against the state.
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March 12, 2024
Ex-Judge Loses Suit Over 'Tsunami Of Public Ridicule'
An appellate court has refused to revive a former New York state trial court judge's suit accusing a Democratic county committee and several related officials of releasing a "tsunami of public ridicule" against her, saying her breach of contract claims lacked legal standing and her defamation claim was untimely.
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March 12, 2024
No Jail Time For Brothers In NYC Mayor Straw Donor Case
Two brothers at the helm of a Queens construction safety company won't serve any prison time for their roles in a straw donor scheme that inflated public funding for New York City Mayor Eric Adams' 2021 campaign, a judge ruled Tuesday.
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March 11, 2024
Gov't Says Cost Trumps Return In Dish Spectrum Fraud Case
The U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal judge to dismiss a suit accusing Dish Network of trying to buy discounted spectrum through sham companies, saying the plaintiff hasn't shown that Dish hid its interest in the buyers and the companies never received Federal Communications Commission bidding credits anyway.
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March 11, 2024
DOD's $850B Budget Request For 2025 Prioritizes Readiness
The White House on Monday proposed an $849.8 billion discretionary budget for the U.S. Department of Defense for fiscal year 2025, focusing heavily on supporting readiness programs over other priorities.
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March 11, 2024
Navajo Says Funding Bid Backed By Self-Determination Act
The Navajo Nation urged a D.C. federal judge to grant it a quick win in its challenge to allegedly inadequate judicial funding, saying the federal government's arguments for why it shouldn't recoup a $15 million interest shortfall can't survive scrutiny under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.
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March 11, 2024
Feds Pitch Draft Plan For Contested Bears Ears Monument
The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service are asking for public input on a draft resource management plan for the Bears Ears National Monument, prepared with input from partners including five tribal nations.
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March 11, 2024
Pfizer Slams Ex-Compliance Officer's Whistleblower Claims
Pfizer has asked a California federal court to again dismiss the bulk of a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by a former compliance officer for the pharmaceutical giant, arguing his latest suit is "largely a regurgitation of his original complaint."
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March 11, 2024
Atlanta Must Pay EPA $485K Fine Over Trail Construction
The city of Atlanta will be forced to pay a $485,000 fine to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its unauthorized construction of a public trail along a protected creek after a Georgia federal judge ruled Monday that the project had violated the terms of a decades-old consent decree.
Expert Analysis
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SBA 8(a) Contractors Must Prepare To Reestablish Eligibility
A Tennessee federal court's recent decision in Ultima Services v. U.S. Department of Agriculture has massive implications for the Small Business Administration's 8(a) Business Development Program, whose participants will soon need to reestablish their status as socially disadvantaged, say Edward DeLisle and Andrés Vera at Thompson Hine.
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To Hire And Keep Top Talent, Think Beyond Compensation
Firms seeking to appeal to sophisticated clients and top-level partners should promote mentorship, ensure that attorneys from diverse backgrounds feel valued, and clarify policies about at-home work, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.
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What Circuit Split May Mean For FCA Kickback Liability
The recent circuit split on the meaning of the resulting-from provision in False Claims Act kickback cases could have significant ramifications for FCA liability, as it could affect the standard of causation that plaintiffs must meet to establish liability, say former federal prosecutors Li Yu, Ellen London and Gregg Shapiro.
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Gov't Contract Billing Lessons From Booz Allen Settlement
Allegations that contractor Booz Allen spent a decade improperly billing indirect costs to the government, recently highlighted in a $377 million settlement, offer pointed lessons for businesses on how to address False Claims Act concerns, and for federal investigators on how to identify highly technical accounting discrepancies in real time, says Denise Barnes at Honigman.
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Perspectives
More States Should Join Effort To Close Legal Services Gap
Colorado is the most recent state to allow other types of legal providers, not just attorneys, to offer specific services in certain circumstances — and more states should rethink the century-old assumptions that shape our current regulatory rules, say Natalie Anne Knowlton and Janet Drobinske at the University of Denver.
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Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure
Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Personnel Loss, Conflicts, Timeliness
In this month's bid protest roundup, Locke Bell at MoFo highlights recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Government Accountability Office, addressing an offeror's loss of key personnel, organizational conflicts of interest arising out of reliance on former government employees in preparing a bid, and protest timeliness when no debriefing is required.
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9th Circ. Ruling Shows Int'l Arbitration Jurisdictional Snags
While the Ninth Circuit sidestepped the thorny and undecided constitutional question of whether a foreign state is a person for the purposes of a due process analysis, its Devas v. Antrix opinion provides important guidance to parties seeking to enforce an arbitration award against a foreign sovereign in the U.S., say attorneys at Wiley.
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Conn. Ruling Highlights Keys To Certificate-Of-Need Appeals
The Connecticut Supreme Court's recent decision in High Watch Recovery Center v. Department of Public Health, rejecting rigid application of statutes concerning certificate-of-need procedure, provides important guidance on building an administrative record to support a finding that a case is contested, say attorneys at Robinson & Cole.
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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.