DOJ Urges 11th Circ. To Restore FCA Whistleblower Provision

By Elliot Weld

The U.S. Department of Justice told the 11th Circuit on Wednesday that a Florida federal judge was wrong to rule that the provision of the False Claims Act that lets whistleblowers bring suits on the government's behalf was unconstitutional, arguing that the judge erred in saying whistleblowers were an unappointed part of the federal workforce.

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SuperValu Fights New Trial Bid In Whistleblower Drug Case

By Cara Salvatore

SuperValu urged an Illinois federal judge Tuesday not to overturn its defense win on whistleblower claims of systematic prescription overbilling, saying the whistleblowers are now making "kitchen sink arguments" with little basis.

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ICE Agent Tells 3rd Circ. Jury Can Handle Sig Sauer Defect Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

The Third Circuit wondered Wednesday why a jury couldn't be allowed to examine the same type of gun, or at least a replica of one, that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer claims spontaneously fired into his leg at a design defect trial that he wants revived.

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Calif. Bar Seeks Credits, Lower Pass Score After Exam Fiasco

By Craig Clough

The California Bar has asked the state's supreme court to help it account for rampant technical difficulties on the February 2025 bar exam by approving a lower passing score and allowing the bar to give test-takers credit for some questions they left blank.

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Senate Bill Moves Ahead To Beef Up FCC Disaster Reports

By Christopher Cole

A bipartisan bill to require the Federal Communications Commission release more data on disaster-related network outage reports cleared a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday.

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Local Gov'ts, Union Seek Block Of COVID Grant Cancellations

By Emily Brill

Three cities, a county and a public employees' union asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge Wednesday to block the government from rescinding $11 billion in public health grants doled out through pandemic-era laws, saying the grants weren't intended to stop when the pandemic stopped.

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Worker Says DOD Contractor Fired Him For Reporting Fraud

By Thy Vo

A former cybersecurity worker claims he was fired by a Department of Defense contractor after reporting failures to comply with the contract and billing for services the company didn't actually provide, according to a wrongful termination suit filed in Colorado federal court Wednesday.

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Ex-Atlanta IG Aims To Toss Lobbyist's Bank Subpoena Suit

By Chart Riggall

The city of Atlanta's former inspector general asked a Georgia federal judge Tuesday to end a lobbyist and city contractor's suit against her over a corruption probe she launched into his dealings with the city, arguing that the Fourth Amendment provides no protections against subpoenas she issued for his bank records.

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Biotech Co. Throws Flag On NFL Alumni's Bid To Toss Suit

By David Steele

A biotechnology company accusing the National Football League's largest alumni club of breaking a contract in retaliation for being questioned about its use of government funds told a Georgia federal court Tuesday the company would add details to its suit to head off the club's bid to have the suit thrown out.

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Roundup

3rd Circ. Preview: NJ To Defend ICE Contractor Law In May

By Ryan Harroff

The Third Circuit's argument lineup for May will see the state of New Jersey defend a law barring its immigration detention centers from contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while Rutgers University seeks to keep its victory over claims it falsely inflated its business school's ranking.

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5 Areas Contractors Should Watch After 1st 100 Days

Federal agencies and contractors face challenges from staff reductions, contract terminations, pending regulatory reform and other actions from the second Trump administration's first 100 days, but other areas stand to become more efficient and cost-effective, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

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A New Tool For Assessing Kickback Risks In Health Marketing

The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in U.S. v. Sorensen, reversing a conviction after trial of a durable medical equipment distributor, highlights two principle considerations for determining whether payments to marketers in healthcare are unlawful under the Anti-Kickback Statute, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard Mullin.

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Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law

Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.

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Susman Godfrey Urges Court To Reject Trump's Dismissal Bid

By Hailey Konnath

Susman Godfrey LLP has pressed a D.C. federal court not to kill the firm's suit challenging President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm, arguing that the government's "meritless" dismissal motion "goes to great lengths to distract from the indisputable truth" that the order is "blatantly unconstitutional."

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Marshals Service Pick Vows To Protect Judges Amid Tensions

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's nominee for director of the U.S. Marshals Service, Gadyaces Serralta, stressed to Democrats on Wednesday that the agency's mission to protect judges and enforce court orders would not change under his leadership despite increasing criticism of the bench from the president and other policymakers.

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Analysis

Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

By Jeff Overley

Spring has sprung for appellate arguments over the White House's pruning and shearing of agencies, part of a bountiful circuit calendar in May, when appeals courts will also tend to defamation drama involving a pro golfer, antitrust suits against drugmakers and hotels, and a nine-figure patent verdict against Apple Inc.

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Dem Reps. Urge Court To Block IRS-ICE Info-Sharing Pact

By Anna Scott Farrell

House Democrats and two organizations that help immigrants prepare tax returns urged a D.C. federal court to block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing with immigration enforcement agencies the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally.

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Exec Says MyPillow Attys Can't Use AI Mistakes To Delay Trial

By Thy Vo

A former Dominion Voting executive said MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell shouldn't be allowed to delay a June defamation trial because his attorneys face potential sanctions for a brief that used artificial intelligence, arguing recent executive orders against law firms suggest the defamation claim would face "extreme prejudice" from a delay.

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Wis. Justices Suspend Judge Charged With Blocking ICE

By Jack Karp

The Wisconsin state judge who was arrested and charged for allegedly helping an unauthorized migrant evade arrest by federal immigration officers has been temporarily suspended by the state's highest court.

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FTC Transfer Stripped From House Judiciary Reconciliation

By Courtney Bublé

A provision to transfer the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust functions to the U.S. Department of Justice was stripped out of the House Judiciary Committee's budget reconciliation bill on Wednesday.

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Philly Judge Under Fire For Promoting Wife's Cheesesteak Biz

By James Boyle

Pennsylvania's judicial ethics board has accused a Philadelphia judge of using his position on the bench to promote a cheesesteak restaurant opened by his wife and named in honor of his late parents.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

Enforcers opened high stakes court proceedings against Meta Platforms and Google for monopolization claims that could force the tech giants to sell pieces of the companies, while also moving ahead with several challenges and reviews of pending deals in other industries. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from April.

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Brief

Akin Atty Returns To FCC To Lead Wireline Bureau

By Nadia Dreid

After three years in private practice, the Federal Communications Commission has welcomed an Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorney back to the agency as the newest head of the commission's Wireline Competition Bureau.

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