Government Contracts
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May 17, 2019
Gov't Must Provide Info In Challenge To 2-For-1 Rule Order
The D.C. federal judge presiding over public interest groups' challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order requiring that for every new regulation, two rules must be eliminated, said Friday that federal agencies must do a better job complying with discovery.
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May 17, 2019
Trump’s Border Wall Faces Skeptical Calif. Judge
A California federal judge appeared open Friday to blocking the Trump administration from repurposing defense funds to build a wall along the southern border, saying he doesn't know if it is right to let the government build the wall before legal challenges to it are resolved.
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May 17, 2019
Esformes Seeks New Trial, Says Feds Violated His Rights
Nursing home mogul and convicted fraudster Philip Esformes has urged a Florida federal judge to grant him a new trial, arguing that the prosecution infringed his due process rights by using hollow charges of Medicare violations to influence the jury with weeks of evidence about unhappy patients at his facilities.
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May 17, 2019
Texas Judge Backs Broad DOJ Authority To End FCA Suits
A Texas federal judge on Thursday recommended the dismissal of False Claims Act suits accusing Eli Lilly and Bayer of providing kickbacks to doctors in the form of various assistance services, saying the U.S. Department of Justice has "virtually unfettered" dismissal authority in whistleblower FCA cases.
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May 17, 2019
CBP Outlines Futile Hunt For Wall Contract From Trump Tweet
The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts has received a declaration under oath from U.S. Customs and Border Protection outlining the agency's fruitless search for evidence of a supposed "115-mile long" border wall contract that President Donald Trump referenced in a tweet on Christmas Eve.
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May 17, 2019
How Supreme Court Conservatives Have Shaped The FCA
The U.S. Supreme Court’s latest False Claims Act ruling didn’t just decide how much time whistleblowers have to launch fraud cases — it added to a long line of FCA opinions written by right-leaning justices, who have authored virtually all of the high court’s modern FCA precedent.
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May 17, 2019
Raytheon Tank-Sighting Design Suit Remains Intact For Now
It seemed for a moment Friday that BAE Systems would escape a trade secrets suit aimed at its subsidiary over the design of a tank-sighting system for the military, but a Virginia federal judge changed her mind mid-hearing and decided to hold off.
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May 16, 2019
EU Says US Fears Over Defense Co-Op Pact Are Overblown
European Union leaders have pushed back against U.S. concerns over a fledgling EU defense cooperation deal, including concerns about American defense contractors potentially losing access to EU defense markets that have drawn threats of retaliation from the U.S.
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May 16, 2019
Calif. High-Speed Rail Dealt Blow After Feds Nix $929M Grant
The Trump administration on Thursday canceled a nearly $929 million federal grant for California's $77 billion proposed high-speed rail line, dealing a major blow to the project and catalyzing more legal wrangling between Golden State and federal officials.
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May 16, 2019
Sen. Warren Aims To Weaken Contractors' Influence On DOD
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced legislation Thursday aimed at limiting the influence that defense giants have on the Pentagon, saying it is time to tackle the military-industrial complex and improve ethical standards at the U.S. Department of Defense.
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May 16, 2019
Hospital Giant Abandons FCA Case At Supreme Court
Hospital chain Intermountain Healthcare has settled a high-profile case alleging unnecessary heart procedures, eliminating yet another opportunity for the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify how precisely False Claims Act suits must describe purportedly improper billing.
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May 16, 2019
'Wealth Factor' Costs $2B Fraud Suspect Yet Another Bail Bid
Two days after expressing concerns about the "wealth factor" involved, the Second Circuit on Thursday rejected a Lebanese salesman and accused fraudster's emergency bid to be released on $20 million bond.
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May 15, 2019
DOD Identifies 1,000+ Contracting Fraud Convictions
A Defense Department tally of more than 1,000 criminal convictions related to defense contracting fraud in five years, revealed in a newly released department report, points to a system-wide problem, a government transparency advocate told Law360.
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May 15, 2019
Lawmakers, DOD Slam Contractor's 'Sickening' Price Gouging
Defense contractor TransDigm came in for bipartisan congressional criticism Wednesday over what a senior Pentagon official called “sickening” pricing practices that saw the military “gouged” for spare parts, but company executives were defiant, arguing TransDigm had done nothing wrong.
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May 15, 2019
Whistleblower Says Dish Can't Exit $3.3B Bidding Credit Suit
Dish Network shouldn’t be allowed to duck a suit accusing it of using sham companies to buy spectrum from the Federal Communications Commission at a $3.3 billion discount, a whistleblower has told a D.C. federal court, saying its defense is “predicated on a myth."
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May 15, 2019
Trump Blacklists Huawei Amid Telecom Security Clampdown
The Trump administration continued its crackdown on China's telecommunications sector Wednesday by placing Huawei on a blacklist that will make it more difficult for U.S. companies to do business with the industry giant.
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May 15, 2019
Mass. Health Firm Owner Convicted In $2.5M Medicaid Fraud
After a two-week trial, a jury has convicted the owner of a Massachusetts home health agency accused of stealing $2.5 million from the state’s Medicaid program. But the woman’s attorney said Wednesday the case presents several issues of first impression that the state’s top court should eventually decide.
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May 15, 2019
DHS Waives More Enviro Laws For Calif., Ariz. Wall Sections
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday said it issued a trio of waivers to speed up border wall construction along 93 miles of land in Arizona and California, areas the agency claims suffer from high rates of illegal entry, human trafficking and drug smuggling.
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May 15, 2019
Marine Co. Fights Bid To Remand Ferry Contract Suit
The U.S. subsidiary of an Italian marine engineering and inspection company told a Louisiana federal court Tuesday that a dispute with a shipbuilder over a U.S. government ferry construction contract should not be remanded, saying the court has jurisdiction over the suit under the New York Convention.
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May 14, 2019
Latham Aided Covert Bid To Quash Stadium, Calif. City Says
Latham & Watkins LLP helped orchestrate a campaign to kill a proposed arena for the Los Angeles Clippers, the city of Inglewood said Monday in a bid to subpoena the firm, whose client, the owner of historic concert venue The Forum, is suing the city over an alleged contract breach involving a key piece of land.
Editor's Picks
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The Latest On Escobar's FCA Impact
Federal courts across the country are handing down important rulings interpreting the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on False Claims Act liability in Universal Health Services v. Escobar. As the rulings keep pouring in, stay up to speed on Law360’s latest coverage and analysis of Escobar’s impact.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
IRS Should Use Tax Law To Combat The Opioid Epidemic
The IRS, which enforces anti-trafficking tax laws against state-regulated cannabis businesses, should be fair and apply the same policy against pharmaceutical companies that illegally market their opioids, says Kat Allen at Wykowski Law.
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Inside The New FCA Cooperation Credit Guidelines
The recently issued U.S. Department of Justice cooperation credit guidelines provide False Claims Act litigators important information about factors the government considers before awarding cooperation credit or moving to intervene and dismiss a qui tam relator's suit, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Q&A
A Chat With Gilead Sciences Legal Ops Leader Gary Tully
In this monthly series, legal recruiting experts from Major Lindsey & Africa interview legal industry leaders about the increasingly competitive business environment. Here, Rod Osborne talks with Gary Tully, head of legal operations at Gilead Sciences.
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Cybersecurity Enforcement Shouldn't Be Left To FCA Relators
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The denial last week of a contractor's motion to dismiss a False Claims Act case in the Eastern District of California wrongly looks to whistleblowers for cybersecurity enforcement and may allow cybersecurity to become the qui tam bar’s next feeding ground, say Robert Metzger and Stephen Bacon at Rogers Joseph O'Donnell.
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EEOC Data Rules Pose 2 Equal Pay Study Challenges
New reporting requirements will provide the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with additional data to evaluate employers’ pay practices, but the type of data to be collected and the statistical tests the EEOC proposes may result in several issues for employers, says Audrius Girnius at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.
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Series
Why I Became A Lawyer: Completing The Journey Home
My mother's connection to her Native American heritage had a major influence on my career — my decision to enter the legal profession was driven by the desire to return to my tribal community and help it in any way I could, says Jason Hauter of Akin Gump.
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Gov't Contractors Fighting Suspensions Face Uphill Battle
The recent dismissal of JBL System Solutions v. Williams in the Eastern District of Virginia highlights the inherent problems in challenging an agency decision and has potentially sweeping implications for government contractors subject to negative responsibility determinations, say Dismas Locaria and Emily Unnasch at Venable.
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Opinion
High Court Got It Right On FCA Time Limits
Monday’s 9-0 decision in Cochise Consultancy v. U.S. showed again that the U.S. Supreme Court isn't easily tempted to undermine the central purpose of the False Claims Act — holding fraudsters accountable when they pick the public’s pocket, says Scott Oswald of The Employment Law Group.
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Recent IRS Guidance Puts Multifamily Housing Back On Track
April guidance from the Internal Revenue Service, saying rental projects may set aside units for specified groups such as military veterans without violating the general public use requirement for tax-exempt bond financing, addresses a disconnect in the rules that has stopped many projects cold, says Alexis Baker of Squire Patton Boggs.
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Series
Judging A Book: Wood Reviews 'The Making Of A Justice'
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens' new book, "The Making of a Justice," is required reading for anyone interested in 20th and 21st century America, says Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Diane Wood.