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Government Contracts
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June 25, 2024
Fed. Circ. Revives Class Action Against Feds' Visa Fraud Sting
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday revived an Indian citizen's proposed class action to recover tuition payments to a fake university the U.S. Department of Homeland Security set up to catch visa fraudsters, saying the lower court wrongly determined it lacked jurisdiction.
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June 24, 2024
Julian Assange To Plead Guilty To US Charge, Feds Say
Julian Assange will plead guilty to a single count of conspiring to disclose national security information, the U.S. Department of Justice told a federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Monday, likely ending the WikiLeaks founder's long-running battle to avoid a U.S. prison sentence.
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June 24, 2024
NYC Pharmacy Owners Get Jail Time For $18M Med Fraud
Two brothers who own several New York pharmacies will each have to pay over $18 million in restitution in addition to serving jail time for submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare for pricey cancer medication and funneling illicit proceeds through several shell companies, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.
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June 24, 2024
Billionaire Drops Case Against IRS Over Tax Info Leak
Billionaire hedge fund founder Ken Griffin dropped his case Monday seeking to hold the IRS accountable for the leak of his tax return information in a data breach that affected thousands of wealthy and powerful taxpayers, including former President Donald Trump.
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June 24, 2024
Architect Wants Roofer's Claim Nixed Over $17.6M School Fires
Connecticut architectural firm Silver Petrucelli & Associates Inc. asked a state judge on Monday to strike a cross-claim by a builder it accused of impermissably using blowtorches to attach flashing to a school roof, setting fires in December 2021 and July 2022 that caused an alleged $17.6 million in damage.
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June 24, 2024
Justices Undo Terror Victims' Win, Citing Twitter Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday swept aside a D.C. Circuit ruling that threatened to expose major pharmaceutical companies to liability for terrorist attacks that injured or killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers and civilians in Iraq.
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June 24, 2024
Feds Reach $34M Deal Over Canceled Deportation Flights
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. General Services Administration and an aviation company have struck a $34.4 million settlement ending litigation over canceled deportation flights, according to a filing at the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals.
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June 24, 2024
Judge Blocks Part Of DOL Construction Prevailing Wage Rule
A Texas federal judge on Monday blocked parts of a U.S. Department of Labor rule changing how prevailing wages are determined for federally funded construction projects from going into effect, saying the department had overstepped its authority under the Davis-Bacon Act.
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June 24, 2024
DC Circ. Backs Gov't Contractor Win In Fight With Ex-Worker
The D.C. Circuit has backed a ruling that a former senior technical manager for government contractor Apprio Inc. breached a proprietary information agreement giving the rights of certain software he created over to the company.
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June 24, 2024
Landlord Says Insurer Botched Coverage For $1M State Deal
A Colorado landlord is accusing an insurance broker and carrier of secretly adding an endorsement to its policy to bar coverage for a $1 million settlement the landlord entered into to resolve a state investigation over alleged misuse of tenant funds.
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June 24, 2024
NM Sued Over Sustainable Building Credit Award Process
A New Mexico apartment complex alleges that the state violated its due process rights after it was denied sustainable building tax credits for most of its units, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
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June 24, 2024
Construction Super Says Name Was Secretly Used On Permits
A unit of construction engineering firm Structural Group Inc. improperly used the name of a licensed construction supervisor on at least half a dozen Massachusetts projects in which he was not involved, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Norfolk County Superior Court.
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June 21, 2024
Quinn Emanuel Rips Columbia's 'Utterly Meritless' Filing Bid
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP told the Federal Circuit on Friday that Columbia University's bid to introduce a former Norton Lifelock computer scientist's declaration claiming the company's former lawyers at the firm are lying about his refusal to testify in the school's decade-long $600 million patent case is "utterly meritless."
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June 21, 2024
Lockheed Units To Pay $70M To End FCA Cost Inflation Suit
Sikorsky Support Services Inc. and Derco Aerospace Inc. have agreed to pay $70 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging that they overcharged the U.S. Navy for spare parts and materials for training aircraft through an illegal subcontracting arrangement, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
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June 21, 2024
Fed Circ. Revives Gov't Defenses In Land Underpayment Case
The Federal Circuit on Friday revived a dispute alleging that the U.S. Forest Service underpaid for a property, saying the U.S. Court of Federal Claims wrongly rejected the agency's arguments that the seller shouldn't have relied on a disputed appraisal when selling.
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June 21, 2024
Watchdog Backs NASA's Move To Cut Bid For $2B Deal
A federal watchdog rejected a Science Applications International Corp.'s efforts to rejoin competition for a $2 billion National Aeronautics and Space Administration deal, saying in a decision released Friday that NASA sufficiently explained why it found SAIC's bid noncompetitive.
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June 21, 2024
Union Tells 1st Circ. It's Fit To Bring Debt Cap Challenge
A U.S. government workers' union challenging the constitutionality of the debt ceiling urged the First Circuit to ignore the Biden administration's argument that union members couldn't explain how it harms them, saying it's reasonable to expect their paychecks will be suspended when it is reimposed.
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June 21, 2024
'Unexplained' Census Bureau Contract Cancellation Reversed
The U.S. Census Bureau failed to properly explain why it canceled a contract award to an information technology firm after two of the company's competitors challenged the award, a federal claims court judge has determined.
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June 21, 2024
GAO Says CMS Didn't Address Contractor Conflict Of Interest
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has backed a protest over a $30.65 million Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services analytics task order, saying CMS failed to properly account for a conflict of interest involving a proposed subcontractor for the awardee.
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June 21, 2024
Feds Offer $850M To Slash Methane From Oil And Gas
The Biden administration on Friday unveiled the latest prong of its multifaceted plan to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector: $850 million worth of federal funding for projects that monitor, measure and reduce emissions from oil and gas infrastructure.
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June 20, 2024
NC Agency Hit With Race Bias Suit Over $17.8M Project
The North Carolina Department of Transportation and one of its contractors subjected Black employees of a subcontractor to "flagrant racial discrimination," according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.
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June 20, 2024
DOI Secretary Looks To Ax Insurer's $20M Tribal Loan Claims
U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is seeking a win in a challenge over the cancelation of a $20 million tribal loan guarantee, arguing that an Ohio federal district court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over Great American Life Insurance Co.'s remaining claims.
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June 20, 2024
HHS Drug Pricing Program Flouts Constitution, Boehringer Says
An "unprecedented" new Medicare price negotiation program deprives drugmakers of their constitutional rights and forces them to make declarations on issues of public concern that reflect poorly on them, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. argued Thursday in Connecticut federal court as it echoed the industry chorus seeking to strike the initiative.
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June 20, 2024
Worker Says Co. Inflated Deductions To Duck Prevailing Wage
An electrical contracting firm overdeducted fringe benefits from the pay of employees who worked on publicly funded projects, dragging down their prevailing wages, a former electrician said in a proposed class action in Pennsylvania state court.
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June 20, 2024
Judge Won't Stay Ruling That Prompted Navy Debarment
A Court of Federal Claims judge has refused to stay his judgment rejecting a company's protest over the termination of a Navy task order, a ruling that prompted the Navy to propose debarring the company, saying a stay wouldn't affect the debarment process.
Expert Analysis
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5 Lessons From Ex-Vitol Trader's FCPA Conviction
The recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering conviction of former Vitol oil trader Javier Aguilar in a New York federal court provides defense takeaways on issues ranging from the definition of “domestic concern” to jury instruction strategy, says attorney Andrew Feldman.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Saying What Needs To Be Said
Edward Arnold and Bret Marfut at Seyfarth Shaw examine three recent decisions that delve into the meaning and effect of contractual releases, and demonstrate the importance of ensuring that releases, as written, do what the parties intend.
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Insurance Types That May Help Cos. After Key Bridge Collapse
Following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, businesses that depend on the bridge, the Port of Baltimore and related infrastructure for shipment and distribution of cargo should understand which common types of first-party insurance coverage may provide recoveries for financial losses, say Bert Wells and Richard Lewis at Reed Smith.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Unwitting Disclosure, Agency Deference
Roke Iko at MoFo examines two U.S. Court of Federal Claims decisions highlighting factors to consider before filing a protest alleging Procurement Integrity Act violations, and a decision from the U.S. Government Accountability Office about the capacity of an agency to interpret its own solicitation terms.
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Global Bribery Probes Are Complicating FCPA Compliance
The recent rise in collaboration between the U.S. Department of Justice and foreign authorities in bribery enforcement can not only affect companies' legal exposure as resolution approaches vary by country, but also the decision of when and whether to disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations to the DOJ, say Samantha Badlam and Catherine Conroy at Ropes & Gray.
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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Pay-To-Play Deal Shows Need For Strong Compliance Policies
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, through its recent settlement with Wayzata, has indicated that it will continue stringent enforcement of the pay-to-play rule, so investment advisers should ensure strong compliance policies are in place to promptly address potential violations as the November elections approach, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Opinion
Feds' Biotech Enforcement Efforts Are Too Heavy-Handed
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent actions against biotech companies untether the Anti-Kickback Statute from its original legislative purpose, and threaten to stifle innovation and undermine patient quality of care, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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'Fat Leonard' Case Shows High Bar For Rescinding Guilty Plea
Prosecutors’ recent move in the “Fat Leonard” bribery case, supporting several defendants’ motions to withdraw their guilty pleas, is extremely unusual – and its contrast with other prosecutions demonstrates that the procedural safeguards at plea hearings are far from enough, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
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Mid-2024 FCA Enforcement And Litigation Trends To Watch
Reviewing notable False Claims Act trends and enforcement efforts in the last year and a half reveals that healthcare is a key enforcement priority for the U.S. Department of Justice, and the road ahead may bring clarification on Anti-Kickback Statute causation and willfulness standards, along with increased focus on private equity, cybersecurity and self-disclosure, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.