Whistleblower Seeks Removal Of DOJ In Price-Gouging Case

By Elaine Briseño

A whistleblower told the Fourth Circuit that the U.S. Department of Justice can be removed as a plaintiff from his False Claims Act suit accusing major defense contractors of price gouging because the agency has a conflict of interest.

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GEO Group Urges Justices To Pick Up Wage Immunity Case

By Irene Spezzamonte

The Ninth Circuit ignored intergovernmental immunity when it ruled that the GEO Group needed to follow Washington's minimum wage to pay detainees in a voluntary work program, the private prison operator told the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the justices to weigh in.

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Gov't Contractor Says Insurers Wrongfully Inflated Premiums

By Hope Patti

A contractor for the federal government said it should not have to pay an additional $1.7 million premium for workers' compensation policies issued by units of the Hartford, telling a Connecticut federal court that the retroactive charge was caused by the wrongful reclassification of hundreds of employees.

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Harvard Club Settles Pandemic Loan Fraud Claims For $2.4M

By Katryna Perera

The Harvard Club of Boston, a private club that is not formally affiliated with Harvard University, has agreed to pay approximately $2.4 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by obtaining a COVID-19-era Paycheck Protection Program loan for which it was not eligible.

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DHS Blocked From 2nd Attempt To End TSA Union Deal

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal court has again stopped the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from canceling a collective bargaining agreement covering tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration workers, ruling Thursday that the federal government cannot get around a June injunction just by providing a fresh rationale.

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Murphy's Legacy: Tackling Some Of NJ's 'Intractable' Issues

By George Woolston

When New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy took office, he had his pick of policy challenges that had plagued the Garden State for years. The state's pension fund had been underfunded for decades, municipalities had been locked in litigation over their affordable housing obligations, and the state's public transit system needed a major overhaul.

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3 Brothers Used Dental Practices To Bilk Medicare, Jury Told

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Federal prosecutors told a Pennsylvania jury on Thursday that brothers operating a nationwide chain of dental practices were the driving force of a complex scheme that the government said defrauded Medicare through bogus reimbursement claims, the use of unapproved dental implants and the fudging of visa paperwork to recruit foreign workers.

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Fla. Eye Clinics To Pay $6M Over False Medical Billing Claims

By David Minsky

Five Florida ophthalmology clinics have reached settlements with the government over allegations that they filed false claims to Medicare and Medicaid, agreeing to collectively pay nearly $6 million to resolve accusations that the clinics billed the federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary eye procedures.

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Colo. Eye Clinics Settle Medicaid Double-Billing Claims

By Zach Dupont

The Colorado attorney general's office announced Thursday that it reached a settlement totaling $520,000 with two eye care clinics that the state claimed were double-billing a Medicaid vision program for more than five years.

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Ill. Biz Owner Gets 6 Years For $55M Bank Scams, PPP Fraud

By Emilie Ruscoe

An Illinois businessman has been sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay over $23.3 million in restitution in connection with claims that he defrauded banks through applications for commercial loans, lines of credit and the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program.

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Ex-LA Fire Official Alleges Retaliation In Whistleblower Case

By Craig Clough

A former Los Angeles Fire Department deputy chief Thursday filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the city in state court, alleging she was discriminated against for being a gay female and constructively terminated after reporting the misappropriation of wildfire funds by a subordinate. 

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Ex-WebAI Engineers Say Demos Were 'Faked' In Major Deals

By Abigail Harrison

WebAI Inc. turned a blind eye to a company leader who not only targeted two successful technology engineers but imperiled high-stakes deals with Qantas Airways and the U.S. Department of Defense by allowing a "fake demo" and inaccurate presentations, former company engineers have told a North Carolina state court.

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SEC Taps Ex-BlackRock, GSA Atty To Be General Counsel

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday a former BlackRock senior attorney and U.S. General Services Administration top lawyer will be its next general counsel, as the agency gets underway with a regulatory agenda that prioritizes easing administrative burdens and facilitating capital formation.

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4 Ways GCs Can Manage Growing Service Of Process Volume

As automation and arbitration increase the volume of legal filings, in-house counsel must build scalable service of process systems that strengthen corporate governance and manage risk in real time, says Paul Mathews at Corporation Service Co.

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Series

Fly-Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Much like skilled attorneys, the best anglers prize preparation, presentation and patience while respecting their adversaries — both human and trout, says Rob Braverman at Braverman Greenspun.

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As Goldstein Trial Begins, Gov't Points To 'Lavish' Lifestyle

By Jared Foretek

An accountant for billionaire investor Alec Gores said that Thomas Goldstein had suggested he open a foreign account for Gores' poker-related transactions or even classify him as a professional player for tax purposes, although Gores was just getting started in the high-stakes poker world.

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Simpson Thacher Offers Stipend To Lure Summer Associates

By Tracey Read

In an effort for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to attract top students who want to pursue public interest work, the firm said it will pay a stipend of $42,500 for the 2026-2027 cycle for those who opt to spend their 1L summer in a qualifying public service, government, academic, in-house legal or nonprofit role.

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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.

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Judiciary AI Rule Draws Fire As Judges Get Deepfakes Survey

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary policymakers heard extensive concerns Thursday regarding high-profile plans to formally screen evidence generated with artificial intelligence, and they set the stage for more feedback by preparing an AI survey for every federal trial judge.

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ICE Detention Facilities Nearly Doubled Last Year, Report Says

By Tom Lotshaw

An American Immigration Council report said the Trump administration detained record numbers of noncitizens last year, most without criminal records, and held them in a rapidly expanding network of facilities that could soon rival the federal criminal prison system.

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Fla. High Court Opens Door To Non-ABA Accrediting Entities

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday changed the bar exam admission requirements to allow graduates of law schools accredited by entities other than the American Bar Association to sit for the Florida bar exam.

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5th Circ. Revives Allstate's Fraud Suit Over Car Crash Billing

By Gina Kim

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived Allstate's racketeering suit alleging doctors and personal injury lawyers unleashed a barrage of unnecessary treatments for car accident patients and caused Allstate to pay $4.7 million in claims, finding the insurer sufficiently pled details about the conspiracy and specifics surrounding each allegedly fake medical billing.

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Sens. Advance Indiana Judge Nominee Grilled Over Sermons

By Courtney Bublé

A federal judicial nominee for Indiana who came under scrutiny by a Republican senator for his past sermons as an ordained elder was voted out of committee Thursday alongside five other judicial nominees.

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Trump US Atty Pick In NM Bumped To First Assistant

By Emily Sawicki

A New Mexico federal judge has ruled the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for New Mexico is not validly serving in the role but declined to disqualify the prosecutor from a slate of cases pending in the district, instead determining the lawyer may continue to work in the federal prosecutor's office as first assistant.

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Wash. Judges To Pick US Atty As Floyd's Term Set To Expire

By Gina Kim

The chief judge for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday announced the court's intent to select a U.S. attorney to serve on a temporary basis if President Donald Trump's pick, Charles Neil Floyd, who has been serving on an interim basis, isn't confirmed by the Senate by next month. 

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