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Government Contracts
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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.
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June 20, 2024
Meet The Bridgegate Atty For NJ Power Broker In RICO Case
Law360 Pulse caught up with Michael Critchley Sr., counsel for recently indicted New Jersey Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III, and lawyers who know him about his decadeslong track record of successful legal defenses in high-profile cases and how he’s preparing for his latest challenge.
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June 18, 2024
High Court Petition Asks Justices: What's A 'Willful' Kickback?
Does a "willful" act under federal anti-kickback law require a defendant to know that the conduct violates the law? That's the question a whistleblower is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to answer in order to resolve what the petition calls a circuit split on a key question of federal fraud prosecutions.
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June 18, 2024
The 2 Attys Ensnared In A NJ Mogul's Racketeering Rap
New Jersey businessman George E. Norcross III may be the alleged mastermind of a racketeering scheme to reap millions in tax credits on waterfront property in a distressed city, but the explosive indictment also reveals the purported roles of two attorneys with close ties to the Democratic Party.
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June 18, 2024
Charges Dropped In NYC Mayor Straw Donor Case
A New York state judge on Tuesday dismissed charges against a former development consultant and state employee, who was accused of being part of a conspiracy to funnel straw donor funds to New York City Mayor Eric Adams' 2021 campaign, after prosecutors agreed to drop the case.
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June 18, 2024
Fla. Immune To Contract Suit Over COVID Tests, 4th Circ. Says
The Fourth Circuit reversed on Tuesday a district court decision denying a motion to dismiss by a Florida state agency in a breach of contract case involving COVID-19 tests, finding the lower court erred in ruling that the state did not have sovereign immunity and remanding the case for further proceedings.
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June 18, 2024
Chastened Boeing CEO Vows Fixes In Harsh Senate Hearing
Boeing's chief steadfastly defended the company's commitment to safety, even as he acknowledged a breakdown in how certain managers responded to whistleblowers who had flagged past questionable design or manufacturing practices, as he endured a grueling public hearing before a Senate panel Tuesday.
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June 18, 2024
Claims Court Judges Say 'Less Is More' For Bid Protest Briefs
Court of Federal Claims judges said Tuesday that although the court allows generous page limits for briefs, attorneys should usually err on the side of brevity, focusing on their strongest arguments, or risk undermining their case.
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June 18, 2024
FTC Bristles At Axon's Citing Of Dropped Merger Case
The Federal Trade Commission wanted to ensure a New Jersey federal judge knew the abandonment of a case contesting Axon's purchase of a fellow police body camera company had nothing to do with the merits of the challenge, in a Monday amicus brief partially backing a proposed class action.
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June 18, 2024
CACI Can't Claim Costs For Bid To Dismiss $74.4M Navy Deal
A Virginia company can't recoup costs incurred while protesting a competitor's $74.4 million naval contract award after the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the objections to the award, some of which were dismissed, didn't clearly have merit.
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June 18, 2024
Hospital Board Says Feds Underpaid Claims By $17M
A Navajo Nation hospital board is suing the federal government, alleging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services underpaid its fiscal year 2016 funding request for contract support costs by $17.4 million without any legal justification.
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June 18, 2024
4th Circ. Says Filmmaker Has Right To Sealed Court Docs
The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday revived a documentary filmmaker's bid to access sealed documents from a False Claims Act suit against student loan providers, finding he has a First Amendment right to the material and the parties must prove if the seal is warranted.
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June 18, 2024
GAO Rejects Claim CBP Rigged Migrant Facility Contract Bids
The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Monday denied a vendor's protest challenging the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's solicitation seeking vendors to provide an immigrant detention facility in North Eagle Pass, Texas, rejecting the protester's allegations that the solicitation process was rigged to unfairly favor an incumbent contractor.
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June 18, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revive Vax Mandate Case Amid Judge DQ Bid
In a nonprecedential opinion, the Ninth Circuit has refused to restore a COVID vaccine mandate suit brought by federal workers and contractors who also sought to disqualify a judge they believed was conflicted, finding the workers lacked standing because they named officials who cannot reinstate them rather than their employers.
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June 17, 2024
Teva, DOJ Signal Key Kickback Case May Fizzle At 1st Circ.
A U.S. Department of Justice kickback case against Teva Pharmaceuticals — closely watched by False Claims Act lawyers because of its multibillion-dollar stakes and its link to a major circuit split — is poised for settlement, according to a new First Circuit filing ahead of eagerly awaited oral arguments.
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June 17, 2024
Amentum Rebuffs Air Force's $350K Damages For Staffing Fight
Amentum Services Inc. challenged the U.S. Air Force's efforts to claim $350,000 in damages over a staffing issue for a weapons maintenance deal, telling the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that the contract bars the damages claim.
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June 17, 2024
Ex-Stimwave CEO Gets 6 Years For Dummy Implant Scheme
The founder and former CEO of Stimwave Technologies was sentenced to six years in prison Monday after tearfully proclaiming her innocence to healthcare fraud charges, with a Manhattan federal judge saying it's "sad" the defendant doesn't recognize the harm she inflicted by selling nonfunctional pain management device components.
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June 17, 2024
Ginnie Mae, HUD Want Bank's Loan Lien Suit Sent To Dallas
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Ginnie Mae pushed for the transfer of Texas Capital Bank's suit in Texas federal court over a vacated loan lien, arguing that the bank is contractually required to file its suit in a different division within the same district.
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June 17, 2024
Consulting Firms To Pay $11.3M Over Rent Help Site Breach
A consulting firm and its subcontractor have agreed to pay $11.3 million to resolve a False Claims Act suit alleging that they allowed the personal data of low-income New Yorkers to be compromised while operating a pandemic-era rental assistance program website.
Expert Analysis
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How Gov't Use Of Suspension And Debarment Has Evolved
A recent report to Congress about federal agencies' suspension and debarment activities in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 shows exclusion remains a threat to government contracting businesses, though proactive engagement with suspending-and-debarring officials and alternate forms of redress are becoming more common, says David Robbins at Jenner & Block.
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Uncharted Waters Ahead For FCA Litigation In 2024
Following a year of significant court decisions, settlements, recoveries and proposed amendments, 2024 promises to be a lively year for False Claims Act actions and litigation, and one that will hopefully provide more clarity as FCA jurisprudence evolves, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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What's On Tap For Public Corruption Prosecutions In 2024
All signs point toward another year of blockbuster public corruption prosecutions in 2024, revealing broader trends in enforcement and jurisprudence, and promising valuable lessons for defense strategy, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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Series
Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer
After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.
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Federal Courts And AI Standing Orders: Safety Or Overkill?
Several district court judges have issued standing orders regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courts, but courts should consider following ordinary notice and comment procedures before implementing sweeping mandates that could be unnecessarily burdensome and counterproductive, say attorneys at Curtis.
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The 5 Most Important Bid Protest Decisions Of 2023
Attorneys at Bradley Arant discuss noteworthy 2023 bid protest decisions from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and U.S. Government Accountability Office, offering perspectives on standing, document production, agency deference, System for Award Management registration requirements and mentor-protégé joint venture proposal evaluations.
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4 Questions On Groundbreaking New Foreign Bribery Law
The recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act will significantly alter the anti-corruption landscape under U.S. law by allowing prosecutors to pursue foreign officials for soliciting or accepting bribes, but it’s not yet clear how the statute will be used and by whom, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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OIG Report Has Clues For 2024 Healthcare Fraud Enforcement
A recent report from the Health Department's Office of the Inspector General reveals healthcare fraud and abuse enforcement trends that will continue in 2024, from increased telehealth oversight to enhanced policing of managed care, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond
The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.
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DOD's Proposed Cyber Rule: What Contractors Must Know
A review of the U.S. Department of Defense's recently published Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification proposed rule, requiring independent third-party cybersecurity assessments for many defense contractors, suggests that there will be a competitive advantage to prompt demonstration of full compliance with the rule, says Robert Metzger at Rogers Joseph.
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Tips For Contractors Preparing For Potential Gov't Shutdown
With elements of the Congress’ latest continuing resolution expiring on Jan. 19, companies that may be fatigued by preparing for potential shutdown after potential shutdown should consider the current political climate and take specific steps now, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.
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2 FCPA Settlements Illuminate Self-Disclosure, Disgorgement
Two of last year’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act settlements — with biomedical company Lifecore and mining company Corsa Coal — suggest that the government will be much more flexible in negotiating disgorgement amounts if an entity voluntarily self-discloses misconduct, say Michael Gilbert and Lucas Amodio at Sheppard Mullin.
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Opinion
Anti-Kickback Statute Does Not Require But-For Causation
A proper interpretation of the Anti-Kickback Statute clearly indicates that but-for causation is not required for False Claims Act Liability, and courts that hold otherwise will make it significantly easier for fraudsters to avoid accountability, says Kenneth Capesius at Baron & Budd.
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5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024
Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
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Lessons From DOJ's Handling Of Rare Medicare Fraud Case
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent indictment against HealthSun sheds light on the relatively rare circumstances in which the agency may pursue criminal charges for fraud involving Medicare Advantage, but its subsequent decision not to prosecute shows that compliance efforts can mitigate penalties, say attorneys at WilmerHale.