Government Contracts
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March 22, 2019
FEMA Leaked Sensitive Data Of Over 2M Disaster Survivors
The Federal Emergency Management Agency shared the sensitive personal information of 2.3 million disaster survivors with a contractor in what FEMA on Friday called a "major privacy incident."
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March 22, 2019
Fla. Judge Takes Stand In Esformes Trial To Clear His Name
A current Miami-Dade circuit court judge took the stand Friday in the health care fraud trial of Miami nursing home owner Philip Esformes to deny accusations made by government witnesses earlier in the trial that he had helped set up fraudulent paperwork to hide cash transactions.
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March 22, 2019
Ex-GC Wins $1.87M In Houston Housing Authority Firing Suit
A Texas federal jury awarded the former general counsel of the Houston Housing Authority $1.87 million Friday after finding she had been fired in retaliation for reporting possible fraud in a voucher program for veterans.
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March 22, 2019
Raytheon Asks To Be Cut From Contractors' Tax Info Suit
Raytheon should be dismissed from a suit by Northrop Grumman employees alleging their tax information was exposed and they were given faulty tax advice because they have not implicated the company in wrongdoing, Raytheon told a Texas federal court Friday.
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March 22, 2019
Contractor Asks 9th Circ. For Fees After Getting Award Nixed
An American contractor has asked the Ninth Circuit for nearly $92,000 in attorney fees after the appeals court tossed an Afghan subcontractor's $1.07 million arbitral award against it.
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March 22, 2019
Gov't Escapes CACI Torture Case Despite Lack Of Immunity
The federal government has no sovereign immunity from claims it violated norms of international law, but a previous settlement nonetheless bars CACI International from seeking indemnity from the government for torture allegations surrounding Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, a Virginia federal judge ruled Friday.
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March 22, 2019
NRDC Can’t Challenge EPA’s Advisory Committee Policy
A New York federal judge has thrown out the Natural Resources Defense Council's suit over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s policy of forbidding agency grant recipients from serving on its advisory committees, deciding the environmental group did not have standing.
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March 22, 2019
Defunct Pharmacy Escapes Ex-Worker's Retaliation Claim
An Illinois federal jury has sided with a defunct Chicago pharmacy over claims that it fired an employee for expressing concern over kickbacks that he alleged the pharmacy gave customers to attract business, according to court records entered Thursday.
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March 22, 2019
Ex-Chinese Diplomat Convicted Of Forced Labor Scheme
A former Chinese diplomat accused of using workers from his home country as forced labor in U.S. construction projects was convicted Friday on all counts by a New York federal jury, which rejected his claims that the employment arrangement was legitimate.
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March 21, 2019
Afghan Man Can’t Duck Counterclaims in Army Contract Suit
An Afghan national suing an American man for breach of contract over their partnership on a joint venture in Afghanistan can’t escape counterclaims from his former business partner, a Tennessee federal judge has ruled.
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March 21, 2019
Whistleblower Doctor Trio Nabs $35M In FCA Kickback Sequel
Three whistleblower doctors have helped secure a $35 million False Claims Act deal with a Maryland hospital chain accused of paying for patient referrals, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday, marking a sequel to an earlier kickback settlement sparked by the same trio.
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March 21, 2019
Marine Chief Says Hurricanes, Border Work Straining Budget
Recent hurricanes, alongside deployments to the southern border and other unexpected events, have resulted in the U.S. Marine Corps facing unprecedented financial challenges and "unacceptable risk" to its combat readiness, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said in a pair of internal memos, publicly leaked Thursday.
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March 21, 2019
GAO Axes Bid Protest In Army Cyberspace Deal
The U.S. Army reasonably rejected MacAulay-Brown Inc.’s bid for a cyberspace operations deal after the Ohio-based company failed to meet certain technical and management-related requirements, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found Wednesday.
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March 21, 2019
Sens. Seek Answers About Doctor-Owned Medical Suppliers
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have sent a letter to agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services seeking answers on their efforts to monitor medical suppliers that are partly owned by the physicians whose practices they supply.
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March 21, 2019
DOD Awards Boeing $4B Multiyear Fighter Jet Deal
Boeing has won a $4 billion contract to supply 78 F/A-18 fighter jets to the Navy over the next several years, the U.S. Department of Defense announced, saying the use of a multiyear deal will save hundreds of millions of dollars over short-term agreements.
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March 21, 2019
Tesla, Contractor To Face Trafficking Claim In Visa Fraud Suit
A California federal judge on Wednesday dumped most of an amended suit alleging Tesla and its contractor committed visa fraud to illegally import low-cost foreign labor, but allowed one of the plaintiffs' human trafficking claims to survive.
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March 21, 2019
Paving Co. Demands $7.4M Under Army Base Subcontract
A California paving contractor sued a pair of construction companies, their joint venture and four insurance companies in Oklahoma federal court Wednesday over nearly $7.4 million in unpaid work done on an Oklahoma Air Force base construction project.
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March 21, 2019
Pittsburgh Loses Bid To Dodge FCA Housing Suit Again
A Pennsylvania federal judge refused to dismiss a False Claims Act suit accusing the city of Pittsburgh of defrauding the federal government of millions of dollars meant for the Community Development Block Grant program, nearly a year after the Third Circuit revived the suit.
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March 20, 2019
What’s In A Judgeship? More Than Meets The Eye
Figuring out what constitutes a manageable workload for the nation’s district judges is no simple task. Getting the judiciary the resources it needs is even harder.
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March 20, 2019
Swamped: How Magistrate Judges Salvaged Louisiana's Judicial Crisis
The Western District of Louisiana is supposed to have seven district judges. But for a year, most of the courthouses were operating without a single Article III judge. As usual, magistrate judges picked up the slack.
Editor's Picks
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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
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Lenders Score Major High Court Victory In Foreclosure Case
The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling on Wednesday in Obduskey v. McCarthy & Holthus LLP removes nearly all activities taken by creditors seeking nonjudicial foreclosure of liens and mortgages from the ambit of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, says John Baxter of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.
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Tech Trends From SXSW Pose Unique Questions For Lawyers
These days, a popular theme in media is that lawyers' jobs will be taken by robots. However, based on the tech issues discussed at the South by Southwest technology conference in Austin, Texas, last month, robots may in fact need lawyers, says Nick Abrahams of Norton Rose Fulbright.
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Opposite Rulings Refine Scope Of Texas Sovereign Immunity
Last week, the Texas Supreme Court reached opposite conclusions in two sovereign immunity cases, reflecting the excruciating parsing of statutory text required to determine whether a claim against a local government is barred or is encompassed by a statutory waiver of immunity, says Lyndon Bittle at Carrington Coleman Sloman & Blumenthal LLP.
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Liability For CEO Misconduct Expands After #MeToo
The Nevada Gaming Commission's recent $20 million fine against Wynn Resorts for failing to act after reports of its former CEO's alleged sexual misconduct demonstrates how #MeToo has altered the classic economic assessment for harassment claims, says Dove Burns of Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP.
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In Bar Admissions Process, It's Candor Or Bust
You passed the bar exam and are ready for the character and fitness committee interview. Time to think about how to discuss that minor incident in college, that misdemeanor in high school or that mental health issue that you have totally under control, says Richard Maltz of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC.
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Keeping Up With DOD Cybersecurity Compliance Demands
The Defense Contract Management Agency recently updated its contractor purchasing system review guidebook, assuming obligations beyond those imposed by the defense federal acquisition regulation supplement clause. Contractors should be aware of the new requirements which will likely show up in future contracts or modifications to existing contracts, say attorneys at Covington & Burling LLP.
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Series
Judging A Book: Bashant Reviews 'Doing Justice'
My initial reaction to "Doing Justice" was that author Preet Bharara may have bitten off more than he could chew — an accusation leveled against him when he served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — but I found the book full of helpful gems, says U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant of the Southern District of California.
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Firms Can Leverage Communications When Economy Is Slow
Though most experts believe that an imminent recession is unlikely, slowdown fears are increasing. Now is the time for firms to consider how to best leverage their communications and marketing teams to lessen impacts from a potential economic slowdown, says Tom Orewyler of Tom Orewyler Communications LLC.
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Don't Let Organizational Conflicts Haunt Your Gov't Contract
The U.S. Government Accountability Office's recent bid protest decision regarding Safal Partners Inc. is a reminder to procurement officials and would-be government contractors of the importance of identifying and mitigating potential organizational conflicts of interests before bidding, say Kenneth Weckstein and Shlomo Katz of Brown Rudnick LLP.
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Ethical Social Media Marketing For Lawyers
Social media presents rich opportunities to reach prospective clients. Attorneys should not let those opportunities pass them by, but they should keep their ethical obligations in mind as they post, says Cort Sylvester of Nilan Johnson Lewis PA.