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Government Contracts
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June 27, 2024
US Service Members Want Timeshare Class Action Certified
A putative class of U.S. service members who borrowed timeshare loans pushed for class certification for their suit in Florida federal court against two timeshare companies, which were accused of violating the Military Lending Act by not making legally required disclosures about the loans and arbitration requirements.
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June 27, 2024
Madigan Judge Doesn't Want Trial To Slip After Justices Rule
The Illinois federal judge overseeing the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act case against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said Thursday he was hesitant to delay an October trial after the U.S. Supreme Court removed prosecutors' ability to go after state officials for accepting gratuities.
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June 27, 2024
Boeing Settles Suit Claiming NC Fund Ransomed Plane Parts
The Boeing Co. and the private investment firm it accused of forcing a new supply contract under false pretenses before raising prices for aircraft parts by more than 300% have agreed to settle their dispute, according to a new notice filed in North Carolina federal court.
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June 27, 2024
Ex-Deputy Mayor Of Newark Pleads Guilty In Bribery Scheme
A former deputy mayor of Newark, New Jersey, has admitted in federal court that he conspired with two business owners in a bribery scheme involving the acquisition and redevelopment of various city-owned properties, federal prosecutors said.
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June 27, 2024
Bradley Arant Adds Former Wells Fargo Associate GC In DC
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has hired a former associate general counsel for both Wells Fargo and Bank of America, who previously served as a U.S. attorney in the Central District of California and most recently as a Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP partner.
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June 26, 2024
Claims Court Says USAID Wrongly Cut JV From $800M Deal
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled that the U.S. Agency for International Development was wrong to rescind a joint venture's slot on an $800 million support services procurement after one of its members was suspended from federal contracting.
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June 26, 2024
Moms For America Sues Biden Admin Over Vax Liability Law
Conservative nonprofit Moms for America has sued the Biden administration over a law that shields companies from COVID-19 vaccine injury lawsuits, saying the law is unconstitutional because it circumvents judicial review and violates fundamental rights, including due process and trial by jury.
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June 26, 2024
Justices Chide 5th Circ. In Biden Social Media Case
The Fifth Circuit relied on "clearly erroneous" facts and an overgeneralized view of standing when it ordered the Biden administration to stop working with social media platforms to combat COVID-19 and election misinformation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday as it threw out a challenge to the government's actions.
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June 26, 2024
After Covering For Ex, Man Gets 53 Months For PPP Scheme
A Georgia man who pled guilty to being a key player in an $11 million pandemic loan fraud ring was hit with a 53-month prison term Wednesday, a sentence that wasn't helped after a federal judge found he lied on the stand testifying for his ex-wife and co-conspirator at her trial earlier this year.
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June 26, 2024
Julian Assange Freed After Judge Accepts US Plea Deal
Julian Assange returned to his native Australia on Wednesday hours after a federal judge in the Northern Mariana Islands accepted his plea deal with the U.S. Department of Justice and sentenced him to time served for conspiring to disclose national security information.
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June 26, 2024
GAO Backs BAE Protest Over $12B Missile Support Deal
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has backed a BAE Systems unit's protest over a $12 billion contract to support the U.S. Air Force's nuclear missile office, saying the Air Force didn't properly assess whether awardee Guidehouse's labor plans were realistic.
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June 26, 2024
Supreme Court Bribery Ruling Limits Government's 'Arsenal'
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Wednesday limiting the reach of a federal bribery law has removed a "novel" tool that prosecutors employed in a wide range of public corruption cases and could result in fewer prosecutions of state and local officials, experts say.
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June 26, 2024
Fed. Circ. Says No Fees For HID Global In Patent Suit
The Federal Circuit has backed a U.S. Court of Federal Claims finding that HID Global Corp. can't have attorney fees after being let out of patent litigation brought by Giesecke & Devrient, but it affirmed on different grounds.
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June 26, 2024
Judge Won't Free Texas Officials From Lengthy Detention Suit
A Texas federal judge refused to toss four migrants' claims that state officials detained them for longer than allowed, saying they have pled enough misconduct that, if true, would show the officers were aware they were holding detainees for weeks past their release date.
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June 26, 2024
Miami-Dade Cites Animal Harm In Aquarium Eviction Action
Miami-Dade County has sued to evict an aquarium from a government-owned waterfront site following reports that the operator didn't clean and maintain the 70-year-old facility well enough and repeatedly failed to care for dolphins, manatees and other animals held at the theme park.
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June 26, 2024
Fed. Circ. Denies Contractor's $37M Tax Reimbursement Bid
A U.S. State Department armed security contractor is not entitled to $37 million in reimbursement tied to tax payments to the Afghan government because the contractor's parent company, not the company itself, incurred the costs associated with the payments, the Federal Circuit said Wednesday.
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June 26, 2024
Justices Say Bribery Law Doesn't Criminalize Gratuities
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowed the scope of a federal bribery law frequently used in corruption cases against local officials, in a 6-3 ruling in favor of a former Indiana mayor who argued the law only criminalizes quid pro quo bribery and not rewards given after an official act.
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June 26, 2024
High Court Axes Challenge To Biden Admin's Social Media Work
The U.S. Supreme Court wiped out a Fifth Circuit order prohibiting the Biden administration and several federal agencies from working with social media platforms to combat the spread of misinformation Wednesday, finding the states and individuals challenging the collaboration don't have standing to sue.
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June 25, 2024
Judge Likely To Block Medical Record Co.'s Anti-Bot CAPTCHAs
A Maryland federal judge appeared ready to enjoin electronic medical records company PointClickCare from restricting nursing home analytics company Real Time Medical Systems' automated access to its online repositories Tuesday, potentially taking an early crack at defining the 21st Century Cures Act's data sharing provisions.
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June 25, 2024
Pappas Restaurants 'Invented' Causes In Houston Airport Suit
The city of Houston told a state appeals court Tuesday that it should be shielded from a suit filed by Pappas Restaurants that alleges its procurement process caused Pappas to unfairly lose a 2023 contract with the William P. Hobby Airport because the contract for airport concessions did not require the city to spend any money.
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June 25, 2024
Texas Appeals Court Reverses Dallas Transit Contractor's Win
A Texas appeals court has revived a subcontractor's lawsuit against a company that oversees the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority's services for people with disabilities, saying this week the subcontractor's allegations were strong enough to withstand a motion to dismiss.
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June 25, 2024
Dems Seek 'Honest Evaluation' Of New ICBM Program
Thirteen Democrats, including the co-chairs of the Congressional Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, are calling for an "honest evaluation" of the U.S. Air Force's new intercontinental ballistic missile program due to cost overruns.
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June 25, 2024
Ex-SEPTA Surveillance Unit Head Gets 37 Months For Bribery
A former director of video surveillance for a Pennsylvania transportation authority was sentenced Monday for his role in a bribery and extortion scheme in which he exchanged inside information for thousands of dollars, concert tickets and a future job.
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June 25, 2024
GAO Won't Hear Protest Over Canceled DOD Sole-Source Deal
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest over the Defense Health Agency canceling a company's contract to instead seek competitive bids, saying the company ultimately sought the award of a sole-source deal, a position the watchdog won't support.
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June 25, 2024
IRS Apologizes To Hedge Fund Founder Over Leaked Tax Data
The IRS issued an extraordinary public apology Tuesday to hedge fund founder and billionaire Ken Griffin for the leak of his and others' tax information to the media by a former contractor who admitted to stealing the returns of thousands of wealthy individuals, including former President Donald Trump.
Expert Analysis
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5 Steps For Gov't Contractor Affirmative Action Verification
As the federal contractor affirmative action program certification deadline approaches, government contractors and subcontractors should take steps to determine their program obligations, and ensure any required plans are properly implemented and timely registered, say Christopher Wilkinson at Perkins Coie and Joanna Colosimo at DCI Consulting.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 2
Strategy documents recently published by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Space Force confirm the importance of the commercial space sector to the DOD, but say little about achieving the institutional changes needed to integrate commercial capabilities in support of national security in space, say Jeff Chiow and Skip Smith at Greenberg Traurig.
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National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 1
The recently published U.S. Department of Defense space strategy represents a recalibration in agency thinking, signaling that the integration of commercial space capabilities has become a necessity and offering guidance for removing structural, procedural and cultural barriers to commercial-sector collaboration, say Jeff Chiow and Skip Smith at Greenberg Traurig.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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Contractors Must Prep For FAR Council GHG Emissions Rule
With the U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council expected to finalize its proposed rule on the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risk this year, government contractors should take key steps now to get ready, say Thomas Daley at DLA Piper, Steven Rothstein at the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, and John Kostyack at Kostyack Strategies.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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Proposed Semiconductor Buy Ban May Rattle Supply Chains
The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recent proposed rulemaking clarifies plans to ban government purchases of semiconductors from certain Chinese companies, creating uncertainty around how contractors will be able to adjust supply chains that are already burdened and contracted to capacity, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In April
Four Federal Circuit decisions in April that reversed or vacated underlying rulings provide a number of takeaways, including that obviousness analysis requires a flexible approach, that an invalidity issue of an expired patent can be moot, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.
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Series
Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.