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Government Contracts
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January 15, 2025
DOJ Reports $2.9B Haul Under FCA, Largest In 3 Years
Litigation under the False Claims Act generated a little over $2.9 billion in settlements and judgments in the most recent fiscal year, a 5% bump over 2023's total and the most in three years, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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January 15, 2025
Shipbuilder Inks $1M FCA Deal To End Worker Eligibility Row
A Louisiana-based shipbuilder agreed to fork over more than $1 million to settle claims that it failed to verify several workers' employment eligibility through E-verify, and knowingly billed the U.S. Coast Guard for that labor, the Department of Justice said Wednesday.
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January 15, 2025
GAO Backs Protest Over Air Force's Use Of Contracting Model
The U.S. Government Accountability Office urged the Air Force to revisit a solicitation for pilot augmentation support services in Europe and Africa, sustaining an Ohio company's protest that it used a contracting model federal agencies are supposed to try to avoid.
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January 15, 2025
Retired Admiral's Bribery Trial Postponed To May
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday postponed a bribery trial for a retired Navy admiral accused of steering a government contract to two executives of a New York company, finding the volume of discovery material in the case justified the delay.
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January 15, 2025
Booz Allen Must Pay For Harm Of Tax Info Leaks, Court Told
A proposed class action in Maryland federal court blames IRS contractor Booz Allen Hamilton over the thousands of tax returns that were stolen by an employee who took financial information about President-elect Donald Trump and others while on the job and leaked it to the media.
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January 15, 2025
Trump's AG Pick Tries To Assure Congress On Independence
President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general attempted to assuage uneasiness from Democrats on Wednesday, saying the U.S. Department of Justice will be free of politics and will not go after perceived enemies.
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January 14, 2025
Justices Told 'Copyrightability' Issues Must Be Left To Judges
The justices have been asked by a defense contractor to wade into a split among circuit courts over "whether questions of copyrightability" should be decided by judges or juries.
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January 14, 2025
DOJ Says Software Co.'s $12.7M Copyright Win Is Sufficient
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday defended a judge's decision to award a software developer $12.7 million after a federal contractor made unauthorized copies of its software, telling the Federal Circuit the award was correctly calculated.
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January 14, 2025
FAR Council Wants Uniform View Of Controlled Information
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council on Tuesday issued a pair of long-awaited proposed regulations, seeking to define and protect controlled unclassified information across the government and to update rules related to conflicts of interest involving contractors.
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January 14, 2025
OIG Wants Corps' Overruns, Delays To Inform Future Projects
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regularly faced cost increases and delays on four military construction projects and should take steps to learn from and mitigate such problems, a federal watchdog said in a new report.
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January 14, 2025
Wynne Transportation Can Tap Some Of $6M DIP In Ch. 11
A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Tuesday she will allow transportation service provider Wynne Transportation to borrow $2 million in initial debtor-in-possession financing on an interim basis, clearing the way to fund a Chapter 11 case the company launched in the wake of a nearly $33 million arbitration judgment.
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January 14, 2025
MIT Bio Lab Can't Use Anti-SLAPP To Duck Defamation Suit
The Massachusetts Appeals Court on Tuesday ruled that the state's anti-SLAPP statute could not stop a suit brought by the former head of an MIT-affiliated biomedical research lab who stepped down amid a finding that he harassed a subordinate, though several of his claims were axed nonetheless.
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January 13, 2025
On Cross, Madigan Says He Merely Helped Job-Seekers
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan distanced himself Monday from political allies who prosecutors say bribed him for jobs and other benefits, saying his recommendations were just that, and that he thought he was effective in shutting down a former alderman's quid pro quo suggestion.
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January 13, 2025
Judge Spikes Challenge To Ga. Utility Commish Elections
A federal judge on Monday tossed a lawsuit that challenged the extension of terms for members of Georgia's utility regulatory commission while its elections were suspended by voting rights litigation, clearing the way for its members to return to the ballot next year.
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January 13, 2025
Lincare Pays $1.15M To End Wash. Medicaid Fraud Probe
Lincare Inc. agreed to pay $1.15 million to resolve a Washington probe into allegations the medical equipment supplier overbilled Medicaid for rental payments for patients' oxygen equipment over a six-year period, the Washington State Office of the Attorney General announced Monday.
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January 13, 2025
Fla. Court OKs $6B Settlement Data Release In 3M's UK Case
A Florida federal court has authorized the release of certain information related to 3M's $6 billion multidistrict litigation settlement ending claims over allegedly faulty combat earplugs to a London arbitral tribunal, which was convened to determine if insurer AIG Europe Ltd. is refusing to pay its share of the deal.
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January 13, 2025
Justices Won't Review 11th Circ.'s Cancer Cluster Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it won't review the Eleventh Circuit's affirmation of a favorable jury verdict for defense contractor Pratt & Whitney, which was found to have failed to exercise reasonable care when disposing radioactive materials, but also freed it from liability for the cancer cases that emerged in a Florida neighborhood.
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January 13, 2025
FHWA Ends 'Buy America' Waiver For Manufactured Products
The Federal Highway Administration on Monday finalized a rule ending a decades-long exception to "Buy America" domestic sourcing requirements for manufactured products used in federally funded highway projects, a change the agency said was intended to boost domestic manufacturing.
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January 13, 2025
NJ Groups Sue To Revoke Offshore Wind Farm Approvals
A group of environmental and business organizations are alleging in New Jersey federal court that federal approvals awarded to a Shell-backed developer's offshore wind projects violate a number of environmental statutes, and they are looking to halt the construction of two offshore wind facilities located just under nine miles off the Garden State coast.
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January 13, 2025
Ga. Waste Authority Sues To Block County's Audit Attempt
A Georgia county's solid waste authority, whose finances came under scrutiny from the Federal Bureau of Investigation last year, has sued its county's government to block an effort by the county to force inspections and audits of its waste facilities.
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January 13, 2025
Army Can Sole-Source $990M 'Critical Support' Deal
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest over a sole-source $990 million U.S. Army loitering munitions contract, saying the Army properly used temporary authority meant to provide critical support for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel to award the deal.
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January 13, 2025
Wynne Transportation Files Ch. 11 After $32M Arbitration Loss
Transportation services company Wynne Transportation Holdings LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware after an arbitrator said it must pay a former subcontractor $32.8 million because it severed their partnership after the state of Texas required it to bus migrants to Democratic-controlled areas.
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January 13, 2025
Justices Won't Hear Farm's Bid To Retake Denver Airport Land
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a Colorado farm company's petition arguing Denver can't hold onto land originally seized for the Denver International Airport now that the city plans to build a private commercial complex on the property.
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January 13, 2025
Justices Won't Review Biden's Contractor Wage Hike
The U.S. Supreme Court won't review President Joe Biden's authority to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers, the high court said Monday, shutting down a bid to overturn a Tenth Circuit decision.
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January 10, 2025
4 Lessons For Contractors From The Bitmanagement Saga
A software company's damages award of just $150,000 after years of litigation over the U.S. Navy violating a licensing deal offers several lessons for federal software contractors about carefully negotiating contractual terms and making sure they can adequately enforce those terms.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Preserving The FCA Is Crucial In Trump's 2nd Term
While the Trump administration may pursue weaker False Claims Act enforcement, it remains an essential tool in safeguarding public funds and maintaining corporate accountability, so now is not the time to undermine ethical behavior, or reduce protections and incentives for whistleblowers, says Adam Pollock at Pollock Cohen.
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Series
Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers
In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron.
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Federal Salary History Ban's Reach Is Limited
Though a newly effective Office of Personnel Management rule takes important steps by banning federal employers from considering job applicants' nonfederal salary histories, the rule's narrow applicability and overconfidence in the existing system's fairness will likely not end persistent pay inequities, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata
Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being
As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.
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6 Steps To Ready Defense Contractors For Cybersecurity Rule
Following the U.S. Department of Defense's final rule establishing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program in federal regulations, Sandeep Kathuria at Ice Miller provides a refresher on CMMC and identifies best practices for defense contractors awaiting full implementation of CMMC.
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A Novel Expansion Of Alien Tort Statute In 9th Circ.
The Ninth Circuit's Doe v. Cisco rehearing denial allows a new invocation of the Alien Tort Statute to proceed, which could capture the U.S. Supreme Court's attention, and has potentially dramatic consequences for U.S. companies doing business with foreign governments, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes
Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.
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Series
Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.
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How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources
Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
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How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment
Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.
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Suspension And Debarment: FY 2024 By The Numbers
The multiyear, downward trend in suspensions and debarments of government contractors continued in fiscal year 2024, largely fueled by a sharp decrease in exclusions of individuals — a welcome development that may indicate recognition that these actions can be more punitive than prophylactic, says David Robbins at Jenner & Block.
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Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity
Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.
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Opinion
Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO
The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.