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Government Contracts
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May 6, 2013
NYC, Citibank Hit With $3M Suit Over Bike-Share Station
New York City was hit Friday with the first lawsuit filed against its long-awaited Citi Bike rental program, which it began rolling out in connection with Citibank NA over the last several weeks, when residents of a West Village cooperative claimed the bike rental station in front of their building violated safety laws.
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May 6, 2013
Judge Won't Reconsider Ruling In DOE Uranium Cleanup Fight
A federal judge on Friday refused to reconsider her finding that a construction company’s creditors, but not the company itself, can pursue a nearly $10 million claim against the government over the alleged wrongful termination of a cleanup contract at a Colorado uranium mill.
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May 6, 2013
$10M Security Fix For NYC Court Escapes US Spending Cuts
The chief judge of Manhattan's federal court gathered with elected officials Monday to unveil plans for a $10.4 million glass-and-steel security pavilion project that, despite deep budget cuts in Washington, will see the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse become a harder target by 2015.
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May 6, 2013
Adventist Health Pays $14.1M To Settle FCA Kickback Claims
Nonprofit hospital owner Adventist Health System/West and an affiliate on Friday agreed to pay $14.1 million to settle whistleblower allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to doctors for patient referrals.
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May 3, 2013
DC Circ. Urged To Halt DOE's $750M Nuclear Waste Fees
Two Florida agencies urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to halt the U.S. Department of Energy's collection of $750 million in annual nuclear waste disposal fees, arguing that the fees are unlawful given that a U.S. waste facility project was abandoned and no permanent repository exists.
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May 3, 2013
Electronic Bid Not A 'Claim' Under FCA, Judge Rules
A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge on Tuesday dismissed U.S. False Claims Act counterclaims in a dispute over two canceled orders for electronic parts, ruling that the contractor's electronic quotation was merely an offer, and not a deceptive "claim for payment" under the False Claims Act.
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May 3, 2013
GAO Tightens 'Too Close' Rule For Ignored Contract Info
A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office decision sided with the U.S. Army in a protest over past performance information the Army didn't consider during its evaluations, clarifying the importance of contractors picking the most relevant contract references during a bid, attorneys say.
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May 3, 2013
NYC Judge Rejects Attempt To Dodge Campaign Funding Law
New York City's campaign finance law, which sharply limits how much donors can give in an effort, among other things, to cut back on "pay to play" arrangements between contractors and candidates, applies to office-seekers who opt out of taking matching funds, a Manhattan trial judge said Friday, rejecting a mayoral candidate's bid to skirt the city's rules in favor of higher state limits.
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May 3, 2013
KBR Challenge To Closeout Of $500M Iraq Contract Kept Alive
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Thursday denied the federal government's bid to strike KBR Inc.'s first amended complaint over a plan to close out its Iraq contract with a fixed-price $500 million deal, saying the amendment wouldn't prejudice the U.S. "in any meaningful way."
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May 3, 2013
US Accuses Chemed Hospice Units of Medicare Fraud
The U.S. government hit one of the largest hospice chains in the country with a lawsuit Thursday, accusing it of scamming Medicare by submitting hospice care claims for patients who were not terminally ill.
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May 3, 2013
Exec Admits Being Bribed For $3.2M Afghanistan Contract
The former vice president of a U.S. military construction contractor pled guilty in Louisiana federal court Thursday to accepting bribes in exchange for awarding a $3.2 million subcontract to help repair an airfield in Afghanistan.
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May 3, 2013
CMS Proposes Payment Bump For Inpatient Rehab Centers
Medicare on Thursday proposed a rule to increase payments to inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 2 percent in fiscal year 2014 — a total increase of about $150 million.
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May 2, 2013
NJ Appeals Court Nixes State Lease With Noncompliant Bidder
A New Jersey appellate court on Wednesday reversed a state agency's award of a competitively bid lease for the site of a future career center, ruling the agency lacked the discretion to award the lease to a site that didn't meet mandatory requirements despite being the lowest bid.
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May 2, 2013
LED Maker Hits Contractor With Suit Over False Promises
A Philadelphia-based lighting design company launched a lawsuit in New Jersey federal court alleging its business partner Laser Energetics Inc. falsely touted partnerships with major government contractors such as CACI International Inc. to secure an exclusive licensing agreement of its technology.
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May 2, 2013
Cuomo's Anti-Corruption Bill Isn't Bulletproof
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's anti-public corruption bill is on mostly solid legal ground, but a bid to change how grand jury probes work could trigger challenges from witnesses confused over the extent of their immunity and a proposed anti-bribery statute could take flak on free-speech grounds, experts say.
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May 2, 2013
DOJ's False Claims Suit Against Armstrong Faces Uphill Climb
In the fraud suit it filed against Lance Armstrong after he admitted to cheating throughout his career, the government will face an uphill battle to prove that its claims are not time-barred and that it suffered financial injury because of Armstrong's cover-up, attorneys say.
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May 2, 2013
US Preserves Most Claims In $150M Slaughterhouse FCA Suit
A California federal judge on Tuesday largely refused to trim a False Claims Act suit against parties tied to a slaughterhouse that allegedly supplied the National School Lunch program with beef from sick and disabled cows, saying the U.S. had raised triable issues of fact.
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May 2, 2013
Quest Loses Challenge To $250M LabCorp Army Contract
A federal judge has denied Quest Diagnostics Inc.'s protest of a $250 million U.S. Army medical testing contract awarded to rival Laboratory Corp. of America, according to an opinion unsealed Wednesday.
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May 2, 2013
NASA Signs $424M Russian Deal, Delays Private Space Plan
NASA on Tuesday signed a $424 million contract extension with Russian space agency Roscosmos, which transports U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station, delaying a plan to turn over astronaut transportation to U.S. contractors by 2015.
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May 1, 2013
Union Accused Of Conspiring To Destroy NJ Contractor
A New Jersey construction company filed suit last week in New Jersey state court against a borough that allegedly refused to pay for a completed project and a union that allegedly defamed and interfered with the business, saying both forced the company to shut down.
Expert Analysis
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Watch Out For New Cybersecurity Rules, Defense Contractors
The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act mandates that the U.S. Department of Defense establish "rapid reporting" requirements for cleared defense contractors to report cyber intrusions. The forthcoming procedures may facilitate improved cybersecurity information-sharing between the government and industry participants, but also may may heighten concerns about protection of the contractor’s or third parties’ sensitive or proprietary information, say attorneys with Arnold & Porter LLP.
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6 Areas Often Underestimated In Law Firm Mergers
While mergers in other industries are driven by cost efficiencies or economies of scale, law firm mergers are typically focused on the potential to leverage clients and the overall quality of the attorney population, branding and market position. As a result, full disclosure of third-party vendor or support function operating costs can be a secondary concern until after the deal closes. Firms need to hit the ground running the moment the merger is inked, says Matthew Sunderman of HBR Consulting LLC.
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What Sequestration Of Gov't Contracts Will Look Like
On March 1, the president will issue a sequestration order that requires federal agencies to make uniform percentage reductions in each separate line item in their budgets. Based on the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings sequestration in 1986, we can predict how the executive branch is likely to apply the sequester to government contracts, says John Cooney of Venable LLP.
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Another Stab At Limiting Pass-Through Subcontracting
In theory, Section 802 of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act would help cut out unnecessary middlemen and give the contracting officer more authority to limit pass-through contracts. In reality, the provision and its eventual implementing regulations are unlikely to see the light of day in an actual procurement, say Ken Weckstein and Aidan Delgado of Brown Rudnick LLP.
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Same FCA Question — Different Answers
So far this year, the Fourth, D.C. and Ninth Circuits have answered a question on the pleading standard necessitated by the False Claims Act: Does the complainant have to plead the existence of a false claim? These cases reflect the ongoing tension between many relators’ relative ignorance of internal billing records and the purpose of the FCA, says Cameron Ellis of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.
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How To Respond To Government Contract Delays And Changes
Across-the-board reductions in federal agency budgets are likely to be imposed beginning March 1. Federal contracts give the government the right to impose schedule delays in contractor performance, direct work stoppages and order changes in the delivery schedule, but the government does not have the right to impose the costs of those actions on contractors — provided the contractors take timely action to preserve their rights to compensation, says Jonathan Cain of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC.
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10 Ways To Maximize Success Of Gov't Contract Claims
There are 10 steps you should take to facilitate your ability to distinguish between potentially successful government contract claims and those that will only put money in your lawyer’s pockets. These steps will enhance the prospect that the claims you do pursue will be successful, and will serve to deprive the government of some of its more popular defenses, says John Chierichella of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
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The Devil Is In 'Where To Disclose' Supply Chain Details
While most compliance and supply chain professionals by now generally appreciate the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act’s objective and basic mechanics, a visit to the homepage of your favorite manufacturer or retailer is likely to reveal that there continues to be a surprising level of confusion over something exceptionally basic: namely, where the disclosure must be announced, say attorneys with Perkins Coie LLP.
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7 Resolutions For Legal Industry Marketing In 2013
The New Year is still in its infancy, and there is no better time to craft a list of professional resolutions. To ease into the process, consider seven easy steps for super-charging your marketing and communications efforts in 2013, says Michael Bond of Blattel Communications.
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Ready Or Not, Final Compliance Guidelines Are Here
There are no more excuses for failing to adopt a comprehensive compliance program — the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a set of final compliance program guidelines applicable to sponsors, which serves as an important road map to health care providers for the development and refinement of compliance programs, say attorneys with Blank Rome LLP.