Military Fraud Case Against Fluor Moves To Trial

By Madeline Lyskawa

Litigation brought by former military officers accusing Fluor Corp. of overcharging the U.S. Army is headed to trial, after a South Carolina federal judge couldn't rule out Wednesday whether the company willfully failed to comply with its contractual obligations.

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Burns & McDonnell Sued By Ex-Partner Firm Over Seattle Deal

By Rachel Riley

California-based Certus Cybersecurity launched a lawsuit in Washington state court accusing consulting firm Burns & McDonnell of falling short on business promises and exploiting the city of Seattle's diversity criteria for contractors to score a government deal worth up to $60 million.  

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Kaiser Entities Settle Medicare Fraud Claims For $556M

By Rae Ann Varona

Five Kaiser Permanente affiliates agreed to a $556 million settlement resolving allegations they defrauded the government by submitting invalid medical diagnoses for Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

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US Lawmakers Push Bill To Curb China's Mineral Control

By Tom Lotshaw

A pair of lawmakers from California on Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation seeking to boost the production and supply of critical minerals needed for military, renewable energy and communications technologies, and to reduce reliance on China.

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3rd Circ. Nixes Engineer's Plea For Sharing Navy Contract Info

By P.J. D'Annunzio

In a precedential opinion Wednesday, a split Third Circuit panel ruled that a lower court should not have accepted the guilty plea of a Navy engineer charged with disclosing bid information related to a contract for submarine propeller machinery, holding that prosecutors based the plea deal on shaky legal ground.

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Calif. Car Cos. Hit With $200M Chancery Fraud Suit

By Jarek Rutz

Several California-based car companies, as well as their leader and current and former executives, orchestrated a fraudulent acquisition and asset transfer scheme designed to render a lucrative fuel trading contract worthless and shield a defense contractor from more than $200 million in liabilities, a lawsuit brought Wednesday in the Delaware Chancery Court says.

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Court Debates Developer's Immunity In PUD District Dispute

By Zach Dupont

An attorney representing the city of Telluride, Colorado, argued in front of the state Supreme Court on Wednesday that an appellate panel was wrong to reverse a lower court's ruling prohibiting a development company from amending a parcel of land in a Planned Unit Development district.

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Trump Admin Drops Appeal In Transportation Funds Suit

By Julie Manganis

The Trump administration has dropped its First Circuit appeal of an order blocking it from tying billions of dollars in federal transportation funding to states' cooperation with its immigration crackdown.

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GAO Denies Protest Of $43.6M Navy Modular Building Award

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the U.S. Navy correctly found that the absence of a transportation security plan and other technical details from a modular construction company's building proposal constituted a weakness that gave the winning bidder the upper hand.

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Ex-Special Counsel To Bondi Joins Greenberg Traurig In Fla.

By Madison Arnold

Greenberg Traurig PA has added a former special counsel to then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to its government law and policy practice in Tallahassee.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Forming Measurable Ties

Relationship-building should begin as early as possible in a law firm merger, as intentional pathways to bringing people together drive collaboration, positive client response, engagements and growth, says Amie Colby at Troutman.

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Analysis

'The Work Has Changed': How White-Collar Attys Are Coping

By Phillip Bantz

The Trump administration's dramatic policy enforcement changes over the past year, along with turmoil and turnover at the U.S. Department of Justice, has tilted the white-collar world on its axis, forcing lawyers and firms to abruptly shift focus and expand their practices, sometimes beyond traditional white-collar criminal defense matters.

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Tort Report: Los Angeles Tops Annual 'Judicial Hellhole' List

By Y. Peter Kang

Los Angeles' designation by a tort reform group as a top "judicial hellhole," and the latest in a suit over a Kentucky judge shot to death in his own chambers lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Jury Seated In Goldstein Trial, Arguments To Start Thursday

By Jared Foretek

A federal jury was seated in Thomas Goldstein's felony tax and mortgage fraud case Wednesday, but the government will wait until Thursday to begin making its case.

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Calif. Bill Would Ban AI From Replacing Arbitrators' Analysis

By Emily Sawicki

A bill introduced in the California state Senate seeks to regulate attorneys' use of generative artificial intelligence statewide, including banning lawyers from entering private client information into public AI systems and prohibiting arbitrators from utilizing AI in decision-making.

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Sinema Sued Under Rare Law By Her Former Guard's Ex-Wife

By Abigail Harrison

Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, now a Hogan Lovells attorney in Washington, D.C., destroyed a 14-year marriage by sustaining an affair with a former member of her security detail and U.S. Senate staff, according to a lawsuit that hit North Carolina federal court Wednesday.

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DOJ Calls On 3rd Circ. To Rethink Habba DQ Ruling

By Ryan Boysen

In a request for rehearing en banc filed Wednesday, the federal government asked the Third Circuit to reconsider its decision blocking Alina Habba from serving as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, saying the issue is "of exceptional importance."

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Trump Renominates NY, Virginia US Attorneys

By Emily Sawicki

President Donald Trump is taking a second crack at securing his picks for federal prosecutors in districts where he previously failed to obtain U.S. Senate approval, including renominating Lindsey Halligan to the role of U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, weeks after a federal judge ruled she was not lawfully serving.

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Graham Blocks Bill To Repeal DOJ Lawsuit Provision

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., tried and failed Wednesday to expedite the passage of a bill that would repeal a provision of the government funding package enacted in November that allows senators investigated by former special counsel Jack Smith to sue for damages.

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House Blocks GOP Bid To Cut Funds For DC Judges, Courts

By Courtney Bublé

The House on Wednesday failed to approve a Republican-led amendment to a government funding bill that would decrease the funding for D.C. courts and take aim at two federal judges Republicans are looking to impeach.

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