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Government Contracts
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May 24, 2013
Law360 Names 10 FCPA Powerhouse Firms
Many savvy law firms boast their expertise in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters, but an elite group of 10 firms have emerged as true leaders in the fast-growing field, earning them a spot on Law360’s inaugural list of FCPA Powerhouses.
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May 24, 2013
DOD Needs To Improve Contractor Record Keeping, GAO Says
The U.S. Department of Defense needs to do a better job of keeping track of all of its contractors and what they do, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report Thursday that recommends that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel himself get involved in the effort.
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May 23, 2013
Obama Floats In-Kind Deal In Boeing Aircraft Contract Row
President Barack Obama has asked Congress to authorize the secretary of the Navy to receive payment in-kind for the settlement of a decadeslong legal fight with Boeing Co. and General Dynamics Corp. over a $4.8 billion aircraft contract.
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May 23, 2013
States Want NRC To Expand Waste Storage Study's Scope
The states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont on Wednesday urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to expand its court-ordered review of radioactive waste storage at nuclear power plants, including exploring the option of halting nuclear plant operations until the NRC devises an acceptable and permanent storage solution.
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May 23, 2013
SIGAR Defends Contractor Tax Report From Afghan Criticism
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction struck back Wednesday against the Afghan Ministry of Finance's criticism of its report on improper taxes levied against U.S. contractors, saying the ministry was wrong to try to paint the report as the grumblings of tax scofflaws.
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May 23, 2013
Obama Calls For Phased Ending Of War On Terror
President Barack Obama said Thursday that his administration is making efforts to narrow the scope of the war against al-Qaida by limiting the targeted drone strikes that have killed four Americans, closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay and reining in the legal authority for the 12-year war on terrorist groups.
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May 23, 2013
Ex-Goldman Banker Settles SEC Pay-To-Play Case
A former Goldman Sachs & Co. investment banker has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle claims that his work on the gubernatorial campaign of a Massachusetts state treasurer scored the firm lucrative municipal underwriting business, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday.
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May 23, 2013
Senators Introduce Bill Limiting Medicare Audits
A legislative push to cap audits of hospitals' Medicare claims continued Wednesday, as two Senate lawmakers floated a companion bill to a House measure restricting the number of reviews by recovery audit contractors in order to ease the demand on hospitals and eliminate redundant programs.
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May 22, 2013
Texas Senate Clears Bill Allowing Contractors To Sue State
Texas lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation that will make it easier for construction companies to enforce government contracts by partially lifting a long-standing ban on litigation against the state while also imposing safeguards for litigants in contested state administrative hearings.
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May 22, 2013
CityCenterDC Sues DOL Over Public Works Wage Order
The owners of CityCenterDC, a massive development on the last empty tract of land in downtown Washington, D.C., sued the U.S. Department of Labor in federal court Tuesday over its decision to apply a public works wage requirement to the private project.
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May 22, 2013
DOD Pits VA Health Database Against Contractor Options
The Department of Defense will carry out a full and open competition for integrating its military health records with those managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, rather than simply switching to the VA's system, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday.
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May 22, 2013
White House Taps Acting GSA Admin For Full-Time Post
President Obama announced Wednesday that he will nominate Dan Tangherlini, the acting administrator of the General Services Administration, to stay on as head of the agency, citing Tangherlini's efforts to repair the GSA's tarnished reputation following an infamous Las Vegas training conference scandal.
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May 21, 2013
Reps. Urge Delay Of Medicare Competitive Bidding Program
Medicare should delay its controversial expansion of competitive bidding for durable medical equipment because unlicensed contractors have infiltrated the program and are greatly distorting prices, two congressmen wrote in a letter released Monday.
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May 21, 2013
Pa. Appeals Court Pares Hospitals' Medicaid Rates Suit
A Pennsylvania appeals court on Monday pared down claims in a suit alleging the state Department of Public Welfare improperly authorized the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania to set hospital and provider Medicaid rates with managed care organizations that stripped hospitals of any negotiating power.
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May 20, 2013
Fighting Agencies May Be Tougher After High Court Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's Monday ruling in favor of the Federal Communications Commission, which held that courts should apply a deferential standard of review when federal agencies interpret the limits of their own authority, may make it tougher for regulated businesses to fight agency actions, attorneys say.
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May 20, 2013
NJ Assembly Passes Privatization Standards Bill
The New Jersey General Assembly on Monday passed legislation to establish specific standards and procedures for the privatization of the state’s public services, a rebuke to a recent trend toward privatization despite complaints from some lawmakers who said it doesn’t always save money or provide better service.
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May 20, 2013
Cybersecurity Standards Need Flexibility, NIST Told
The National Institute of Standards and Technology on Thursday released an analysis of hundreds of initial comments on proposed cybersecurity measures to protect critical infrastructure, with respondents stressing that the framework should allow for flexibility and emphasize risk management over compliance standards.
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May 20, 2013
Agencies Deserve Deference On Jurisdiction, Justices Say
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that courts should apply a deferential standard of review toward a federal agency's definition of its own jurisdiction, siding with the Federal Communications Commission in a fight with local government agencies over zoning rules for wireless facilities.
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May 17, 2013
GSA, DOD Solicit Advice On Revamping Cybersecurity
The U.S. General Services Administration and Department of Defense are seeking advice regarding cybersecurity standards involved in government contracts, requesting that vendors weigh in on current measures and the potential pitfalls of implementing new ones as part of a national push to revamp cybersecurity.
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May 17, 2013
Medicaid Fraud Units To Get Federal Funds For Data Mining
The Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general on Friday released a final rule that will allow Medicaid fraud control units to get federal funding to conduct data-mining activities, such as analyzing claims data to look for patterns of abuse, reversing a long-standing prohibition on such funds.
Expert Analysis
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Workplace Agencies Tighten Belts For Sequestration
Federal workplace agencies are taking a number of steps in response to the recent sequestration budget cuts, and employers who are parties to agency charges, lawsuits or other administrative proceedings before these agencies should expect effects such as delays in processing and investigation of complaints and petitions, says Seth Neulight of Nixon Peabody LLP.
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COFC Is Siding With Protesters In Late Proposal Disputes
If you submit a proposal on time but the government rejects it as late, take your protest to the Court of Federal Claims. That’s the lesson of a run of recent COFC decisions, capped by Insight Systems Corp. v. United States, say attorneys with McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP.
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Contracting In A Perfect Storm Of Enforcement Risk: Part 1
Recent legislative developments and shifting enforcement priorities have caused the risks posed by the False Claims Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to spiral to astronomical levels. The interplay between these trends and increased reliance on administrative exclusion is potentially devastating to government contractors, say attorneys with Covington & Burling LLP.
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6 Ways The ACA May Increase Federal Contractors’ Costs
Federal contractors face significant cost increases and compliance requirements as a result of the health insurance reforms in the Affordable Care Act. To minimize costs and compliance risks in the future, companies should take a number of steps in the coming months, say attorneys with Arnold & Porter LLP.
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DOD's Proposal Checklist: A Useful Tool With Some Risks
While the U.S. Department of Defense's new “proposal adequacy checklist" very well may prove to aid defense contractors in preparing more thorough, accurate and complete proposals, the checklist also provides another opportunity for mistakes in a proposal, says Ryan Bradel of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
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Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
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US V. MedQuest Is Important For Health Care FCA Cases
The Sixth Circuit recently reversed an $11.1 million False Claims Act judgment in U.S. v. MedQuest Associates. The court's refusal to impose the FCA’s “extraordinary penalties” on violations of technical and local Medicare program requirements represents significant precedent for health care providers facing an FCA suit, say attorneys with Ropes & Gray LLP.
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A New Procedural Trend In Qui Tam FCA Cases
As the federal government faces increased pressure from courts and Congress to speed up intervention decisions in qui tam False Claims Act cases, it is starting to respond by postponing those decisions until after the cases have been unsealed, which could drastically impact how these cases are litigated while the government is waiting in the wings, say attorneys with Nixon Peabody LLP.
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What Cyberlock Teaches Us About Teaming Agreements
Following the recent ruling in Cyberlock Consulting Inc. v. Info. Experts Inc. that nonspecific teaming agreements are unenforceable, government contractors that work together to secure a contract award should make the terms of their agreements as definitive as possible, say attorneys with Venable LLP.
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Yet Another Cliff-Hanging OIG Report
In its ongoing series of studies and audits, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General recently released its report on Medicare hospice and general inpatient care. While the report clearly shows the OIG's concern for the substantial percentage of hospices not providing GIP, it also leaves several questions unanswered, say attorneys with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.