Government Contracts

  • July 13, 2026

    Rhode Island Jail Operator Files Ch. 11 With $169M Debt

    A Rhode Island jail operator with a contract to hold federal immigration detainees has filed for Chapter 11 protection in Rhode Island bankruptcy court with an agreement on a restructuring plan to end years of litigation and cut nearly two-thirds of its $169 million in debt.

  • July 13, 2026

    Families Cite Geofence Ruling In Newborn Blood Testing Case

    A group of parents suing the state of Michigan over the way newborn blood samples are collected and stored have asked a federal judge to revive their claims by citing recently decided U.S. Supreme Court precedent over the use of bulk cellphone data by police.

  • July 13, 2026

    DHS Revives Plan For NJ Immigrant Detention Center

    The U.S. government told a federal judge that it's actually still considering plans to turn a New Jersey warehouse into an immigrant detention center, a week after it reported it no longer intended to pursue the challenged project.

  • July 13, 2026

    Alaska Tribal Health Group Drops $390M Suit After Deal

    The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is looking to nix its $390 million challenge to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over seven years of alleged unpaid contract support cost claims after the parties reached a settlement in the dispute.

  • July 13, 2026

    Mass. Judge Hints At Fee Award In DOD Grant Cap Case

    The U.S. Department of Defense was "not substantially justified" in moving forward with a unilaterally imposed reimbursement limit for grant-funded research support costs, a Massachusetts federal judge said Monday while weighing whether to award legal fees to a group that successfully challenged the cap.

  • July 13, 2026

    Mass. High Court Says Prevailing Wage Skips Routine Repairs

    Massachusetts' highest court ruled Monday that routine maintenance and repair work at a privatized wastewater treatment facility does not trigger prevailing wage protections under a state special act, finding the phrase "construction and design of improvements" carries a narrower technical meaning than the workers claimed.

  • July 13, 2026

    Steptoe Adds Crowell & Moring Defense Pro As Cyber Lead

    Steptoe LLP announced Monday that it has hired a former government contracts and cybersecurity partner from Crowell & Moring LLP who has held senior procurement roles at the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to lead the firm's cybersecurity practice.

  • July 10, 2026

    States' Stopgap Suit Aims To Shield K-12 Mental Health Grants

    Washington and 14 other states launched a preemptive lawsuit Friday to stop the Trump administration from ending federal grants for mental health programming in public schools, seeking to preserve the funding if the U.S. Department of Education succeeds in asserting new grounds for canceling the grants in a related case.

  • July 10, 2026

    MTA Says Top Atty's Exit Was Planned, Not Forced Over Costs

    The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's general counsel for the past 4½ years is poised to leave at the end of the month, the New York agency confirmed Friday, but emphasized her departure was planned and not the result of a news article alleging the MTA's legal costs surged under her tenure.

  • July 10, 2026

    Defense Contractor Accuses Rival Of Trade Secret Theft

    A defense technology contractor has accused a former employee of stealing its trade secrets to help a competing business build a similar product that allows the retrieval of data when a reliable internet connection is not available.

  • July 10, 2026

    GAO Faults VA's 3-Year Cutoff In $2.4M Contract Review

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs improperly evaluated the proposals of vendors competing for a support services contract by ignoring past experience that was older than three years.

  • July 10, 2026

    Keystone Pipeline Operator To Pay $30M For Kansas Oil Spill

    The Keystone Pipeline's owner and operator has agreed to pay a $26.8 million civil penalty plus $3 million for natural resource restoration projects in Kansas for a 2022 rupture of the pipeline that spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil, according to a Friday announcement.

  • July 10, 2026

    MassDOT, Contractors Ignored Environmental Rules, AG Says

    The Massachusetts Department of Transportation and a group of private contractors working on a nearly complete bridge project just outside Boston have violated multiple state environmental laws and regulations, exposing workers and nearby residents to asbestos and other hazardous materials, the state's attorney general alleged in a lawsuit launched Friday.

  • July 10, 2026

    Texas Co.'s Defense Of UAE Unit Not Covered, Insurer Says

    An excess insurer said it owes no coverage to an environmental company for costs incurred in defending its United Arab Emirates-based subsidiary against arbitration in Singapore, telling a Delaware state court that the subsidiary does not qualify as an insured under the policy.

  • July 10, 2026

    Judge Says GEO, Not ICE, Controls Detention Center Access

    A Washington federal judge rejected claims from GEO Group that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement controls access to an ICE detention center in the state and ordered GEO to allow state inspectors into portions of the center it controls.

  • July 10, 2026

    Calif. Judge Blocks Grant Conditions Over DEI, Immigration

    A California federal judge blocked the Trump administration from imposing grant funding conditions on California and Oregon municipalities concerning immigration enforcement and its opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, finding the conditions likely encroach on Congress' spending powers.

  • July 10, 2026

    Six-Person Public Affairs Team Joins Taft From Ice Miller

    Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP has announced that the firm expanded its public affairs strategies group with the hire of six former Ice Miller LLP attorneys and legal professionals including two partners and a pair of vice presidents.

  • July 09, 2026

    Judge Backs Feds' Valuation Method In Windfarm Grant Fight

    A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge ordered several California wind farm owners and the federal government to largely employ a method the government proposed to value their facilities and hash out a decade-old dispute over grants worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

  • July 09, 2026

    Judge Urged To Deny Transfer Of SpaceX Land-Swap Suit

    Environmental groups urged a D.C. federal judge to reject an attempt by SpaceX and the federal government to transfer the groups' lawsuit challenging a land-exchange deal to Texas, saying the deal was reviewed and approved by officials and lawmakers in D.C.

  • July 09, 2026

    Gynecologist Who Improperly Reused Devices Gets 20 Years

    A Memphis gynecologist was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday in Tennessee federal court after being convicted in a case where he was accused of repeatedly inserting dirty, single-use medical devices into patients' vaginas for hysteroscopies and submitting reimbursement claims for medically unnecessary procedures. 

  • July 09, 2026

    GAO Backs Navy Bid Rejection Over Small-Biz Share

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the Navy reasonably rejected an incumbent contractor's $113 million proposal to support the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division after finding it wouldn't steer enough of the deal to small businesses.

  • July 09, 2026

    Atty Fights Bid To Ax Health Plan RICO Suit

    An attorney who filed a proposed RICO class action in New York tied to a Federal Trade Commission case alleging a $91 million sham health insurance scheme is fighting a receiver's dismissal and sanctions bid, telling a Florida federal court he never defied its orders.

  • July 08, 2026

    DOD Urged To Clarify Foreign Owner Rule For Contract Bidders

    Government contract attorneys and procurement advocacy groups have expressed concern over the Pentagon's move to expand foreign ownership disclosure requirements to 38,000 contractors, saying that the proposal could delay acquisitions and that its carveout for commercial contractors lacks clarity.

  • July 08, 2026

    US To Pay Anchorage $180M To End 12-Year Port Upgrade Suit

    The federal government will pay $180 million to the city of Anchorage, Alaska, to settle the municipality's more than decade-old lawsuit accusing the U.S. Maritime Administration of breaching contractual agreements related to a failed Port of Alaska expansion and upgrade project, the parties have announced.

  • July 08, 2026

    Former DOE Worker Avoids Prison For Bribery Scheme

    A former U.S. Department of Energy employee who pled guilty to trying to bribe a colleague in exchange for government contracts for his consulting company was sentenced Wednesday to probation in Massachusetts federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • CFIUS' Mandate Misses Foreign Risk In Project Subcontracts

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    Recent calls for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review equity transactions like the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. deal miss a consequential oversight gap — CFIUS' inability to review the subcontracting layer of U.S. infrastructure projects, says Thibaut Giret at Alstef Group.

  • Series

    Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

  • Roundup

    The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

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    This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

  • Structuring Space Nuclear Deals For Regulatory Risk

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    With the White House's recent focus on space nuclear power, a highly important question for companies that want to build orbital reactors, lunar surface systems or critical components is whether the transaction documents can handle foreign investment constraints, export controls and treaty-linked liability, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

  • A New Defense For Medicaid Fraud Cases In Texas

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    The Texas Supreme Court decision in LabCorp v. Texas last month, finding that the state's False Claims Act requires proof that an omission is material, is among the first to establish that the government's lack of reaction to the defendant's disclosures rendered alleged omissions immaterial, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • Quantum Readiness May Paradoxically Raise Contractor Risk

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    The organizations best positioned for the cryptographic system migration deadlines and other requirements under President Donald Trump’s recent quantum executive orders will be those able to inventory their cryptographic dependencies while protecting their vulnerability road map from adversaries, says Jesse Lemon at The Beckage Firm.

  • Wound Care Industry Should Expect Data-Driven Scrutiny

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent update on its healthcare fraud takedown efforts indicates that the wound care space is under particularly high scrutiny, with the government increasingly utilizing data analytics to find cases, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

  • Trump EOs Pair Quantum Push With Cyber Defense Overhaul

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    Two recent executive orders that mark a significant federal commitment to both advancing and defending against quantum technology create potential opportunities for companies in the quantum, AI and technology sectors and pose future compliance obligations contractors should begin considering now, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Series

    Choral Singing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Singing in the New York City Bar Chorus — a hobby partly inspired by the late U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, who infused my clerkship year with opera music — has improved my legal career by refining my abilities to listen, exude confidence and develop emotional intelligence, says Bonnie Baker at Friedman Kaplan.

  • Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

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    As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • Healthcare Orgs Should Prep For Greater Grant Oversight

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    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new Audit Enforcement and Risk Oversight initiative, and a proposed overhaul of the governmentwide framework for grants management, signal an aggressive and data-driven approach to federal grant enforcement, and could significantly expand the pathways leading to enforcement actions and private litigation, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Perfectus Deal Raises Trade Missteps To Enterprise Risk Level

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    Former inspector general Parisa Salehi at Parker Poe discusses what the U.S. Department of Justice's recently settled False Claims Act case against Perfectus Aluminum can teach companies about satisfying trade reporting obligations as agencies increasingly coordinate enforcement.

  • Why DOE Isn't Phasing Out Appliance Efficiency Regs

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    While the U.S. Department of Energy recently acted on President Donald Trump's 2025 executive order requiring it to consider sunsetting many energy regulations, the DOE has not proposed phasing out efficiency standards for appliances and industrial equipment — but it could pursue other approaches to ease such requirements, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

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    Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

  • Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

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    An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

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