Government Contracts

  • March 19, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Says Lacking License Dooms DOD Fuel Deal Protest

    The Federal Circuit refused Wednesday to revive a case challenging a $134 million sole-source fuel supply contract for the U.S. military in Djibouti, saying the challenger wasn't eligible for the deal even if the Defense Logistics Agency had opened it up to competition.

  • March 19, 2025

    Judge Questions Standing In DEI Executive Orders Challenge

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday questioned whether three civil rights nonprofits have standing to block the Trump administration's executive orders ending federal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and cutting off funding for groups focused on minority populations.

  • March 19, 2025

    3rd Circ. Passes On Appeal Of NJ Judicial Privacy Law Ruling

    Data brokers cannot consolidate dozens of lawsuits in federal court that claim they violated the New Jersey data privacy statute known as Daniel's Law, after the Third Circuit declined to revisit an earlier ruling that sent the lawsuits back to state court.

  • March 19, 2025

    Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2025 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards.

  • March 18, 2025

    Lab Co-Founder Takes Stand For Gov't In $40M Testing Case

    A co-founder of a laboratory accused of submitting $40 million in unnecessary COVID-19 and genetic testing claims to healthcare benefit programs took the stand for the government on Tuesday, first testifying that the lab used an unauthorized test to cut corners and save money before admitting on cross-examination that the test was chosen because it performed better.

  • March 18, 2025

    NIH Avoids Contempt In Trans Case Despite Judge's Criticism

    A federal judge said there is no clear evidence that the National Institutes of Health's revoking a Washington hospital's research grant violated her order blocking President Donald Trump's efforts to cut funding for gender-affirming care for young people, but the judge chastised the administration for its "narrow and self-serving view" of what makes up care.

  • March 18, 2025

    Md. Judge Says USAID Dismantling Is Likely Unconstitutional

    A Maryland federal judge on Tuesday ruled that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the U.S. Constitution "in multiple ways" in their drive to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.

  • March 18, 2025

    Novel Argument Can't Excuse Late $409M Army Deal Protest

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has denied a protest over a $408.7 million Army training contract, saying the protester waived its chance to dispute the Army's failure to conduct discussions with bidders by not filing that argument earlier.

  • March 18, 2025

    Asphalt Co. Exec Avoids Prison, Fined $100K For Bid Rigging

    The president of an asphalt paving company who pled guilty to participating in a scheme with other asphalt companies to rig bids for projects in Michigan for roughly eight years avoided prison time and was ordered Tuesday to pay a $100,000 fine.

  • March 18, 2025

    Texas Tells 5th Circ. Trump Executive Order Nixes Pay Ruling

    The Texas attorney general told the Fifth Circuit that its ruling in favor of the Biden administration's mandate increasing the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 per hour must now be thrown out because President Donald Trump overturned the rule in an executive order last week.

  • March 18, 2025

    Bar Examinee Defends $2M ExamSoft Software Crash Suit

    A former paralegal and would-be attorney has asked a federal judge to keep alive her software crash suit against ExamSoft, arguing that both the popular software company and the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not giving her extra time under an approved accommodation when her computer crashed during a remote COVID-era test.

  • March 17, 2025

    US Chamber Says FCA Qui Tam Provisions Unconstitutional

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday endorsed a legal challenge aimed at bringing down the whistleblower provisions in the False Claims Act, arguing there is a "manifest conflict between the modern FCA's qui tam provisions and Article II's text."

  • March 17, 2025

    DOGE Wants Judge To Reconsider Records Production Order

    The Department of Government Efficiency has asked a D.C. federal judge to reconsider an order requiring it to share requested records with a watchdog group, doubling down on its position that DOGE is not an agency subject to public records law.

  • March 17, 2025

    Gutting USAID Threatens US Credibility, 22 Ex-Officials Say

    A bipartisan group of former high-ranking national security and defense officials on Monday voiced opposition to the Trump administration's decision to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, saying in an amicus brief filed in D.C. federal court that the shutdown undermines the United States' credibility while allowing China and Russia to build theirs.

  • March 17, 2025

    Judge Extends Block On Data Sharing With DOGE

    A Maryland federal judge extended her temporary restraining order blocking the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Office of Personnel Management from turning over sensitive personal information on federal employees to Department of Government Efficiency workers Monday, giving herself another week to rule on the workers' preliminary injunction request.

  • March 17, 2025

    Doctor Pays $700K To Settle Feds' Medicare Fraud Suit

    A doctor and his Ringgold, Georgia, practice have agreed to pay $700,000 to settle allegations that they knowingly submitted false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary chelation therapy.

  • March 17, 2025

    Private Equity Billionaire Greenlighted As Pentagon's No. 2

    Private equity billionaire Stephen Feinberg was confirmed as deputy defense secretary on Friday by a 59-40 vote in the U.S. Senate.

  • March 17, 2025

    DJI Says DOD Chinese Military Co. Listing Was Irrational

    Drone manufacturer SZ DJI Technology Co. Ltd. has urged a D.C. federal judge to order the U.S. Department of Defense to take the company off a list of Chinese military companies, saying the listing was based on faulty reasoning and a failure to consider relevant evidence.

  • March 17, 2025

    DC Circ. Skeptical Of Killing $200M Toll Road Arbitration Award

    The D.C. Circuit seemed to have its doubts Monday about the Peruvian city of Lima's argument that it should overturn the confirmation of a $200 million arbitral award over a failed toll road construction project because the lower court ignored its claim that the contract was acquired via bribe.

  • March 17, 2025

    Split 9th Circ. Won't Halt Federal Workers Reinstatement Order

    A divided Ninth Circuit panel on Monday denied President Donald Trump's administration an immediate administrative stay of a California district court order requiring reinstatement of some probationary federal workers fired from six agencies, the majority saying a pause "would disrupt the status quo and turn it on its head."

  • March 17, 2025

    Colo. Justices Reject Bid To Toss Election Defamation Suit

    Colorado's justices have rejected petitions from President Donald Trump's campaign and conservative media personalities arguing that a former Dominion Voting executive's defamation suit should be tossed under a state anti-SLAPP law, according to an en banc order Monday declining to review the case. 

  • March 17, 2025

    Ginnie Mae Says Texas Bank Can't Undo Ruling On Lien

    Ginnie Mae and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have urged a Texas federal court to grant them summary judgment in a Texas bank's lawsuit, which alleges the government wrongfully extinguished the bank's first-priority lien for nearly $30 million of collateral, saying the court already upheld the authority to terminate the lien.

  • March 17, 2025

    Army Can Reject $435M TNT Plant Bidder Over China Ties

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest over a $435 million U.S. Army contract to design and build a TNT production facility, saying the Army reasonably rejected a bidder for security concerns over ties to China.

  • March 17, 2025

    Trump Revokes Fed. Contractor Wage Order That Led To Suits

    President Donald Trump rescinded former President Joe Biden's executive order increasing the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $15 an hour, leaving an uncertain future for the U.S. Department of Labor rule implementing the order and ongoing court challenges to the rule.

  • March 17, 2025

    DOL Urges 5th Circ. To Keep Contractor Wage Hike Ruling

    Former President Joe Biden had the authority to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors through a presidential executive order, the Trump administration's U.S. Department of Labor said, urging the full Fifth Circuit to leave in place a panel's decision backing the wage hike.

Expert Analysis

  • Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out

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    In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity

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    Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Series

    Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Inside The Appeals Board's 2024 Report To Congress

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    An in-depth examination of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals’ annual report reveals ​a continuing decline in new cases, motions and hearings, a trend that may correspond with ​t​he increased use of alternative dispute resolution, and expedited or accelerated proceedings, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Navigating 4th Circ.'s Antitrust Burden In Hybrid Relationships

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review the Fourth Circuit's Brewbaker decision, a holding that heightens the burden on antitrust prosecutors when the target companies have a hybrid horizontal-vertical relationship, but diverges from other circuits, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • How CFIUS' Updated Framework Affects Global Investors

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    The recent change to the monitoring and enforcement regulations governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will broaden administrative practices around nonnotified transaction investigations, increase the scope of information demands from the committee and accelerate its ability to impose mitigation on parties, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Health Policy Predictions For Trump's Second Administration

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    As President-elect Donald Trump's nominations for health policy and enforcement heads work their way through the confirmation process, healthcare organizations can look at nominee backgrounds, campaign statements and actions from Trump's previous presidency to predict incoming priorities, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Perils Of Perfunctory Interpretation

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    Attorneys at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions in which the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals and the Federal Circuit ruthlessly dismantled arguments that rely on superficial understandings of different contract terms.

  • Series

    Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.

  • Opinion

    Justices Should Squash Bid To Criminalize Contract Breaches

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    In Kousisis v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court should reject the sweeping legal theory that breaches of contract can satisfy the property element of the mail and wire fraud statutes, which, if validated, would criminalize an array of ordinary conduct and violate basic constitutional principles, say attorneys at The Norton Law Firm.

  • What Trump's Next Term May Mean For Biz Immigration

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    Leonard D'Arrigo at Harris Beach discusses the employment-based immigration policies businesses can potentially expect during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, based on policies enacted during his first administration, statements made during his campaign and proposals in Project 2025.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • Opinion

    Weak Reasoning Underlies Fla. Judge's Bold Qui Tam Ruling

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    U.S. District Judge Kathryn Mizelle's groundbreaking decision in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates LLC, holding that qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act are unconstitutional, relies on weak logic to reach a conclusion that differs from every other court that has ruled on the issue, says Ethan Greenberg at Anderson Kill.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

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