GAO Sustains Protest Of $48.5M Medicare Contract

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unreasonably evaluated whether a Wisconsin company was eligible to compete for a $48.5 million task order, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said, sustaining a protest of the agency's award decision.

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J&J Whistleblowers Defend $1.6B False Claims Act Win

By Craig Clough

Whistleblowers filed a brief Wednesday in the Third Circuit in a closely watched False Claims Act appeal involving a $1.6 billion judgment against Johnson & Johnson unit Janssen as well as the constitutionality of the FCA's "qui tam" whistleblower provisions, arguing that the act's lawfulness has been settled by its "unbroken 162-year history."

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Shipbuilders Ask Justices To Weigh 4th Circ. No-Poach Ruling

By Tom Lotshaw

Shipbuilders and designers accused of conspiring to suppress industry wages urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fourth Circuit decision that revived a proposed class action against them, saying the allegedly untimely antitrust claims threaten ruinous damages.

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Colo. Judge Certifies U Visa App In GEO Forced Labor Suit

By Britain Eakin

A Colorado federal judge certified a U visa application for the class representative in a 2014 suit involving forced labor claims against private prison company GEO Group, after he told the court that immigration officials said he could be detained during a check-in this week.

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FTC Sends White House List Of Regulations For Deletion

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission provided the White House with a report on Wednesday recommending that more than 125 regulations from agencies across the federal government be modified or deleted because they create barriers to competition.

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DOJ Watchdog Raises Alarm On App Use To Track Victims

By Joyce Hanson

A U.S. Department of Justice watchdog has urged DOJ grant recipients to safeguard victims' personally identifiable information, so domestic abusers and members of the public can't exploit apps and social media to gain access to safe-house addresses and other data.

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CORRECTED: NYC Construction Co. Prez Gets 4 Years For Contract Fraud

By Isaac Monterose

The 65-year-old president of a New York City construction company has been sentenced to 48 months in prison after pleading guilty in New York federal court to being part of a fraud scheme involving NYC homeless shelter contracts worth $12 million, the New York City Department of Investigation announced.

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Security Co. Wins Discovery Bid In $15M Afghan Award Fight

By Joyce Hanson

A D.C. federal judge has given permission to an Emirati security company to seek discovery from the airline industry's primary international lobby group as the private firm looks to enforce a confirmed $15.29 million arbitral award against Afghanistan.

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Charter Can't Dodge Cable Royalties In Texas, 5th Circ. Rules

By Christopher Cole

Charter Communications cannot avoid paying a 3% royalty for the use of cable permits in three Texas cities' rights of way, regardless of a change in state permitting law, the Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

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11th Circ. Judge Calls Ga. School Racism Defense 'Ridiculous'

By Chart Riggall

The Eleventh Circuit appeared unlikely Wednesday to let Georgia school officials escape accusations they violated a settlement requiring their district to hire more Black educators, with one judge slamming as "ridiculous" the notion they could plead ignorance over whether the agreement was binding on them.

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Brief

Union Settles FCA Suit Over Pandemic Loans for $2M

By Julie Manganis

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 will pay just over $2 million in restitution and interest to settle allegations that it improperly obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan for which it was not eligible, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston announced Wednesday.

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Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.

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Litigation Spending To Keep Growing As Biz Risks Run High

By Jack Karp

Companies are likely to increase their spending on litigation next year, some by over 10%, as legal disputes become more complex, more contentious and more high-stakes, according to a new report out Thursday.

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Ex-Calif. Judge Gets 35 Years For Shooting Wife To Death

By Gina Kim

Former California state court judge Jeffrey M. Ferguson lost his bid for a new trial Wednesday and was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for shooting his wife to death at home in a drunken rage, with the presiding judge expressing sympathy for his "extraordinary" son who tried to save his mother's life.

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Feds Want 3 Years For Girardi Son-In-Law's Chicago Contempt

By Lauraann Wood

Tom Girardi's son-in-law should receive a three-year prison sentence for his admitted role in helping the once-celebrated plaintiffs' lawyer steal millions from Lion Air crash victims, federal prosecutors in Chicago argued Wednesday.

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Winston & Strawn Blamed For 'Anti-Woke' Fintech $1.7B Crash

By Lauren Berg

The trustee of bankrupt "anti-woke" financial technology startup GloriFi on Wednesday launched malpractice litigation against Winston & Strawn LLP in Texas bankruptcy court, accusing the firm and one of its managing partners of putting the interests of the company's founder first and costing the business $1.7 billion in valuation.

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7th Circ. Pick Shrugs Off Conservative Group's Opposition

By Courtney Bublé

During her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin tapped for the Seventh Circuit, fended off opposition to her nomination from conservative groups, antipathy that the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee called a "new low" for the committee.

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House Votes To End DC Judicial Nominations Commission

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 218-211 along party lines on Wednesday to eliminate the commission that vets and picks potential judicial nominees for Washington, D.C.'s local courts.

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Retired Judges Speak Out On 'Threats' To Constitution

By Courtney Bublé

More than 40 retired federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties released an open letter Wednesday, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, saying they sought to underscore the importance of the rule of law at a time when the nation's ideals "are under historic strain."

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Del. Judge's US Atty Application Plan Draws Blanche's Ire

By Lauren Berg

Delaware's chief district judge, a Trump appointee, is seeking applications for the state's U.S. attorney position to prepare for an upcoming vacancy in the interim position, a move that drew the ire of Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday.

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Giuliani Must Pay Attys $1.4M After Missing Bills Claim Fails

By Adrian Cruz

A New York state judge has awarded nearly $1.4 million to Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP in its lawsuit accusing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani of racking up unpaid legal bills for the firm's work in various criminal, civil and administrative matters.

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Criminal Restitution Fails Defendants, Victims, Report Says

By Brandon Lowrey

Federal criminal restitution often fails to benefit victims of crime and throws defendants into a "Sisyphean struggle" with debt, with $100 billion in outstanding restitution deemed uncollectable, according to a report released this week by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

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SEC Policy Shift Could Foreclose Some Investor Class Actions

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a policy statement Wednesday that allows the use of mandatory arbitration by new publicly traded companies as its chief seeks to "make IPOs great again," but Democrats warned the move could shut the door to shareholder class actions.

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Ex-Law Student's Bias Suit In Wrong Forum, 4th Circ. Told

By Patrick Hoff

A Black former student at Washington University School of Law shouldn't be able to revive claims that she was suspended from campus and lost her scholarship after complaining about a professor's race bias because she filed the suit in the wrong state, the law school told the Fourth Circuit.

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Trump Could Swing Fed With This 1 Weird Trick: Ex-Fed Gov.

By Jon Hill

A former top Federal Reserve official told Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday that if President Donald Trump succeeds in quickly ousting Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, it could unlock an obscure mechanism for his allies at the Fed to sway future interest-rate decisions.

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