Government Contracts

  • July 29, 2025

    Judge May Review Classified DOD Evidence In DJI Drone Case

    A D.C. federal judge said he might need to see the U.S. Department of Defense's classified reasoning for listing drone manufacturer SZ DJI Technology as a Chinese military company, suggesting the unredacted evidence might not include enough information to assess whether the listing is justified.

  • July 29, 2025

    NY Judge Faces Recusal Request Over Gilead Stock Holdings

    A criminal defendant who admitted to taking part in a black market HIV drug scam has asked the Manhattan federal judge presiding over his case to step away after the judge disclosed brief ownership of nearly 9,000 shares of Gilead Sciences Inc., while the defendant was fighting her $2 million restitution order.

  • July 29, 2025

    Federal Cuts Shake Up Clinical Research Funding Landscape

    As the Trump administration makes deep cuts to clinical research funding, healthcare attorneys worry that the delicate balance between federal grants and private investment is at risk. Crowell & Moring LLP partner Linda Malek talks to Law360 Healthcare Authority about the industry's concerns.

  • July 29, 2025

    Top Gov't Contract Policies Of 2025: Midyear Report

    The Trump administration made several prominent policy moves affecting contractors this year, including rescinding Biden-era policies related to pay equity and DEI, and pushing to overhaul the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Here, Law360 examines significant policy changes from the first half of 2025 that will affect government contractors.

  • July 28, 2025

    Cadence To Pay $140M For Illegal Chip Design Exports To China

    Semiconductor technology company Cadence Design Systems agreed to pay over $140 million and plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit export control violations to resolve charges that it exported semiconductor design tools to a restricted Chinese military university, U.S. Department of Justice officials announced Monday.

  • July 28, 2025

    Judge Won't Toss Siemens' $3M Suit Over Contract Bid Costs

    A Court of Federal Claims judge won't dismiss a Siemens unit's lawsuit seeking nearly $3 million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for costs it incurred preparing a bid for an energy savings project at an American Air Force base in Germany that was later canceled.

  • July 28, 2025

    Mass. Judge Denies Injunction Against Trash Co. Hit By Strike

    A Massachusetts state court judge on Monday denied a request by six communities for an injunction forcing trash hauler Republic Services to fully comply with the terms of its existing waste collection contracts, as a strike by its workers entered its fourth week.

  • July 28, 2025

    Qui Tam Relator's Atty Admits Fake Citations In DC FCA Suit

    An attorney representing the estate of a Washington, D.C.-based construction company's former director in a False Claims Act suit launched against the contractor has withdrawn from the suit due to "recent failure to provide adequate representation" after his co-counsel alleged that the attorney used AI to file a brief "riddled with citation errors."

  • July 28, 2025

    Fla. Says Tribe Can't Join Detention Center Row, Feds Shrug

    The Florida Division of Emergency Management's chief is objecting to the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians' effort to join green groups' legal fight against an immigration detention center constructed in the Everglades.

  • July 28, 2025

    PREP Act Won't Save COVID Test Manufacturer From IP Suit

    The maker of swabs used in COVID-19 tests can't invoke a public health law's immunity protections to avoid patent infringement litigation, a Maine federal judge has ruled.

  • July 28, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Panel Calls For Extending Newman's Suspension

    A three-judge Federal Circuit panel recommended Monday that U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman remain suspended, saying her refusal to undergo medical tests by doctors chosen by the court is a "serious form of continuing misconduct" that is hindering an investigation into her health.

  • July 28, 2025

    DOL's Job Corps Closure Was Unlawful, DC Judge Rules

    A D.C. federal court granted a group of students' request for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Labor for its decision to close 99 Job Corps centers, saying the department's move was unlawful and "unprecedented."

  • July 28, 2025

    Top Gov't Contracts Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2025

    Federal courts in the latter half of 2025 are expected to decide if government contractors can immediately appeal denials of immunity and scrutinize whether the False Claims Act's whistleblower provision is constitutional, potentially affecting the government's ability to tackle fraud. Here, Law360 previews key disputes that government contractors should have on their radar in the second half of the year.

  • July 28, 2025

    Judge Again Cites Bias In NIH Fund Freeze As Gov't Appeals

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday reiterated his conclusion that the Trump administration's freeze of $783 million worth of National Institutes of Health grants was based on "palpable" gender and racial discrimination, as he acknowledged a pending request by the government to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his order that the money be released.

  • July 28, 2025

    Judge Says Trump Admin Can't Defund Planned Parenthood

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday blocked President Donald Trump's administration from denying Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood clinics, expanding an earlier ruling that had applied only to those that do not provide abortions or that receive minimal federal support.

  • July 28, 2025

    Freshfields, White & Case, Sidley Guide $3B Vaccine Biz Buy

    Private equity firms Nordic Capital and Permira said Monday they will buy Bavarian Nordic for 19 billion Danish kroner ($3 billion) in cash to turn the vaccine developer into a global heavyweight as a private company.

  • July 25, 2025

    11th Circ. Says Court Can't Nix Discovery Evidence In FCA Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday revived a whistleblower lawsuit that said moving companies conspired to defraud the U.S. General Services Administration, saying a lower court can't dismiss an amended complaint while ignoring information obtained through discovery.

  • July 25, 2025

    Pullman & Comley Didn't Flag 'Falsified' $16M Loan, Suit Says

    Pullman & Comley LLC didn't discover that the executive director of a Connecticut municipal housing authority had allegedly forged a connected company's $16.2 million loan application before penning a letter claiming the deal appeared solid, the lender, who was not a client, has alleged in a lawsuit.

  • July 25, 2025

    Feds Redirect First Phase Of Atomic Bomb Waste To Texas

    Radioactive waste from the development of the first atomic bomb will no longer be sent to a landfill in Wayne County, Michigan, after a group of nearby communities sued to block the landfill from accepting 6,000 cubic yards of the material. 

  • July 25, 2025

    Protest Of $32M VA Phone Deal Gets Disconnected At GAO

    A Massachusetts telecommunications company that protested a $32.7 million task order that the Department of Veterans Affairs awarded for phone replacement services failed to show any basis to revisit the award, the U.S. Government Accountability Office has decided.

  • July 25, 2025

    Jurisdiction Issue Leads To USAID Shutdown Suit's Dismissal

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge dismissed a suit Friday by a union and other groups seeking to stop the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and denied a contractor association an order blocking the same, saying their claims belong before expert agencies rather than a district court.

  • July 25, 2025

    Los Angeles Seeks Early Win In Military Leave Bias Suit

    The city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department urged a California federal court Friday to grant them an early win in a proposed class action alleging the city didn't grant equal sick and vacation time to service members and wouldn't promote them because of their service obligations.

  • July 25, 2025

    US Says Insurer Must Pay $5M Following Project Delays

    The U.S. government told a Virginia federal court that a Liberty Mutual unit owes an electrical subcontractor more than $5 million following delays for a school construction project at a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia.

  • July 25, 2025

    Surety Can't Avoid Texas County's $11M Park Bond Dispute

    A surety can't escape a county's suit accusing it of breaching a performance bond issued for an $11 million park development project, a Texas appellate court ruled, saying the surety failed to show that a one-year statute of limitations expired before the county filed suit.

  • July 25, 2025

    Top Gov't Contracts Decisions Of 2025: A Midyear Report

    Federal courts and the U.S. Government Accountability Office decided several consequential cases impacting government contractors this year, including weighing the legality of project labor agreement requirements and their jurisdiction over Other Transaction Authority deals. Here, Law360 reviews the top government contracts-related rulings so far in 2025.

Expert Analysis

  • FCA Working Group Reboot Signals EHR Compliance Risk

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    The revival of the False Claims Act working group is an aggressive expansion of enforcement efforts by the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services targeted toward technology-enabled fraud involving electronic health records and other data, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Arguing The 8th Amendment For Reduction In FCA Penalties

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    While False Claims Act decisions lack consistency in how high the judgment-to-damages ratio in such cases can be before it becomes unconstitutional, defense counsel should cite the Eighth Amendment's excessive fines clause in pre-trial settlement negotiations, and seek penalty decreases in post-judgment motions and on appeal, says Scott Grubman at Chilivis Grubman.

  • $95M Caremark Verdict Should Put PBMs On Notice

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    A Pennsylvania federal judge’s recent ruling that pharmacy benefits manager CVS Caremark owes the government $95 million for overbilling Medicare Part D-sponsored drugs highlights the effectiveness of the False Claims Act, as scrutiny of PBMs’ outsized role in setting drug prices continues to increase, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

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    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Conflicts, Evaluations, Materiality

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Brian Doll at MoFo examines three June decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office examining the U.S. Army’s handling of an impaired objectivity conflict of interest, the adequacy of oral evaluations, and whether a nonmaterial misrepresentation can sustain a protest.

  • Diversity, Equity, Indictment? Contractor Risks After Kousisis

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Kousisis v. U.S. decision, holding that economic loss is not required to sustain wire fraud charges related to fraudulent inducement, may extend criminal liability to government contractors that make false diversity, equity and inclusion certifications, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • 9th Circ. Customs Ruling A Limited Win For FCA Plaintiffs

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    While the decision last month in Island Industries v. Sigma may be welcome news for False Claims Act relators, under binding precedent courts within the Ninth Circuit still do not have jurisdiction to adjudicate customs-based FCA claims pursued by the government, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • DOJ Actions Signal Rising Enforcement Risk For Health Cos.

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's announcement of a new False Claims Act working group, together with the largest healthcare fraud takedown in history, underscore the importance of sophisticated compliance programs that align with the DOJ's data-driven approach, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • State Law Challenges In Enforcing Arbitration Clauses

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    In recent cases, state courts in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey have considered or endorsed heightened standards for arbitration agreements, which can mean the difference between a bilateral arbitration and a full-blown class action in court, says Fabien Thayamballi at Shapiro Arato.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • New FCPA Guidance May Flip The Whistleblowing Script

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s updated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act guidelines lay out a new incentive structure that may put multinational U.S.-based companies in an unusual offensive whistleblowing position, potentially spurring them to conduct external investigations of their foreign rivals, says Markus Funk at Perkins Coie.

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