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Government Contracts
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April 16, 2013
DOD Drops Plan To Urge Contractors To Support Sciences
The U.S. Department of Defense has scuttled a plan to encourage its contractors to enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs, known as STEM, in the country’s schools and universities.
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April 16, 2013
Judge Won't Step Down From Exxon Cleanup Suit
A federal judge refused Tuesday to bow out of Exxon Mobil Corp.'s suit seeking reimbursement from the U.S. government for cleanup costs at two federally funded aviation fuel production facilities, saying his recusal in parallel cases would not affect his impartiality.
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April 16, 2013
Doctors Hit DOD With Tricare Underpayment Class Action
A pair of doctors hit the U.S. Department of Defense with a proposed class action in Washington federal court on Friday, accusing the agency of failing to implement a mandated 2010 Tricare reimbursement increase, stiffing thousands of doctors on Tricare payments.
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April 16, 2013
Minn. Appeals Court Revives Tribal Casino Expansion Suit
A Minnesota appeals court restored a breach of contract suit Monday that the city of Duluth had lodged at a Native American tribe over the tribe's alleged attempts to grow its casino gaming operations with the purchase of a hotel property.
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April 15, 2013
9th Circ. Pares Convictions In Calif. City Corruption Case
The Ninth Circuit on Monday reversed some of the convictions of Albert Robles — the imprisoned former treasurer of South Gate, Calif. — and his associate over Robles’ bribery scheme with city contractors, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Skilling v. United States, which narrowed the scope of honest services fraud.
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April 15, 2013
Scooter Store Enters Ch. 11 Amid Medicare Billing Probes
Private equity-controlled scooter and wheelchair seller The Scooter Store Holdings Inc. entered Chapter 11 protection Monday following civil and criminal investigations into its Medicare billing practices, seeking to sell itself as going concern in about three months.
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April 15, 2013
Raytheon Defends $59.2M Pension Award In Fed. Circ.
Defense contractor Raytheon Co. asked the Federal Circuit on Monday to largely affirm a $59.2 million judgment against the U.S. government for refusing to pay adjusted pension costs on four business segments Raytheon sold off between 2001 and 2002.
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April 15, 2013
House Bill Would Bar Contractors With Tax Debts
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Monday that would prevent the U.S. government from contracting with companies that owe unpaid taxes.
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April 15, 2013
Birdsall Cuts $3.6M Deal With NJ On Ch. 11, Forfeiture
Birdsall Services Group Inc., the engineering firm recently indicted for an alleged pay-to-play scheme, agreed to a $3.6 million settlement Monday that ends New Jersey’s opposition to the company’s bankruptcy and resolves the state's lawsuit aiming to seize Birdsall's assets.
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April 15, 2013
Psychiatric Hospital, Ex-CEO Can't Dodge FCA Suit
A California federal judge on Friday denied a psychiatric hospital's attempts to dismiss a False Claims Act suit over alleged Medicaid and Medicare fraud, rejecting arguments that a former employee was barred from bringing the suit because her claims were based on already public information.
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April 15, 2013
NJ Gov. Nixes Project Labor Agreements In Sandy Rebuilding
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Monday vetoed a bill that would have allowed more of the state’s public works projects to use project labor agreements, saying the bill would slow New Jersey’s effort to repair the damage from Superstorm Sandy.
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April 15, 2013
Obama's Defense Budget Would Slash Contractor Exec Pay
President Barack Obama's proposed 2014 defense budget renews the administration's call to clamp down on the amount the government will pay toward contractor executive salaries, currently $763,000 per year, by tying it to the U.S. vice president's salary
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April 15, 2013
Kaplan Says Ex-Worker Can't Establish Any FCA Breach
Kaplan Inc. on Friday asked a Florida federal judge for judgment in favor of the for-profit educational corporation in a former employee’s False Claims Act suit alleging Kaplan fraudulently obtained federal funding, saying there’s no actual evidence of any FCA violation.
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April 15, 2013
Q&A With Dickstein Shapiro's Dave Nadler
I am concerned about recent cases that have held that False Claims Act liability can be based on mere estimates, as opposed to objective statements of fact, says Dave Nadler, a partner in Dickstein Shapiro LLP's government contracts group.
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April 12, 2013
FCA Whistleblowers Forced To Go It Alone As DOJ Drags Feet
With the rise in whistleblower cases under the False Claims Act, the U.S. Department of Justice is under pressure to unseal cases in which it hasn't made a definitive decision whether or not to intervene, forcing whistleblowers to litigate more fraud cases on their own.
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April 12, 2013
Seattle Sinks 2nd Attempt To Block Funding For $490M Arena
A Washington state judge on Friday dismissed a second lawsuit challenging public financing for a $490 million arena to house professional basketball and hockey franchises in Seattle, saying there were too many questions about the deal's structure for the suit to continue.
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April 12, 2013
NJIT Exits Telecom Contract Row As New Defendant Emerges
The New Jersey Institute of Technology was dismissed Friday from a lawsuit over the award of a lucrative telecommunications contract impacting numerous schools in the state, but a technology consortium of academic and research institutions seems poised to be named as a defendant in its place.
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April 12, 2013
BofA Says Feds' $1B Junk Mortgage Claims Too Vague
Bank of America Corp. again urged a New York federal judge on Thursday to dismiss a $1 billion False Claims Act suit against the bank over junk mortgage loans, arguing that the U.S. government's allegations of a fraud scheme are too vague and relied on misinterpretations of federal law.
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April 12, 2013
Millennium Disclosures Don't Nix All FCA Claims: 1st Circ.
The First Circuit on Friday revived part of a False Claims Act suit accusing Millennium Laboratories of California Inc. of pushing doctors to order excessive and medically unnecessary drug tests, finding that only some of the suit's claims relied on information Millennium had already disclosed in another lawsuit.
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April 12, 2013
US Loses Bid For Doc Disclosure In $11B False Claims Suit
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday shot down the federal government's objection to a special master's recommendation barring disclosure of confidential materials in a whistleblower suit accusing for-profit college chain owner Education Management Corp. of falsely claiming it was eligible for $11 billion in federal funding.
Expert Analysis
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Mapping The Pre-Election Landscape
Both parties are giving it everything they've got as we enter the final stages of the 2012 presidential campaign. The conventional wisdom among electoral vote counters is that it could be difficult for Governor Romney to find his way to 270 electoral votes without Ohio. It could be difficult for President Obama as well, but he has more scenarios under which he could win the election without Ohio's support, say attorneys with SNR Denton.
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Look Before You Leap Into A Securities Litigation Trap
The possibility of expiring tax cuts combined with mandatory reductions in federal spending at year end have prompted observers to warn that the U.S. faces a “fiscal cliff” over which the economy might plunge into another recession. In this climate, public companies can be sure that plaintiffs’ lawyers will be on the lookout for targets of “stock drop” securities fraud class action litigation. But the securities laws are not without protection for companies that assess fiscal cliff risks and disclose them if they are material, say attorneys with Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.
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Corporate Profits Don’t Amount To DOJ’s Gain Under FCA
In this era of widespread government success in the False Claims Act arena, the Sixth Circuit decision in Williams v. Renal Care Group Inc. provides some comfort to FCA defendants that have begun to feel they have little recourse as the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to employ overly aggressive or unfounded theories of liability. The message could not have been clearer — legitimate attempts to maximize profits based on a reasonable interpretation of government regulations does not give rise to FCA liability, say attorneys with Vinson & Elkins LLP.
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Ignorance Is Not Bliss: 'Sham Affidavit' In 9th Circ.
Any lawyer who has taken a deposition has no doubt had a witness answer a question or a series of questions with "I don't recall." Frustrated examiners can take comfort in Yeager v. Bowlin, in which the Ninth Circuit recently strengthened a weapon for combating the forgetful witness — the “sham affidavit” rule, say attorneys with Jones Day.
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How To Survive An OFCCP Compliance Review
Recently, more contractors have been subjected to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' compliance reviews. Your initial attention to detail in creating your affirmative action program, proper maintenance of required reports and records, and efforts at internal diversity programs and outreach efforts will all assist you during the compliance review process, say attorneys with Fisher & Phillips LLP.
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When Retaining Overpayments Leads To FCA Liability
The Affordable Care Act directly links retention of an overpayment under the Medicare or Medicaid programs with False Claims Act liability. But ambiguities in the statute can make it difficult to adopt policies to comply with the 60-day deadline for reporting and returning overpayments, says Lousene Hoppe of Fredrikson & Byron PA.
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'Foreign Official' Under FCPA: Regal May Be Legal
Although a recent U.S. Department of Justice opinion makes clear that not all royal family members are foreign officials under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it also makes clear that royal family members can be foreign officials depending on factors such as their status and relationship with a foreign government and the representations they make regarding that status, say attorneys with Vinson & Elkins LLP.
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Legal Industry Trends: Lawyer Salaries And Job Growth
An analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data reveals that employment prospects for lawyers remain weak in the Northeast while the market for legal services is much stronger in the Mountain West and South Atlantic regions. Among other findings, lawyer salary increases in the Northeast are likely to lag, whereas those in the Mountain West and South Atlantic regions are likely to rise sharply, says Stephen Bronars of Welch Consulting Ltd.
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A View From Inside The Litigation Finance Market
Some critics have suggested that third-party litigation financing raises ethical issues, while others contend it will somehow lead to the filing of a new wave of frivolous suits. Those concerns are unfounded. Over the past few years, the courts, the American Bar Association and the New York City Bar have all concluded that outside litigation financing is entirely proper, says Andrew Langhoff of Burford Group LLC.
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Ins And Outs Of Starting A NJ Health Care Facility
When becoming involved in business-providing health care services in New Jersey, it is crucial to become familiar with the federal and state regulatory requirements that impact starting a new health care venture — in particular, the architectural review and licensing application process, says Anjali Baxi of Archer & Greiner PC.