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Government Contracts
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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April 03, 2024
Groups Fight DOL's Bid To Toss Suit Challenging Wage Rule
A pair of construction industry trade groups urged a Texas federal court to preserve their challenge to a U.S. Department of Labor rule that revises prevailing wage calculations for federally funded projects, arguing that the rule injures both them and the firms they represent.
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April 03, 2024
3rd Circ. Judge Wonders If Philly Union Rule Dispute Is Moot
A Third Circuit judge on Wednesday wondered whether a former Philadelphia mayor's order requiring contractors to pay dues to "city-approved" unions was now moot, given the new administration's assurances that it won't be implemented, as contractors urged the court to find that the scrapped rule should be banned by law.
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April 03, 2024
Enviro Group Sues DOE Over $1.1B Diablo Canyon Award
Environmental group Friends of the Earth slapped the U.S. Department of Energy with a complaint in California federal court seeking to unravel the agency's $1.1 billion award for the continued operation of the state's last remaining nuclear power plant.
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April 03, 2024
14 AGs Urge DOL To Seek More Payroll Info From Contractors
Contractors performing construction, alteration or repair work on government buildings should have to give the U.S. Department of Labor more detailed information about the deductions they take from workers' wages, a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general told the agency in a letter publicized Wednesday.
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April 03, 2024
Beekeeper Groups Seek Fees From EPA After 9th Circ. Appeal
Attorneys for beekeeper groups in an appeal over a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision on insecticides have asked the Ninth Circuit to award nearly $750,000 in legal fees after a ruling that hammered the EPA but left the agency's decision intact.
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April 03, 2024
Pharma Exec, Cousin Cop To Insider Trading On Kodak Loan
A pharmaceutical company's executive and his cousin on Wednesday pled guilty to trading on information they acquired through the company's partnership with Eastman Kodak Co. about a government loan the photography giant was set to receive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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April 03, 2024
Skanska Inks $1.4B Contract To Replace Seattle Bridge
Skanska and Washington's Department of Transportation closed a $1.4 billion bridge replacement contract that aims to update Seattle's Portage Bay Bridge so that it's up to "current seismic resiliency standards," the construction and development company announced.
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April 03, 2024
Fed. Circ. Backs Firing IRS Agent Who Golfed On Agency Time
A former senior appraiser for the Internal Revenue Service was appropriately fired for golfing on company time, a federal appeals court affirmed Wednesday.
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April 02, 2024
Feds Want 2 Years For Culprit In Fake NASA Contracts Plot
Prosecutors urged a Virginia federal judge to sentence a Michigan man to 25 months in prison Tuesday after he admitted to defrauding investors through fake NASA contracts, seeking a sentence lighter than the guideline range because he spent eight grueling months in a Philippines detention center before he was in U.S. custody.
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April 02, 2024
IT Firm Decries Commerce's 'Unilateral' $1.5B Award Redo
An IT consulting firm told the Federal Circuit on Monday that its right to challenge a $1.5 billion U.S. Commerce Department procurement in the claims court was undermined when the agency took corrective action before seeking permission from the court.
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April 02, 2024
Crowell & Moring Attys Avoid Bias Fault In Army Deal Protest
The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied a Virginia-based defense contractor's protest of a $192.7 million U.S. Army technical and engineering support deal but refused to fault Crowell & Moring LLP attorneys for representing the contractor despite conflict of interest allegations.
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April 02, 2024
Ga. Judge Tosses Ex-Police Chief's Retaliation Suit
A Georgia federal judge has freed the city of Austell from a lawsuit brought against it by its former police chief, who alleged that he was forced out of his job after three years of raising concerns about the safety of department facilities.
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April 02, 2024
Casino Outfits Say High Court Must Review Tribal Betting Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court is the correct venue for a case by two casino operators that seek to undo a tribal gaming compact in Florida now that the state's Supreme Court has refused to take up the case, one of the companies has told the nation's highest court.
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April 02, 2024
Ally Of NYC Mayor Skirts Prison In Straw Donor Case
A friend and former colleague of New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday was spared any time in prison following his admission to conspiring to use straw donors to juice the public funding of the mayor's 2021 campaign.
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April 02, 2024
Conn. Dentists Used Illegal Patient Recruiting, Suit Says
Federal and state authorities filed a kickback and false claims lawsuit in Connecticut federal court on Tuesday against two dental practices in the state and their co-owners for allegedly paying a patient recruiter to generate business through Medicaid.
Expert Analysis
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Suspension And Debarment: FY 2023 By The Numbers
A comparative analysis of System for Award Management data, culminating with fiscal year 2023, reveals a year-over-year drop in annual suspension and debarment numbers so significant as to leave the government contracting community trying to figure out what is happening, says David Robbins at Jenner & Block.
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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Contracts Disputes Recap: Expect Strict Application Of Rules
Zachary Jacobson and Sarah Barney at Seyfarth examine four recent cases highlighting the importance, for both contractors and government agencies, of strict compliance with the Contract Disputes Act’s jurisdictional requirements and with the Federal Acquisition Regulation's remedy-granting clauses.
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Unpacking The FAR Council's Cybersecurity Rules Proposal
New reporting and information sharing requirements in the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recently proposed cybersecurity regulations would create new False Claims Act enforceability risks, and could be a focus for the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Cyber Fraud Initiative, say Townsend Bourne and Lillia Damalouji at Sheppard Mullin.
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Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys
Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.
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Series
Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'
The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Deference Limit, Close-At-Hand Doctrine
In this month's bid protest roundup, Roke Iko at MoFo examines a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims about the parameters of agency deference, and one from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that highlights the risk to offerors of relying heavily on evaluators’ prior knowledge.
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New DOJ Roles Underscore National Security Focus
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent creation of two new leadership positions signals to the private sector that federal law enforcement is pouring resources into corporate investigations to identify potential national security violations, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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Opinion
Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform
The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.
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Lessons From Verizon's Cybersecurity FCA Self-Disclosure
A Verizon unit’s recent agreement to settle allegations of cyber-related False Claims Act violations illustrates the interplay between the government's prioritization of cybersecurity enforcement and the potential benefits of voluntarily disclosing cybersecurity failures, says Denise Barnes at Honigman.
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How And Why Your Firm Should Implement Fixed-Fee Billing
Amid rising burnout in the legal industry and client efforts to curtail spending, pivoting to a fixed-fee billing model may improve client-attorney relationships and offer lawyers financial, logistical and stress relief — while still maintaining profit margins, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Unpacking OMB's Proposed Uniform Guidance Rewrite
Affected organizations, including state and local governments, should carefully review the Office of Management and Budget's proposed overhaul of uniform rules for administering over $1 trillion in federal funding distributed each year, and take the opportunity to submit comments before the December deadline, says Dismas Locaria at Venable.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Needs Defense Amid Political Threats
Amid recent and historic challenges to the judiciary from political forces, safeguarding judicial independence and maintaining the integrity of the legal system is increasingly urgent, says Robert Peck at the Center for Constitutional Litigation.