Government Contracts

July 02, 2020
NY Judge Axes Standard Chartered FCA Suit At Feds' Request

A New York federal judge has dismissed a whistleblower suit accusing Standard Chartered Bank of lying to U.S. authorities to shave billions of dollars from what it allegedly should have paid for violations of Iran sanctions, granting a government request that he said he had "no difficulty" deeming well-founded.
July 02, 2020
DOI Watchdog Warns Tribal COVID-19 Funds At Risk Of Abuse

The U.S. Department of the Interior's spending of $522 million in COVID-19 relief on programs for tribes and Native Americans could be susceptible to fraud and abuse, the DOI's Office of Inspector General has said.
July 02, 2020
4th Circ. Grounds Challenge To Baltimore Airport Construction

A Maryland county missed the deadline to challenge an updated plan for expanding cargo capabilities at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport by seven days and can't pin the delay on anyone other than itself, a Fourth Circuit panel has ruled.
July 02, 2020
3M Wants DOD Employees, Data In Defective Earplug MDL

3M Co. told a Florida federal judge Wednesday it has no choice but to seek to compel six U.S. Department of Defense employees to give deposition and the department to produce data in multidistrict litigation over the company's earplugs, which are said to have caused users in the military to develop tinnitus and suffer hearing loss.
July 02, 2020
Gov't Contracts Of The Month: Vaccine, Radars, Submarines

While the federal government continued to pour funding into the development of a coronavirus vaccine, it also awarded multibillion dollar contracts to Raytheon for surveillance radars and General Dynamics for ballistic missile submarines in June. Here are Law360's top picks for government contracts awarded for the month, along with details about a $50 billion IT contract for small businesses on the horizon.
July 01, 2020
Novartis To Pay $729M To End 2 FCA Kickback Accusations

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. has agreed to pay more than $729 million to end two separate sets of allegations from the U.S. Department of Justice that it violated the False Claims Act through companywide kickback schemes to pump up prescriptions, the agency said Wednesday.
July 01, 2020
Agendia Pays $8.25M In FCA Suit Over Delayed Cancer Tests

The California molecular diagnostics testing company Agendia agreed Wednesday to pay the U.S. Department of Justice $8.25 million to settle a whistleblower's False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that it intentionally delayed breast cancer screening tests as part of a nationwide, multiyear Medicare billing fraud scheme.
July 01, 2020
Gov't Contracts Cases Of 2020: Midyear Report

Courts have handed down a number of important rulings for federal contractors so far in 2020, including a decision significantly altering country-of-origin determinations and several developments related to the materiality standard for False Claims Act cases.
July 01, 2020
OFCCP Curbs Affirmative Action Scrutiny Of Tricare Providers

Reversing a long-held position, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs on Wednesday said it lacks authority to enforce affirmative action obligations against health care providers who participate in military health insurance program Tricare but not other federal contracts.
July 01, 2020
House Passes $1.5T Infrastructure Funding Bill

The House on Wednesday passed an estimated $1.5 trillion surface transportation and infrastructure investment bill that aggressively tackles climate change and environmental reforms, advancing a measure that the Senate majority leader and the president have already declared dead on arrival.
July 01, 2020
DOD Needs To Improve AI Standards, Cybersecurity, OIG Says

The U.S. Department of Defense has partially developed a governance framework and standards for the use of artificial intelligence, yet it needs to do more, including developing capabilities to share data and crafting standards for legal and privacy considerations, the Office of Inspector General said in a report released Wednesday.
July 01, 2020
Unión Fenosa Wins Round In $2B Award Fight Against Egypt

A London judge declined to set aside an order dispensing with formal service requirements relating to Unión Fenosa Gas' efforts to enforce a $2 billion arbitral award against Egypt after a certificate of service was apparently lost on its way back from Cairo to England.
June 30, 2020
Coal Co. Snags $12M In Litigation Funds For Row With Poland

An Australian coal mining company has secured about $12 million in litigation funding (18 million in Australian dollars) from a British capital management firm to pursue a claim in international arbitration proceedings against Poland, saying it will repay the funds if it recovers a damages award.
June 30, 2020
Venezuela Tells 5th Circ. $138M Award Can't Be Enforced

Venezuela's defense ministry is urging the Fifth Circuit to overturn an order enforcing a $138 million arbitral award to a U.S. military shipbuilder, arguing that a lower court improperly barred the parties from arbitrating the dispute in Caracas, the venue agreed upon in their 1997 contract.
June 30, 2020
7th Circ. Won't Revive $8.6M Suit Over Unpaid Air Base Work

The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday denied a contractor's bid to revive its suit against Zurich American Insurance Co. and The Insurance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania over $8.6 million it claims it's owed from work on a Qatar air base, saying the contractor failed to give notice within the right time frame that it wasn't paid.
June 30, 2020
Huawei, ZTE Officially National Security Threats, FCC Says

The Federal Communications Commission formally designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats to the United States on Tuesday, moving to disrupt the Chinese tech firms' American operations by declaring that federal telecom subsidies won't cover their equipment.
June 30, 2020
7th Circ. Says Boy's $8.3M Birth Injury Award Is Reasonable

The Seventh Circuit on Monday rejected the U.S. government's request to vacate an $8.3 million award for a 5-year-old boy who suffered a serious shoulder injury when he was born at a federally supported clinic, saying the trial judge determined reasonable damages.
June 30, 2020
Prison Phone Providers Accused Of Price-Fixing Inmate Calls

Two companies that facilitate collect calls made from U.S. jails and prisons and a mobile marketing company were hit with a class action Monday in Maryland federal court for allegedly colluding to inflate the cost of inmate calls for a decade.
June 29, 2020
Senate Kicks Off Debate On $741B Defense Bill For 2021

The U.S. Senate began debate Monday on a $740.5 billion defense policy and budget bill for 2021 that includes several provisions designed to shore up military cybersecurity and promote more innovative defense acquisition strategies.
June 29, 2020
NJ Justice Backs City's Insurer In Workers Comp Payout Fight

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday bolstered Star Insurance Co.'s bid to recover $936,000 it shelled out for an injured Asbury Park firefighter's workers compensation claim, rejecting the city's argument that it should be allowed to recoup the $400,000 deductible it paid toward the claim before the insurer can recover anything.
June 29, 2020
Foreign Orgs Have No 1st Amendment Rights, Justices Say

The U.S. Supreme Court sided against HIV/AIDS groups challenging a requirement that their foreign affiliates explicitly oppose prostitution and sex trafficking before receiving any federal funding, holding that the foreign entities have no First Amendment rights under the Constitution.
June 29, 2020
Corpus Christi Can't Duck Suit Over $50M Wastewater Plant

The city of Corpus Christi can't get out of a lawsuit brought by Graham Construction Services over a soured $50 million contract to build a wastewater treatment plant, a Texas appellate court has affirmed.
June 26, 2020
Surveillance Reformers Seize Moment Amid Protests, Virus

A growing movement for police reform and added scrutiny of privacy in the age of COVID-19 have combined to add momentum to the push for limits on government surveillance.
June 26, 2020
Claims Court Denies 7 Protests Over $7.5B DOD Tech Deal

A Court of Federal Claims judge has tossed seven challenges to the Defense Information Systems Agency's choice of contractors for a $7.5 billion information technology deal, saying DISA had fairly vetted applicants and reasonably chosen the winning bidders.
June 26, 2020
Calif. Judge Orders Detained Migrant Kids Released

A California federal judge ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday to release migrant children who have been detained longer than 20 days by July 17, following claims from advocates that the government is holding the children unnecessarily.

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

Opinion

Time To Consider Percentage Rental Agreements For Lawyers

It has long been the law that attorneys cannot use percentage rental agreements because doing so would constitute an impermissible sharing of fees with nonlawyers, but such arrangements can help lawyers match expenses with revenues in lean times like now, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Thompson at Holland & Knight.
'Settle And Sue' Malpractice Cases Have New Clarity In Calif.

A California state appellate court's recent decision in Masellis v. Law Office of Leslie F. Jensen provides a road map for proving causation and damages in settle-and-sue legal malpractice cases — an important issue of long-standing confusion, says Steven Berenson at Klinedinst.
A Midyear Look At Key US Sanctions Developments

During an active first half of 2020, the Office of Foreign Assets Control strengthened its sanctions programs, issued new guidance documents and announced several enforcement actions, underscoring that even during a pandemic, sanctions compliance is indispensable, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
What You Say In Online Mediation May Be Discoverable

Mediation conducted online with participants in different states makes it harder to determine where communications were made, increasing the risk that courts will apply laws of a state that does not protect mediation confidentiality, say mediators Jeff Kichaven and Teresa Frisbie and law student Tyler Codina.
10 Tips For A Successful Remote Arbitration Hearing

As I learned after completing a recent international arbitration remotely, with advance planning a video hearing can replicate the in-person experience surprisingly well, and may actually be superior in certain respects, says Kate Shih at Quinn Emanuel.
PE Deals Should Consider Gov't Contractors' Small Biz Status

Private equity firms targeting government contractors that receive preferential treatment in federal procurement should know how to spot red flags that result in loss of small-business status and the deal structures that mitigate this risk, say Elizabeth Leavy and Robert McCann at Reed Smith.
Opinion

To Achieve Diversity, Law Firms Must Reinvent Hiring Process

If law firms are truly serious about making meaningful change in terms of diversity, they must adopt a demographically neutral, unbiased hiring equation that looks at personality traits with greater import than grades and class rank, says Thomas Latino at Florida State University College of Law.
Fed. Circ. Inserso Ruling Brings Bid Protest Considerations

The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Inserso v. U.S. injects uncertainty into timeliness standards for government contractors seeking relief at the Court of Federal Claims, but the dissent sets the parameters and rationale for circumscribing a judicially created time bar, say Aron Beezley and Nathaniel Greeson at Bradley Arant.
Cybersecurity Steps For Law Firms Amid Heightened Risks

With large swaths of the population indoors and primarily online, cybercriminals will be able to exploit law firms more easily now than ever before, but some basic precautions can help, says Joel Wallenstrom at Wickr.
Opinion

It's Time For Law Firms To Support Work-From-Home Culture

Now that law firms are on board with fully remote work environments, they must develop policies that match in-office culture and align partner and associate expectations, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.
Opinion

Republicans Keep Confirming Unqualified Judicial Nominees

What emerges from the group of 200 federal judges confirmed by the Senate under President Donald Trump is a judiciary stacked with young conservative ideologues, many of whom lack basic judicial qualifications, says Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Tips For Crafting The Perfect Law Firm Alert

As lawyers have had more time to write in recent weeks, the number of law firm alerts has increased massively, but a lot of them fail to capture readers and deliver new business, says Richard Torrenzano at The Torrenzano Group.
What Ebola Crisis Can Teach Us About COVID-19 Compliance

What occurred during and as a result of the Ebola outbreak is informative of what companies may face in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, including fraud related to charitable donations, government contracts and border crossings, say attorneys at Orrick.
Series

Judging A Book: Elrod Reviews 'Shortlisted'

Renee Knake Jefferson and Hannah Brenner Johnson's new book, "Shortlisted: Women in the Shadows of the Supreme Court," is a service to an overlooked group of nine women who were considered for the U.S. Supreme Court before Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was confirmed, and offers constructive tips for women looking to break through the glass ceiling, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.
Mandatory State Bars Likely To Remain Intact, For Now

A Texas federal judge’s recent holding in McDonald v. Sorrels that mandatory bar memberships do not violate members' constitutional rights indicates that such requirements survive the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Janus, but it may mean that the Supreme Court will address the issue in the not-too-distant future, say Majed Nachawati and Misty Farris at Fears Nachawati.