Government Contracts

  • June 06, 2024

    NASA's 'Aggressive' Goals Upped Costs On Lunar Deliveries

    NASA's "aggressive" goals and increasingly hands-on involvement with its Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative that will enable quick and affordable deliveries to the moon has led to $208 million in cost increases and lengthy delays, the agency's Office of Inspector General said Thursday.

  • June 06, 2024

    $25 Million Flint Water Class Deal Gets Early OK

    A Michigan federal judge on Thursday gave initial approval for a $25 million settlement between a class of Flint adults and businesses and a water engineering company accused of prolonging the town's water crisis, calling the deal fair and an opportunity to avoid years of "exhausting" litigation.

  • June 06, 2024

    Wash. Labor Dept. Wants To Back AG In ICE Inspections Suit

    The Washington state labor and health departments want to throw their support behind efforts in the Ninth Circuit by the state's governor and attorney general to defend a state law that allows surprise inspections at private immigration detention centers.

  • June 06, 2024

    Psychiatrist Gets 99 Months For $19M Billing Fraud Scheme

    A psychiatrist who was convicted for a $19 million insurance fraud scheme was sentenced Thursday to 99 months in prison by a Boston federal judge, who found that there was "overwhelming evidence" of the doctor's guilt.

  • June 06, 2024

    GAO Won't Back Protest Over $186M In DOD Fuel Deals

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office said it would reject allegations that the Defense Logistics Agency should have disqualified two awardees from $186 million in fuel delivery deals in Syria and Iraq, saying the agency properly investigated alleged misrepresentations by the companies.

  • June 05, 2024

    PwC Asks Calif. Justices To Revive $2.5M Sanction Against LA

    PwC urged the California Supreme Court on Wednesday to revive a $2.5 million sanction against the city of Los Angeles for yearslong discovery misconduct in an underlying utility billing dispute, arguing the trial court's inherent authority to pose such penalties isn't limited to nonmonetary sanctions.

  • June 05, 2024

    Ga. Panel Sides With State In County Fire Contract Fight

    A Georgia Court of Appeals panel on Wednesday backed the state's Department of Behavioral Health in a dispute over a fire-protection services contract with a county government, ruling the department couldn't be held liable for canceling the contract because it has no statutory power to enter into it.

  • June 05, 2024

    Sierra Club Touts Offshore Wind Cost Savings In New England

    The Sierra Club is heralding offshore wind investment as critical to achieving New England's climate goals, slashing energy costs and protecting residents from volatile natural gas prices, citing a new report it commissioned that Synapse Energy Economics Inc. authored.

  • June 05, 2024

    House Votes To Block Vets' Access To Gender-Affirming Care

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a $147.5 billion spending bill along mostly party lines funding military construction and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which would block veterans' access to gender-affirming care and which the White House has already threatened to veto.

  • June 05, 2024

    New Rule Bars Self-Certification As Disabled, Vet-Owned Biz

    The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a rule Wednesday effectively barring federal contractors from self-certifying as service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, or SDVOSBs, amid ongoing concerns about fraud in veteran-owned contracting programs.

  • June 05, 2024

    Medtronic Can't Pause FCA Claims For 1st Circ. Detour

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday declined to pause a long-pending False Claims Act and whistleblower retaliation case against medical device maker Medtronic so it can appeal a recent ruling, saying the court and the parties need to "get it moving."

  • June 05, 2024

    Federal Judges Facing Scrutiny For Clerk-Hiring Boycotts

    The federal judiciary must take a look at its judges' hiring practices in the wake of some jurists' public refusal to hire students from certain law schools over on-campus political activity over the Israel-Hamas war, a nonprofit government watchdog said Wednesday.

  • June 05, 2024

    Waste Co. Strikes Deal To Exit DOL Sex Bias Probe

    A Southern California waste collection company will pay more than $104,000 and hire 10 women to end an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor into the company's discriminatory hiring practices against female job applicants.

  • June 04, 2024

    DOD, Supplier End Long-Running Dispute Over $8B Food Deal

    The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals has tossed all remaining claims in a long-running dispute over Supreme Foodservice GmbH's roughly $8 billion contract to provide food to U.S. troops, after the company and the Defense Logistics Agency jointly agreed to end the case.

  • June 04, 2024

    Pharma Cos. Tell Justices Feds Support Remanding Terror Suit

    Pharmaceutical companies urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to heed the federal government's suggestion to throw out a D.C. Circuit ruling holding them potentially liable for allegedly financing terror attacks against U.S. servicemembers through contracts with the Iraqi government.

  • June 04, 2024

    Fla. Biz Owners Indicted On Grant-Writing Fraud Conspiracy

    Two northern Florida business owners have been federally indicted on fraud conspiracy-related charges in connection to a scheme in which they allegedly stole nearly $3 million from minority-owned companies by promising grant-writing services that were never delivered.

  • June 04, 2024

    White House Threatens Veto Over Policy Riders In VA Bill

    The White House has threatened to veto a $147.5 billion bill funding military construction and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, citing partisan policy proposals it said would harm minority groups and risk patient safety at VA medical facilities.

  • June 04, 2024

    Psychiatrist's Billing Scheme Warrants 11 Years, Feds Say

    A psychiatrist convicted of billing Medicare and private insurers for $19 million worth of treatments he never provided should serve more than 11 years in prison for the "brazen, greed-fueled" fraud scheme, prosecutors have told a Boston federal judge.

  • June 04, 2024

    Buchanan Ingersoll Denies Deceit Over Harrisburg Incinerator

    Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC didn't give Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, bad advice when it set up a debt deal that allowed construction to continue on a controversial incinerator project that sent the state capital into financial distress, an attorney for the firm told the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Tuesday.

  • June 03, 2024

    Defense Cos. Seek Looser Export Controls In AUKUS Rule

    Defense companies and industry groups have urged the State Department to expand export licensing exemptions included in a proposed rule intended to help implement the AUKUS agreement or risk undermining the intent of the trilateral defense cooperation deal.

  • June 03, 2024

    IT Co. Says Blank Space Wrongly Cost It $10B Army Deal

    An Ohio information technology company urged the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to have the U.S. Army reinstate its eligibility for a pending $10 billion U.S. Army procurement, saying it shouldn't have been booted for an empty pricing spreadsheet cell.

  • June 03, 2024

    No Sanctions For 'Fraudulent' Signatures In 3M Earplug MDL

    A Florida federal judge has decided against sanctioning two law firms that signed documents in place of their clients but chastised their lawyers' "obviously improper" act, which could have cut their clients out of their share of the $6 billion settlement in the 3M combat earplugs multidistrict litigation.

  • June 03, 2024

    Mich. Asks 6th Circ. To Keep Airport PFAS Suit In State Court

    Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and the state attorney general are asking the Sixth Circuit to keep the department's suit against Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority over so-called forever chemicals in state court, saying the Airport Authority is not entitled to removal as a "federal officer."

  • June 03, 2024

    Ga. Prison Official Aided Stabbing, Ex-Inmate Says

    A former Georgia prison inmate has accused the state of complicity in his stabbing at the hands of another inmate who was not only allowed to work as an orderly in a mental health unit, but was given the green light to carry out the attack by a state corrections officer.

  • June 03, 2024

    Amazon, Wondery Want Out Of ICE Doc's Defamation Suit

    Amazon.com LLC, Wondery LLC and Morbid: A True Crime Podcast LLC asked a Georgia federal judge on Friday to dismiss a former immigration prison doctor's lawsuit alleging he was defamed by the release of a true-crime podcast episode that accused him of performing forced hysterectomies on detainees.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Authoring several thriller novels has enriched my work by providing a fresh perspective on my privacy practice, expanding my knowledge, and keeping me alert to the next wave of issues in an increasingly complex space — a reminder to all lawyers that extracurricular activities can help sharpen professional instincts, says Reece Hirsch at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance

    Author Photo

    Initial recommendations from the State Bar of California regarding use of generative artificial intelligence by lawyers have the potential to become a useful set of guidelines in the industry, covering confidentiality, supervision and training, communications, discrimination and more, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories

    Author Photo

    The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.

  • Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
    Author Photo

    Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

    Author Photo

    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • Contracts Disputes Recap: Be Mindful Of Termination Clauses

    Author Photo

    Edward Arnold and Sarah Barney at Seyfarth examine three recent rulings — one from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and two from the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals — that highlight the termination clause as one of the most potent remedy-granting contract clauses.

  • 2 HHS Warnings Highlight Anti-Kickback Risks For Physicians

    Author Photo

    Two recent advisory opinions issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General involve different scenarios and rationales, but together they illustrate the OIG's focus on and disapproval of contractual joint ventures and other revenue-maximizing physician arrangements, say Robert Threlkeld and Elliott Coward at Morris Manning.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

    Author Photo

    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Best Practices For Defense Tech Startup Financing

    Author Photo

    Navigating the expanding and highly regulated defense technology sector requires careful planning and execution, starting at incorporation, so startups should prepare for foreign investor issues, choose their funding wisely and manage their funds carefully, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

    Author Photo

    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Looking For Defense Contract Appeal Trends In Annual Report

    Author Photo

    A deep dive into the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals annual report for the 2023 fiscal year reveals increases in the number of cases filed, pending motions and expedited or accelerated cases, while the board disposed of fewer cases than in prior fiscal years, say Scott Flesch and Alexandra Prime at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

    Author Photo

    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • SolarWinds Ushers In New Era Of SEC Cyber Enforcement

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent lawsuit against software company SolarWinds Corp. and its chief information security officer is the first time the SEC has ever filed suit over scienter-based fraud involving cybersecurity failures, illustrating that both companies and CISOs need to be extra cautious in how they describe their cybersecurity practices, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Instructions, Jurisdiction, Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    In this month's bid protest roundup, Michaela Thornton at MoFo examines three recent protests resolved in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Government Accountability Office that arose from indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract awards and offer important reminders about the fundamentals of procurement law.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

    Author Photo

    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Government Contracts archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!