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Government Contracts
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May 21, 2024
Construction Groups Press To Halt DOL Prevailing Wage Rule
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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May 20, 2024
Ex-IRS Agent, Five Others Sentenced In COVID Fraud Scheme
A former Internal Revenue Service agent, his brother and four other defendants have pled guilty to participating in a scheme that netted more than $3 million in fraudulent COVID-19 pandemic relief loans.
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May 20, 2024
Lab Says GSK Hid Zantac Cancer Risk From Feds For Decades
A Connecticut laboratory claims that GlaxoSmithKline defrauded federal health insurance programs for billions by hiding for 40 years that Zantac decomposes into a carcinogen even when just sitting on the shelf, in a lawsuit filed Monday in Pennsylvania federal court.
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May 20, 2024
SolarWinds Accuses SEC Of 'Troubling Pattern' Of Distortion
SolarWinds Corp. is calling out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for what it deems to be a "troubling pattern" of overstating its case against the government contractor, saying that a recent admission by the agency "dooms" claims that the company knew a customer had been hacked and failed to report it.
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May 20, 2024
DOJ Says Google Ad Tech Case About Coercion, Not Dealing
The U.S. Department of Justice urged a Virginia federal judge Friday to preserve its case accusing Google of monopolizing key digital advertising technology, arguing the search giant is misconstruing a case that is really about forcing customers to use its ad exchanges, not about who the company does business with.
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May 20, 2024
Fed. Circ. Says Co. Wrongly DQ'd From USPS Screening Deal
The Federal Circuit has revived a company's potential eligibility for U.S. Postal Service canine mail screening contracts, ruling the USPS reasonably found the company had mitigated conflicts of interest related to its prior work for the service.
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May 20, 2024
6th Circ. Won't Revive Challenge To $39B Student Debt Relief
A pair of libertarian think tanks cannot revive their lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's plan to wipe out $39 billion in student loan debt, the Sixth Circuit ruled Friday, saying the groups haven't shown the government's plan puts them at a disadvantage to recruit indebted lawyers and other employees.
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May 20, 2024
DOL, Fringe Benefit Co. Strike Deal In Funds Management Suit
A fringe benefits company and two of its executives have agreed to pay over $4 million to resolve a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit alleging they mismanaged funds meant for government contractor employees' benefits, the federal government told a Maryland federal court.
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May 20, 2024
Mich. Town Can't Block $2B Battery Plant, Judge Rules
A Michigan federal judge has ordered that Green Charter Township can't prevent Gotion Inc.'s upcoming battery components plant, in which the company plans on investing more than $2 billion, from moving forward.
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May 20, 2024
Nonprofits Renew Bid To Enter Red States' Border Wall Suit
Two nonprofits urged a Texas federal court to add them to a challenge to the Biden administration's plans to use border wall appropriations for remediation projects, saying they were shocked by the administration's acceptance of an order suspending the plan.
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May 20, 2024
Latham Hires 2 Skadden Healthcare Partners In DC
Latham & Watkins LLP has picked up two healthcare and life sciences partners from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.
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May 20, 2024
Ex-Conn. Town Atty Sues Over 'False' Ethics Complaint
Former Newington, Connecticut, town attorney Benjamin Ancona Jr. and other former officials took the Hartford-area suburb to state court claiming the town's assessor and others defamed them in and regarding a now-dismissed ethics complaint that was purportedly loaded with false statements.
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May 20, 2024
China Sanctions 3 US Firms For Arms Sales To Taiwan
The Chinese Government has sanctioned units of Boeing, General Atomics and General Dynamics over the companies' sales of weapons to Taiwan, barring the companies from trade or investment in China, citing alleged threats to its sovereignty.
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May 20, 2024
6th Circ. Orders Sanctioned Prison Co. To Pay NLRB Atty Fees
The Sixth Circuit said a Federal Bureau of Prisons contractor has to pay the U.S. National Labor Relations Board's attorney fees from arguing the contractor should be held in contempt in a dispute over two fired union supporters, with one judge dissenting in part over 0.4 billable hour.
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May 20, 2024
Assange Gets Final Appeal In Fight Against US Extradition
Julian Assange won a lifeline in his long-running fight against extradition to the U.S. on Monday as an English court granted him permission to challenge assurances from American authorities that the WikiLeaks founder would not face discrimination at trial.
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May 17, 2024
VA Deal Winner Says Protest Not Based On Common Sense
The winner of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs mail-order pharmacy deal urged the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to toss a competitor's protest of the award, saying the protester's challenge was based on an incorrect reading of applicable regulations.
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May 17, 2024
Allergan Says Deserted Drug Rule Weakens $680M Fraud Suit
Allergan drew a Maryland federal court's attention to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' abandonment of a regulation clarifying drug pricing, arguing the move undermined a whistleblower's claims that it overcharged Medicaid by over $680 million.
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May 17, 2024
Defense Cos. Delaying Delivery Of F-35 Parts, Watchdog Says
A government watchdog has called out production and software delays within the U.S. Department of Defense's F-35 program, saying contractors Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney are delivering aircraft and engines late despite the fighter jet moving into full production status.
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May 17, 2024
DC Circ. Affirms Ex-HUD Official's Conviction For False Docs
The D.C. Circuit on Friday upheld the documents falsification conviction of a former high-ranking staffer within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of the Inspector General, rejecting his arguments that prosecutors had diverged at trial from the charges laid out in an indictment.
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May 17, 2024
FCA Relators Seek Finders Fee For SpineFrontier Doc Deals
Three whistleblowers who tipped off the federal government to a medical device company's multimillion-dollar kickback scheme said Friday the Justice Department is refusing to pay them a cut of the $3 million in False Claims Act settlements paid by surgeons who admitted participating in the sham consulting ploy.
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May 17, 2024
Google Says Payment Means No Need For DOJ Ad Tech Jury
Google is arguing in Virginia federal court the government has no right to a jury trial in a case accusing the company of monopolizing key digital advertising technology, especially after Google issued a check for the money enforcers could be awarded if they won.
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May 17, 2024
Mass. Hospital Pays $24.3M To Settle Heart-Surgery FCA Case
Cape Cod Hospital will pay $24.3 million to settle claims it flouted Medicare billing rules for hundreds of heart-valve replacement surgeries in what's understood to be the largest recovery under the False Claims Act from a Massachusetts hospital.
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May 16, 2024
No Double Jeopardy In Philly Execs' Embezzlement Case
Two former Philadelphia nonprofit executives convicted for an embezzlement scheme weren't subject to double jeopardy when a judge rescheduled trial after several jurors left, the Third Circuit ruled Thursday, reasoning that the court had no other choice.
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May 16, 2024
Ointment Scheme Conned Gov't Out Of Millions, Fla. Suit Says
Two Florida brothers and one of their former employees are accused of running a years-long fraudulent scheme billing government healthcare programs and receiving millions of dollars after paying kickbacks to generate prescriptions for ointments that were not needed, according to a False Claims Act lawsuit.
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May 16, 2024
Claims Court Revives $71.1M Deal That GAO Misinterpreted
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ordered the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to reinstate a $71.1 million support deal, finding that the agency terminated the deal based on a federal watchdog's incorrect interpretation of the contract.
Expert Analysis
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Contract Disputes Recap: Facts Differ But Same Rules Apply
Zachary Jacobson and Sarah Barney at Seyfarth examine two decisions illustrating that reliance on a technicality may not save an otherwise untimely appeal, and that enforcement of commercial terms and conditions under a federal supply schedule contract may be possible.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Draft Pay Equity Rule May Pose Contractor Compliance Snags
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recently proposed rule that would prohibit government contractors from requesting certain job applicants' salary history seems simple on the surface, but achieving compliance will be a nuanced affair for many contractors who must also adhere to state and local pay transparency laws, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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10 Areas To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting Law
The near future holds a number of key areas to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law, ranging from dramatic developments in the space industry to recent National Defense Authorization Act updates, which are focused on U.S. leadership in emerging technologies, say Joseph Berger and Chip Purcell at Thompson Hine.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Opinion
NIST March-In Framework Is As Problematic As 2021 Proposal
While the National Institute of Standards and Technology's proposed march-in framework on when the government can seize patents has been regarded as a radical departure that will support lowering prescription drug costs, the language at the heart of it is identical to a failed 2021 notice of proposed rulemaking, says attorney Kelly Morron.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference
Senior law enforcement officials’ statements this month at the American Bar Association's white collar crime conference suggest government enforcement efforts this year will increasingly focus on whistleblower incentives, artificial intelligence and data protection, and companies will need to update their compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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Understanding Fixed-Price Gov't Contracts And Inflation Relief
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Contractors party to fixed-price contracts should note the recent shift in the government’s approach to cost adjustments in light of inflation, and familiarize themselves with certain steps that could help mitigate economic losses arising from increased performance and delivery costs, says Craig Stetson at Capital Edge Consulting.
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BIPA's Statutory Exemptions Post-Healthcare Ruling
The Illinois Supreme Court's November opinion in Mosby v. Ingalls Memorial Hospital, which held that the Biometric Information Privacy Act's healthcare exemption also applies when information is collected from healthcare workers, is a major win for healthcare defendants that resolves an important question of statutory interpretation, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.
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Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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Practical Steps For Navigating New Sanctions On Russia
After the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Russia – the largest to date since the Ukraine war began – companies will need to continue to strengthen due diligence and compliance measures to navigate the related complexities, say James Min and Chelsea Ellis at Rimon.