Government Contracts

September 26, 2025
Judge Won't Halt EPA's $3B Climate Grant Cuts During Appeal

A Washington, D.C., federal judge denied conservation groups' and local governments' effort to stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from ending a $3 billion climate grant program while they appeal the dismissal of their lawsuit.
September 26, 2025
DC Circ. Revives FCA Suit Against US Cellular

U.S. Cellular Corp. must face a lawsuit from two whistleblowers alleging it used a sham business to fraudulently obtain discounted spectrum licenses through Federal Communications Commission auctions, a D.C. Circuit panel ruled Friday in overturning a lower court.
September 26, 2025
High Court Pauses Distribution Of $4B Foreign Aid

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Trump administration can hold onto $4 billion in frozen foreign aid funding while Congress considers a proposal to cut it, pausing a lower court order that required the federal government to spend the money before the end of the month.
September 26, 2025
GAO Refuses To Revisit Denial Of $306M Army Deal Protest

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has nixed a Virginia company's plea to revisit a decision dismissing its protest of a $306.8 million Army award for support services, saying it was based on interested party arguments that should have been raised earlier.
September 25, 2025
Textron Shakes Privacy Suit Over Data Sharing With Google

A California federal judge has tossed a proposed class action accusing Textron Inc. of illegally sharing information about website visitors' search activities with Google LLC, finding that the plaintiff failed to allege that the aviation and defense products manufacturer had expressly targeted residents of the Golden State.
September 25, 2025
GAO Says Agencies' Procurement Data Reports Are Lacking

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report on Thursday that most federal agencies that reported procurement data in 2023 failed to complete a procurement data quality report or fell short of meeting all reporting requirements.
September 25, 2025
Housing Authority Targets Ex-Chief's Home In $3.1M Suit

A Connecticut municipal housing authority that is embroiled in litigation with its former executive director has asked a state court judge to make him pledge his Middlebury home to satisfy a potential multimillion-dollar judgment against him.
September 25, 2025
Pa. High Court Backs Two-Lab Rule For Medical Pot Products

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a state rule requiring medical marijuana businesses to test their products at two separate laboratories, finding that the state law's emphasis on public safety empowered regulators to impose the requirement.
September 25, 2025
Tribal Co. Sues Feds Over $2M Military Bridge Project Loss

A California tribal company is seeking more than $2 million in damages after it says the U.S. Air Force breached a contract for construction of a bridge by providing it with an incomplete engineering report and failing to gain timely environmental approvals for the project.
September 25, 2025
Sheppard Mullin Continues Growing, Adds DLA Piper Leader

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP has hired DLA Piper's former aerospace, defense and government services transactional practice co-leader, who is joining the team in Washington, D.C., as a partner, the firm announced Thursday.
September 24, 2025
Calif. Judge Blocks Feds' Transpo, Housing Grant Conditions

A California federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from requiring cities and local governments to follow "impermissibly vague" directives relating to immigration and diversity, equity and inclusion policies in order to receive federal transportation, infrastructure, housing and other grants that had already been appropriated by Congress.
September 24, 2025
GSA Official Says Agencies Are Free To Reject FAR Guidance

A General Services Administration official said on Wednesday that agencies don't have to follow nonstatutory provisions that have been moved from the Federal Acquisition Regulation to guidance documents, as part of the Trump administration's regulatory overhaul.
September 24, 2025
Omnicare Can Tap $25M Initial DIP, Stage Set For Gov't Feud

Omnicare LLC, a CVS Health subsidiary that provides pharmacy services for long-term care facilities, won a Texas bankruptcy court approval on Wednesday to use $25 million of interim debtor-in-possession financing amid a looming dispute over a $949 million judgment owed to the U.S. government over allegedly illegal billing.
September 24, 2025
Ill. Judge Sends $7.6M DOJ Deal Coverage Dispute To Virginia

A consulting firm must litigate its suit seeking coverage for a $7.6 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in Virginia, where it is based, an Illinois federal court ruled, finding that Virginia is the more convenient forum and the better place to apply state law.
September 24, 2025
Mass. Turnpike Bid Dispute Squashed As Applegreen Exits

Blackstone Inc.-backed convenience store chain Applegreen has withdrawn a bid to rebuild and operate service plazas along the Massachusetts Turnpike and other highways, mooting a lawsuit by current plaza operator Global Partners, lawyers told a state court judge on Wednesday.
September 24, 2025
5th Circ. Tosses Takings Claim Over Texas Bridge Contract

The Fifth Circuit has ruled local governments can act like any other party to a contract after the city of Mesquite, Texas, refused to extend a development agreement and shut down an attempt by a group of real estate owners to claim a refund on costs for building a multipurpose bridge.
September 24, 2025
NYC Housing Bribe Case Winding Down As Another Trial Set

A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday teed up a trial for a Bronx assistant public housing superintendent accused of taking $14,000 in bribes, as an anti-corruption sweep targeting 70 workers at the New York City Housing Authority inched toward an end.
September 23, 2025
UC Researchers Win Expanded Injunction Against Grant Cuts

A California federal judge Monday issued another preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to reinstate grants awarded to University of California researchers, this time resurrecting grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Institutes of Health.
September 23, 2025
Judiciary Dems Demand Feds Explain 'Border Czar' Probe

Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday they are looking into the Trump administration's alleged closure of a U.S. Department of Justice bribery investigation of White House "border czar" Thomas Homan, following recent news reports that he accepted $50,000 from an undercover FBI agent.
September 23, 2025
Italy's Telecom Regulator Seeks 'Back Door' Network Fees

As debate rages in the U.S. about whether to help pay for broadband network deployment by imposing fees on streamers and Big Tech, an Italian regulator is getting around an EU restriction on so-called network fees by reclassifying content delivery networks as "electronic communications networks," an industry group warned.
September 23, 2025
FCC Demands Boomerang, Others Repay $1.1M For Contracts

The Federal Communications Commission said it is owed more than $1.1 million for spending more on computer tablets than was needed by two wireless companies during pandemic-era assistance programs.
September 23, 2025
Feds Tell Justices GEO Can't Rush Detainee Work Row Appeal

The federal government told the U.S. Supreme Court that immigrant detention contractor The GEO Group Inc. is wrong when it asserts that a federal judge's rejection of its immunity defense to a detainee class action could be appealed immediately.
September 23, 2025
Feds, Military Officers Support Contractor In Vet Injury Suit

The U.S. government and senior military officers urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a veteran's attempt to revive state-based injury claims against a defense contractor, warning that doing so would disrupt military effectiveness and intrude into federal authority.
September 23, 2025
DC Circ. Scraps OK Of $8.7M Equatorial Guinea Hospital Award

The D.C. Circuit Tuesday overturned enforcement of an $8.7 million arbitral award issued against Equatorial Guinea in a dispute over an ill-fated hospital operating contract, ruling that a lower court wrongly deferred to the arbitrators' interpretation of an ambiguous arbitration clause.
September 23, 2025
Broadband Co. Says $168M Award Appeal Must Move Fast

Peru is getting ready to terminate the state-owned telecom from which a broadband company is trying to collect $168 million in arbitral awards, so the D.C. Circuit should rush briefing on the appeal before any chance of collection goes out the window, that company has told the court.

Editor's Picks

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

How Trade Fraud Task Force Launch Furthers Policy Goals

A new cross-agency trade fraud task force is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to leverage agency relationships in pursuit of its trade policy goals, and its creation signals a further uptick in customs enforcement, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
Series

Power To The Paralegals: How And Why Training Must Evolve

Empowering paralegals through new models of education that emphasize digital fluency, interdisciplinary collaboration and human-centered lawyering could help solve workforce challenges and the justice gap — if firms, educators and policymakers get on board, say Kristine Custodio Suero and Kelli Radnothy.
Series

Playing Softball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My time on the softball field has taught me lessons that also apply to success in legal work — on effective preparation, flexibility, communication and teamwork, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.
5 Years In, COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Landscape Is Shifting

As the government moves pandemic fraud enforcement from small-dollar individual prosecutions to high-value corporate cases, and billions of dollars remain unaccounted for, companies and defense attorneys must take steps now to prepare for the next five years of scrutiny, says attorney David Tarras.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Time Management

Law students typically have weeks or months to prepare for any given deadline, but the unpredictability of practicing in the real world means that lawyers must become time-management pros, ready to adapt to scheduling conflicts and unexpected assignments at any given moment, says David Thomas at Honigman.
Bid Protest Spotlight: Grounds, Clarifications, Amendments

Three recent decisions by the U.S. Government Accountability Office offer helpful reminders about matching protest grounds to the regulatory provisions under which a solicitation was issued, how the GAO will distinguish between agency clarifications and discussions, and when an agency is obligated to amend a request for proposals, says Brian Doll at MoFo.
How Hyperlinks Are Changing E-Discovery Responsibilities

A recent e-discovery dispute over hyperlinked data in Hubbard v. Crow shows how courts have increasingly broadened the definition of control to account for cloud-based evidence, and why organizations must rethink preservation practices to avoid spoliation risks, says Bree Murphy at Exterro.
State False Claims Acts Can Help Curb Opioid Fund Fraud

State versions of the federal False Claims Act can play an important role in policing the misuse of opioid settlement funds, taking a cue from the U.S. Department of Justice’s handling of federal fraud cases involving pandemic relief funds, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.
Series

Writing Musicals Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experiences with writing musicals and practicing law have shown that the building blocks for both endeavors are one and the same, because drama is necessary for the law to exist, says Addison O’Donnell at LOIS Law.
Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.
7 Document Review Concepts New Attorneys Need To Know

For new associates joining firms this fall, stepping into the world of e-discovery can feel like learning a new language, but understanding a handful of fundamentals — from coding layouts to metadata — can help attorneys become fluent in document review, says Ann Motl at Bowman and Brooke.
Deference Ruling Could Close The FAR Loophole

A recent U.S. Court of Federal Claims decision may close a loophole in the Federal Acquisition Regulation that allows agencies to circumvent the Trade Agreements Act, significantly affecting federal pharmaceutical procurements and increasing protests related to certain Buy American Act waivers, say attorneys at Polsinelli.
How Trump's Space Order May Ease Industry's Growth

President Donald Trump's recent executive order aimed at removing environmental hurdles for spaceport authorization and streamlining the space industry's regulatory framework may open opportunities not only for established launch providers, but also smaller companies and spaceport authorities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
Agentic AI Puts A New Twist On Attorney Ethics Obligations

As lawyers increasingly use autonomous artificial intelligence agents, disciplinary authorities must decide whether attorney responsibility for an AI-caused legal ethics violation is personal or supervisory, and firms must enact strong policies regarding agentic AI use and supervision, says Grace Wynn at HWG.
Health Insurance Kickback Cases Signal Greater Gov't Focus

A series of recent indictments by federal prosecutors in California suggests that the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act is gaining momentum as an enforcement tool against illegal inducement of patient referrals in the realm of commercial health insurance, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.