Government Contracts

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2024

LAW360 400

The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

By Sam Bell and Pamela Wilkinson

The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.

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Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

By Emma Cueto

The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

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TOP NEWS

AT&T Unit Asks High Court To Take Up E-Rate FCA Dispute

By Nadia Dreid

The U.S. Supreme Court needs to step in and decide a circuit split over whether FCC reimbursements under the E-rate program count as "claims" under the False Claims Act, said an AT&T subsidiary, urging the justices to ignore a relator who it said is trying to "muddy that clear conflict."

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By Daniel Wilson

A Court of Federal Claims judge has ruled that a geospatial technology firm's copyright infringement claims against defense agencies must go to trial, citing disputed facts about whether related software was effectively created on the government's time and dime.

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GAO Denies Sysco's Protest Of Up-To $126M Subsistence Deal

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied a Sysco unit's protest of an up-to $126 million defense subsistence supply deal, saying the company failed to show the Defense Logistics Agency had to consider the awardee's performance on a similar interim deal.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Groups Push For Official USMCA Interpretation To Nix Claims

By Caroline Simson

Nearly three dozen left-leaning groups are urging North American trade officials to issue an official interpretation of a disputed provision in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which they say could help nix claims seeking billions of dollars that are pending against all three countries.

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ENFORCEMENT

Caterpillar To Pay $800K To End DOL Race Bias Probe

By Patrick Hoff

Heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. has agreed to pay $800,000 to resolve U.S. Department of Labor allegations that it refused to hire qualified Black applicants for welding positions at an Illinois facility, the agency said Tuesday.

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LITIGATION

Construction Groups Press To Halt DOL Prevailing Wage Rule

By Irene Spezzamonte

The U.S. Department of Labor's final rule regulating prevailing wages under the Davis-Bacon Act creates tangible damage and a Texas federal court should stop it, a group of construction groups suing the department said.

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Ship Engineers Take Case Against Shipbuilders To 4th Circ.

By Jared Foretek

A pair of naval engineers are challenging a Virginia federal judge's decision to toss their proposed class action accusing a collection of shipbuilding military contractors of entering into secret "no-poach" agreements, asking the Fourth Circuit to take up their appeal in a new filing.

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NY High Court Upholds State Abortion Coverage Mandate

By Kellie Mejdrich

New York's highest court on Tuesday upheld a state law requiring employee health plans to cover medically necessary abortions, finding a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision didn't change the state court's determination that an exemption process in the law was constitutional.

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Towing Co. Denies Liability For Chicago Scrapping Rule

By Corey Rothauser

Chicago's contracted towing company says it is not the "moving force" behind a policy at the center of a proposed class action by Windy City residents whose vehicles were scrapped because they failed to pay tickets.

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Feds Fight Philly Port Authority's River Expansion Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has denied allegations made by the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority that building a new port on the Delaware River southwest of Philadelphia would cut off shipping business to the city in favor of the First State.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

5 Lessons From Ex-Vitol Trader's FCPA Conviction

The recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering conviction of former Vitol oil trader Javier Aguilar in a New York federal court provides defense takeaways on issues ranging from the definition of “domestic concern” to jury instruction strategy, says attorney Andrew Feldman.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Law360 Names Attys Who Moved Up The Firm Ranks In Q1

A promotion to partner or election to practice group chair means a slew of new responsibilities and also lots of well-deserved recognition. Law360 reveals the list of attorneys whose commitment to legal excellence earned them highly coveted spots in the law firm leadership ranks. Find out if your old legal friends — or rivals — moved up in the fourth quarter of last year.

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200th Lifetime Judge Confirmed Under Biden

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted 66-28 on Wednesday to confirm U.S. Magistrate Judge Angela M. Martinez as U.S. district judge in the District of Arizona, marking the 200th lifetime federal judicial confirmation under President Joe Biden.

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NY Judicial Nominee Defends Record Amid GOP Criticism

By Courtney Bublé

A judicial nominee for a New York federal court stood by her ruling allowing an inmate convicted of sex offenses to transfer from a male to female prison, amid concerns from Republicans that led to some dramatics Wednesday in a congressional hearing room.

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'Appeal To Heaven' Flag Flew At Alito's Vacation Home: Report

By Hailey Konnath

Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday called for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to immediately recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and face censure after The New York Times reported that flags tied to Donald Trump supporters had flown outside two homes owned by the justice in 2021 and again last year.

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Analysis

Justices' CFPB Alliance May Save SEC Courts, Not Chevron

By Katie Buehler

A four-justice concurrence to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme last week carries implications for other cases pending before the court that challenge the so-called administrative state, or the permanent cadre of regulatory agencies and career government enforcers who hold sway over vast swaths of American economic life.

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DA Willis, Trump Judge, and Justice All Roll To Victory In Ga.

By Chart Riggall

The judge and district attorney at the center of former President Donald Trump's Georgia prosecution easily fended off their electoral challengers Tuesday night, while an abortion-rights candidate for the Peach State's highest court fell well short of the mark.

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Feature

Spencer Fane Lures In Big-Name 'Misfits' For Patent Group

By Dani Kass

Spencer Fane LLP has spent the past two years building up what it hopes to be a top-tier intellectual property group, pulling together a "band of misfits" from firms like Fish & Richardson PC and McKool Smith, according to the group's co-leader.

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NY Federal Reserve Associate GC Rejoins Covington

By Jack Rodgers

A former Covington & Burling LLP associate who left the firm 13 years ago to join the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has returned to work as of counsel, the firm announced Tuesday.

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Texas Attys Get Green Light To Charge Subscription Fees

By Lynn LaRowe

An opinion recently issued by the Professional Ethics Committee of the State Bar of Texas gives Lone Star State lawyers the go-ahead to offer subscription-based legal services so long as the arrangement doesn't result in the charging of an "unconscionable fee."

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Feds To Extend Plea Offer To Oath Keepers Atty In Jan. 6 Case

By Ali Sullivan

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that they plan to extend a plea offer to an attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, but the specifics of the offer could depend on the U.S. Supreme Court's stance on a federal statute often used to prosecute alleged Capitol rioters.

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NC County Sued Over 'Faithful Slaves' Courthouse Monument

By Adrian Cruz

A group of residents of North Carolina's Tyrrell County has sued the county's board of commissioners in North Carolina federal court over an allegedly racist monument outside a courthouse that commemorates "faithful slaves" deemed loyal to the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

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Series

Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.