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Government Contracts
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March 18, 2024
4th Circ. Preview: Airport Mishap, Inmate Pay Launch March
The Fourth Circuit's spring session will task the court with refereeing a power struggle between Virginia regulators and the authority that runs Washington, D.C.'s airports — stemming from a workplace amputation — and delving into the "honest belief" doctrine's role in a Family Medical Leave Act case.
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March 16, 2024
Up Next At High Court: Gov't Jawboning & Retaliatory Arrests
The U.S. Supreme Court has a packed oral arguments calendar this week that includes disputes over the Biden administration's work with social media companies to combat misinformation, the appropriate evidence standard for bringing retaliatory arrest claims and whether the federal government can object to a consent decree entered into by three states.
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March 15, 2024
'This Is Scary, Boss': Jury Hears Secret Audio In LA RICO Trial
A then-assistant to former Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar secretly recorded his boss as they discussed what to do with a $200,000 cash bribe amid an ongoing FBI probe, according to audio heard Friday by a federal jury considering racketeering and bribery charges against another former city official, Raymond Chan.
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March 15, 2024
Dems Want New Missile Plan Axed If Military Can't Justify Cost
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., suggested the Air Force's new nuclear missile program should be shuttered after it exceeded its expected cost to taxpayers by $36 billion, unless it can justify its relevance to national security.
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March 15, 2024
Ex-Prisoners Partially Settle Prepaid Card Suit For $2.8M
Central National Bank NA and a class of former inmates who were charged fees for using the bank's prepaid debit cards from partner Numi Financial reached a $2.8 million settlement following mediation, but the parties have requested the court stay the case while class counsel investigates Numi's potential insolvency.
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March 15, 2024
Fla. Deal Might Let Illegal Gambling 'Proliferate,' Justices Told
A coalition of South Florida gambling opponents are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court's determination that a sports betting compact between the Sunshine State and the Seminole Tribe is lawful, arguing that their business and property interests will be negatively affected by the "unprecedented statewide gambling expansion."
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March 15, 2024
Navy Fails To Block Appeal Over Terminated HVAC Task Order
A California construction contractor can go forward appealing the U.S. Navy's decision to terminate a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning task order after the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals shot down the Navy's contention the appeals board lacked jurisdiction.
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March 15, 2024
Pittsburgh NLRB Office Approves Security Co.'s ULP Deal
A security company will pay more than $286,000 to workers to settle an unfair labor practice charge, the National Labor Relations Board announced Friday, with the NLRB general counsel winning a lost bargaining opportunity remedy.
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March 15, 2024
Military Subcontractor Says Partner Tried To Poach Work
A federal subcontractor tasked with building secure facilities for the Marine Corps hit its own subcontractor with a $7 million lawsuit on Friday, accusing its former partner of deliberately undermining that construction work, in an effort to "steal" related contracts.
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March 15, 2024
Contractor's Single Claim For 2 Lost Trucks Enough, For Now
A contractor didn't need to separate the value of two trucks lost by the U.S. Army to get the military to pay for replacement vehicles, an appeals board said, rejecting the Army's arguments that the contractor should have filed two claims.
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March 15, 2024
Fla. Tribe Urges No Pause In Suit Over State's Water Power
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida on Thursday urged a federal judge not to pause its lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that alleges the state was improperly awarded authority over a Clean Water Act permitting program.
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March 15, 2024
Cannabis Sellers Want $6M Fees Refunded From Mass. Town
A group of cannabis retailers are suing Great Barrington, Massachusetts, saying the town has illegally collected nearly $6 million in community impact fees, despite admitting in writing that the companies have caused virtually no costs to the town.
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March 14, 2024
Ex-LA Official Lied To Feds Immediately In Interview, Jury Told
An FBI agent told a California federal jury on Thursday in former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan's federal bribery trial that Chan lied to him during a 2018 interview immediately after he was warned that lying to the bureau is a crime.
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March 14, 2024
3D-Gun Info Group Loses Suit Over Publishing Blueprints
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims tossed an open-source gun group's lawsuit alleging the federal government failed to follow a 2018 settlement allowing the group to publish firearm blueprints, rejecting the group's contention that dismissing a final claim would be unfair.
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March 14, 2024
Lawmakers Secure $1.3B For Native American Housing
A record $1.34 billion will go toward Native American housing programs as part of an appropriations package passed by Congress, a $324 million increase over last year's funding.
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March 14, 2024
Feds Say Healthcare Ruling Could Upset Tribal Relationships
The federal government is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court's ruling that ordered Indian Health Services to reimburse millions in administrative healthcare costs, saying if the two tribes prevail in the litigation, it would upend 35 years of practice between the agency and its contracting tribes.
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March 14, 2024
Axon, Cities Fight Over Producing Material From FTC Case
Axon Enterprise is sparring with municipalities accusing the police equipment maker of monopolizing the Taser and body camera markets, with the local governments pushing for what Axon described as the "premature and improper" production of discovery from the Federal Trade Commission's since-abandoned case.
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March 14, 2024
DOD Contractors Raise Double Jeopardy Issues With Retrial
Two defense contractors asked a New Mexico federal court to bar prosecutors' evidence purportedly relating to a charge of conspiring to win small business contracts, saying the evidence actually relates to fraud charges for which they were already acquitted.
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March 14, 2024
Backers Of Colo. Wolf Release Can Defend State's Plan
Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation groups can participate in a lawsuit seeking to block the further reintroduction of gray wolves into the state of Colorado, after a federal judge on Thursday said the groups have different interests from government agencies defending decisions related to the plan.
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March 14, 2024
Mass. High Court Says Tufts Win In Tenure Case 'Premature'
Tenured professors at Tufts University whose salaries were slashed under a newly enacted requirement that they bring in at least half their income through research grants will have another chance to prove those pay cuts undermine academic freedom, Massachusetts' highest court said Thursday.
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March 14, 2024
Bechtel Missed Subcontractor Targets On Nuke Waste Project
Bechtel National Inc. failed its subcontracting obligations while building a federal nuclear waste plant at the Hanford site in Washington state, lapses that cost businesses up to $700 million in missed opportunities, according to a watchdog agency report released Thursday.
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March 14, 2024
Energy Dept. Floats $2.26B Loan For Nev. Lithium Project
The Biden administration is pitching a $2.26 billion loan to help fund lithium carbonate processing facilities at the controversial Thacker Pass mine in northern Nevada, saying they could support the production of as many as 800,000 electric vehicles a year.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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Caregiver Flexibility Is Crucial For Atty Engagement, Retention
As the battle for top talent continues post-pandemic, many firms are attempting to attract employees with progressive hybrid working environments — and supporting caregivers before, during and after an extended leave is a critically important way to retain top talent, says Manar Morales at The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.
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No End In Sight For Pandemic Relief Fraud Enforcement
Congress' recent decision to extend the statute of limitations to 10 years for fraud related to pandemic relief means the era of enforcement actions brought under the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act has only just begun, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Strike Force Actions Underscore Foreign Risks For Tech Cos.
As recent prosecutions demonstrate, a multiagency strike force is ramping up enforcement of trade secret theft and export control violations, and companies will need to be proactive in protecting their sensitive technologies from foreign adversaries, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.
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Questions To Ask Before Drafting Proposals With AI
Before federal contractors adopt AI tools to simplify their proposal writing, they should ask questions about how a given AI tool’s model was developed, and consider the procedures they will need to avoid cookie-cutter submissions and ensure accuracy, privacy and security, among other practical and legal considerations, say attorneys at Wiley.
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In-Office Engagement Is Essential To Associate Development
As law firms develop return-to-office policies that allow hybrid work arrangements, they should incorporate the specific types of in-person engagement likely to help associates develop attributes common among successful firm leaders, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Trends Emerge In High Court's Criminal Law Decisions
In its 2022-2023 term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued nine merits decisions in criminal cases covering a wide range of issues, and while each decision is independently important, when viewed together, key trends and takeaways appear that will affect defendants moving forward, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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Perspectives
A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial
Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.
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How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness
Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Should Be Mandatory
Despite the Appellate Rules Committee's recent deferral of the issue of requiring third-party litigation funding disclosure, such a mandate is necessary to ensure the even-handed administration of justice across all cases, says David Levitt at Hinshaw.
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Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid
As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.
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Revalidation Unlikely To End NIH Tech-Deal Bid Protest Saga
Recent U.S. Government Accountability Office decisions requiring the National Institutes of Health to again rework a $50 billion information technology contract probably won't result in an award for many protesters, and the corrective action will likely be followed by more protests, say James Tucker and Damien Specht at MoFo.
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It's Not You, It's Me: Breaking Up With Mass. FCA Prosecutors
A recent Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's Office settlement, which required a hospital to admit to certain facts, continues a state trend away from traditionally defense-friendly nonadmission language and may complicate the prospects of amicably resolving future False Claims Act cases, say Jonathan York and Scott Memmott at Morgan Lewis.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Timeliness, Evidence, Fact-Finding
Edward Arnold and Bret Marfut at Seyfarth Shaw look at three recent opinions from three stages of government contract claims litigation about avoiding untimeliness by ticking procedural boxes, supporting factual positions at the summary judgment stage and how the appellate boards review default terminations.
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Perspectives
Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice
Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.
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Why Justices' SuperValu Ruling Wasn't Quite A 'Seismic Shift'
Notwithstanding an early victory lap by the relators' bar, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. SuperValu Inc. was a win for both whistleblowers and sophisticated companies, but unfortunately left “subjective belief” to be interpreted by lower courts and future litigants, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.