Government Contracts

July 01, 2025
Justices Face Busy Summer After Nixing Universal Injunctions

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to limit nationwide injunctions was one of its biggest rulings of the term — a finding the court is likely going to be dealing with all summer. Here, Law360 takes a look at the decision, how it and other cases on the emergency docket overshadowed much of the court's other work, and what it all means for the months to come.
July 01, 2025
GSA Watchdog Flags Energy Contract Oversights In Texas, La.

A General Services Administration watchdog found Tuesday that oversight was lacking for an energy savings task order issued to support 10 federal buildings in Texas and Louisiana, including one error that led to the installation of dozens of window inserts that had to be removed.
July 01, 2025
Mich. Judge Halts Mackinac Island Ferry Rate Ordinance

A Michigan federal judge has temporarily blocked Mackinac Island city officials from regulating ferry prices, a move the judge said preserves both the status quo and the availability of ferry service to the tourist destination.
July 01, 2025
HomeSafe Layoffs After Lost DOD Contract Spur Suit

A Georgia man hit KBR Inc. and HomeSafe Alliance LLC with a proposed class action alleging that they failed to provide notice before terminating some 200 employees after the U.S. government scrapped a moving services contract worth up to $20 billion for performance troubles.
June 30, 2025
Texas Panel Says Suit Challenging Abortion Travel Is Unripe

A split Texas appeals court panel found Monday that several anti-abortion groups lack standing to sue the city of San Antonio for allegedly earmarking money to pay for out-of-state abortion travel, saying the money had not gone out yet and the groups' claims were not ripe.
June 30, 2025
Feds Defend Authority To End NY Congestion Pricing Deal

The U.S. Department of Transportation has told a Manhattan federal judge that courts cannot handcuff it to now-disfavored policies of earlier administrations, while New York transportation agencies maintain that the federal government is grasping at illusory legal arguments to justify trying to shut down congestion pricing.
June 30, 2025
9 Charged With Cyberfraud In Aid Of North Korea

Eight Chinese and Taiwanese nationals and a New Jersey resident have been charged in a cyberfraud scheme on behalf of North Korea, in which they allegedly posed as American information technology workers to get remote jobs with U.S. Fortune 500 companies and one defense contractor, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts announced Monday.
June 30, 2025
Trump Admin Appeals Perkins Coie Case To DC Circ.

The Trump administration announced in D.C. federal court on Monday that it's not giving up on its effort to punish Perkins Coie LLP through an executive order, even after losing four court rulings that found its actions in this and three similar cases are unconstitutional.
June 30, 2025
Data Brokers Can't Escape NJ Judicial Privacy Law Actions

Data security company Atlas Data Privacy Corp. has won the go-ahead to proceed with dozens of lawsuits based on the judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law against a group of data brokers in New Jersey federal court.
June 30, 2025
High Court Rejects Challenge To NM Nuke Storage Site

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said a mineral owner could not challenge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval of a temporary nuclear waste storage facility in New Mexico.
June 30, 2025
Judge Hits Pause On Civil RICO Suit Against NJ Power Broker

A New Jersey judge has entered a consent order pausing a real estate developer's civil racketeering suit against influential South Jersey businessman George Norcross III, holding the parties' dispute in stasis until an appeal over the dismissal of a related criminal indictment can be resolved.
June 30, 2025
Trump Administration Says Harvard Violated Civil Rights Law

The Trump administration on Monday informed Harvard University that it had run afoul of federal civil rights law by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students on campus from harassment, and threatened to cut all funding from the nation's oldest university.
June 27, 2025
DOD's Pot Questions Violate 5th Amendment, Contractor Says

A former defense contractor who was denied security clearance because he refused to say if he had consumed marijuana during a specific time period is suing the U.S. Department of Defense, alleging it violated his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
June 27, 2025
Fed Circ. Passes On VA, Veteran Dispute Over GI Bill Benefits

A three-judge Federal Circuit panel said it lacked jurisdiction to step into an ongoing GI Bill dispute as a long-serving veteran challenges an education benefits denial that purportedly flies in the face of a U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down last year.
June 27, 2025
Patient Monitoring Co. To Pay Feds $1.3M To Settle FCA Suit

A Georgia healthcare patient monitoring company has agreed to pay nearly $1.3 million to resolve a False Claims Act suit alleging it gave referral kickbacks to doctors' offices in half a dozen states, ripping off Medicare and Medicaid in the process.
June 27, 2025
Full 5th Circ. To Hear Planned Parenthood Atty Immunity Row

The full Fifth Circuit will rehear a panel's decision concluding that Planned Parenthood is entitled to attorney immunity in a whistleblower suit accusing the organization of improperly billing Medicaid programs.
June 27, 2025
NJ Judge Denies Investment Fund's Bid For Nonparty Docs

A New Jersey federal judge has rejected a Black-owned investment fund's bid to obtain personal emails and other documents related to the relationship between an asset management firm's principals and the ex-director of the Garden State's investment division, ruling the fund failed to show the need for the documents and that the request is overly burdensome.
June 27, 2025
Contractor Must Face OT Suit Over Fringe Benefits Payments

A federal contractor cannot escape a lawsuit accusing it of failing to include cash in lieu of benefits payments in overtime pay calculations, a California federal judge ruled, saying the firm failed to show that the fringe benefits payments should be exempt from the regular rate of pay.
June 27, 2025
DC Judge Says Teen Health Projects Can 'Shutter' Temporarily

Five Planned Parenthood affiliates will not be irreparably harmed by changes to federal guidance for teen health programs instructing grantees to demonstrate alignment with executive orders from the Trump administration rejecting transgender identity and diversity programs, a D.C. federal judge has ruled.
June 27, 2025
Wireless Co. Says Feds Breached 'Rip And Replace' Promise

Illinois-based SI Wireless LLC told a Court of Federal Claims judge the U.S. government breached a promise to reimburse it for removing Chinese-made equipment deemed a national security risk from its telecommunications network and has failed to follow through with nearly $157 million in payments.
June 27, 2025
No Federal Agency Can Enforce WilmerHale EO, Judge Says

A D.C. federal judge on Thursday amended his decision in the WilmerHale executive order litigation, clarifying amid disagreement among the parties that the underlying executive order cannot be enforced by any federal agency.
June 27, 2025
HVAC Co. Cuts Deal To End Public Works Pay Suit

A heating, ventilation and air conditioning company will pay $225,000 to resolve workers' allegations that it failed to pay prevailing wages on public works projects in New York City and New York state, a filing in federal court said.
June 26, 2025
Phillip Morris Moves To Arbitrate Rivals' Tobacco Deal Suit

Philip Morris USA is urging a Washington state judge to force arbitration in a dispute with R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies over deals delineating billions of dollars in annual payments owed to states under Big Tobacco's 1998 master settlement agreement.
June 26, 2025
Ex-NY Gov. Aide Hit With New PPE Fraud Scheme Charges

A federal grand jury Wednesday tacked on charges against a former top aide to two New York governors in a case accusing her of secretly acting as a Chinese government agent, alleging she illegally steered government contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic to businesses she was secretly connected to.
June 26, 2025
Judge Questions DOJ's Justification For $820M Grant Cuts

A D.C. federal judge on Thursday expressed frustration with the U.S. Department of Justice's scant explanation for canceling more than $820 million in public safety grants disbursed through the agency's Office of Justice Programs.

Expert Analysis

Series

Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
3 Noteworthy Effects Of The 2025 NDAA

The 2025 defense budget includes further restrictions on semiconductor sales to Huawei, requiring companies to rethink customer-base oversight, but other provisions are likely to broaden procurement contract opportunities, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.
FTC Privacy Enforcement Takeaways From 2024

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission distinguished three prominent trends in its privacy-related enforcement actions: geolocation data protections, data minimization practices, and artificial intelligence use and marketing, say Cobun Zweifel-Keegan at IAPP and James Smith at Dechert.
Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
Public Corruption Enforcement In 2024 Has Clues For 2025

If 2024 activity is any indication, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely continue to rein in expansive prosecutorial theories of fraud in the year to come, but it’s harder to predict what the new administration will mean for public corruption prosecutions in 2025, says Cathy Fleming at Offit Kurman.
Anticipating How GAO Pleading Standards May Shift

The 2025 National Defense Authorization Act's mandate to create an enhanced pleading standard at the U.S. Government Accountability Office may change the calculus for where to file when challenging a U.S. Department of Defense procurement, say attorneys at Rogers Joseph.
How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark

All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
5 Notable Information Security Events In 2024

B. Stephanie Siegmann at Hinckley Allen discusses 2024's largest and most destructive data breaches seen yet, ranging from ransomware disrupting U.S. healthcare systems on a massive scale, to tensions increasing between the U.S. and China over cyberespionage and the control of U.S. data.
US-China Deal Considerations Amid Cross-Border Uncertainty

With China seemingly set to respond to the incoming U.S. administration's call for strategic decoupling and tariffs, companies on both sides of the Pacific should explore deals and internal changes to mitigate risks and overcome hurdles to their strategic plans, say attorneys at Covington.
Series

Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.
How 2025 NDAA May Affect DOD Procurement Protests

A bid protest pilot program included in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act shifts litigation costs onto unsuccessful bid protesters and raises claim-filing thresholds, which could increase risks to U.S. Department of Defense contractors who file protests, and reduce oversight of DOD procurement awards, say attorneys at Venable.
Opinion

No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.
5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.
What To Expect From Federal Cybersecurity Policy In 2025

There are 12 cyber policy questions to keep an eye on as the new administration and Republican control of Congress present an opportunity to advance less regulatory approaches and revisit some choices from the prior administration, say attorneys at Wiley.