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Government Contracts
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July 18, 2024
SolarWinds Beats Most Claims In SEC's Data Breach Suit
A New York federal judge on Thursday delivered a heavy blow to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against software developer SolarWinds Corp. by dismissing substantial portions of the lawsuit, including claims that the company committed securities fraud by minimizing the severity of a state-sponsored attack on its flagship product.
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July 17, 2024
Defense Contractor CAE Faces Investor Suit Over Overruns
Defense contractor CAE was hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging it misrepresented major incurred costs related to contracts the company entered into before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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July 17, 2024
Watchdog Says Army Didn't Properly Review Ukraine Invoices
A U.S. Department of Defense watchdog has criticized the U.S. Army for failing to properly oversee a task order supporting maintenance and repair of equipment for Ukraine, saying the Army allowed $20 million in contractor invoices to be paid without checking they were legitimate.
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July 17, 2024
DOE Says Challenge Of $1.1B Diablo Canyon Award Must Fail
The U.S. Department of Energy is urging a California federal judge to throw out a suit challenging its award of $1.1 billion of credits to help Pacific Gas & Electric Co. keep two generation units running for now at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
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July 17, 2024
Yet Another Patent Owner Wants High Court To Review Alice
A small Alabama company that claims to have invented a new way of "processing returned mail" is the latest to complain to the U.S. Supreme Court about the state of patent eligibility law after the company was unable to enforce its patent against the U.S. Postal Service.
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July 17, 2024
Fed. Gov't Can't Slip Suit Over Affordable Housing Loan
A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has refused to dismiss a company's suit alleging the federal government violated a loan agreement and now owes the company for the taking of its property.
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July 16, 2024
Claims Court Can Decide Follow-On Other Transaction Deal
A Court of Federal Claims judge ruled that her court has jurisdiction to hear a dispute over a contract following on from a U.S. Army Other Transaction Authority agreement, but threw out the case anyway because the protester let a required federal registration lapse.
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July 16, 2024
Musk Says X, SpaceX Moving To Texas Over Calif. Gender Law
Elon Musk took to X Tuesday to announce he will be moving the headquarters of the social media company and his astronautics company, SpaceX, out of California to Texas, after Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that bars policies mandating that teachers notify parents about students' gender identity.
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July 16, 2024
KBR Whistleblower Loses $1.1M Settlement Award At 5th Circ.
The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday reversed a KBR Inc. whistleblower's $1.1 million share of a False Claims Act settlement over alleged Iraq War contract kickbacks, agreeing with the federal government that the now-deceased whistleblower's estate deserved nothing since none of his claims were settled.
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July 16, 2024
Ill. Judge Wants Expert Testimony Preview In Madigan Trial
An Illinois federal judge said Tuesday that he needs to hear more about potential testimony from certain Chicago politics experts and a proposal to research potential jurors before he decides whether either are appropriate for former state House speaker Michael Madigan's corruption trial.
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July 16, 2024
DC Circ. Says Iraq Immune To $120M Contract Row
A D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday threw out a $120 million judgment levied against Iraq for its refusal to pay a Pennsylvania defense contractor for rebuilding the country's military equipment, ruling after more than a decade of litigation that Iraq is immune from the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts.
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July 16, 2024
Development Co. Says Chubb Unit Must Cover Defense Costs
An economic development company told a Delaware federal court its insurer must cover the over $7.6 million it has incurred while facing a government agency's allegations that it violated the False Claims Act in connection with the agency's claim that one of its subcontractors overbilled the agency.
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July 16, 2024
Full 4th Circ. Won't Hear Student Loan Biz's Sealed Docs Case
The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday declined to grant a full court rehearing to a student loan provider that wanted to shield court filings from a filmmaker after a panel found he had a First Amendment right to the information.
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July 16, 2024
Durbin Probes ICE Healthcare Measures After Death Reports
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Tuesday pressed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to explain its protections for medically vulnerable detainees after human rights organizations reported that the agency could have prevented most detainee deaths between 2017 and 2022.
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July 16, 2024
Columbia U. Aims To Keep $600M Patent Win Over Norton
Columbia University has urged the Federal Circuit to preserve its $600 million willful patent infringement judgment against NortonLifeLock Inc., telling the court that Norton's "kitchen-sink" appeal "raises a slew of issues, hoping something will stick" and challenging Quinn Emanuel's appeal of a civil contempt ruling as "baseless and, ultimately, academic."
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July 16, 2024
Pentagon, GSA Seek 'Record-Setting' Clean Energy Projects
The U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. General Services Administration say they are going for "record-setting federal purchases of clean energy" in a joint statement seeking contractors who will be able to get multiple federal facilities running entirely on carbon-pollution-free power by 2030.
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July 16, 2024
Miami-Dade Tries To Nix Seaquarium Operator's Eviction Suit
Miami-Dade County has asked a federal judge to toss a lawsuit from the operator of the Miami Seaquarium, which claimed the county is evicting it after its CEO responded to a "disrespectful" email from an official concerned about manatees held at the aging facility.
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July 16, 2024
Vertex Pharma Widens War On Watchdog's Kickback Views
A lawsuit from gene therapy-drug maker Vertex Pharmaceuticals over fertility treatment access is a new battle over enforcement kickback theories and health officials' interpretation of "inducement."
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July 16, 2024
The 2024 Diversity Snapshot: What You Need To Know
Law firms' ongoing initiatives to address diversity challenges have driven another year of progress, with the representation of minority attorneys continuing to improve across the board, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Here's our data dive into minority representation at law firms in 2023.
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July 16, 2024
These Firms Have The Most Diverse Equity Partnerships
Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.
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July 16, 2024
Ex-Philly Charter School Exec Gets 7 Years For Embezzlement
Abdur Rahim Islam, who ran famed R&B producer Kenny Gamble's Philadelphia-based housing and education nonprofit, was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organization and using the ill-gotten gains for Caribbean vacations.
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July 15, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revive Challenge Of US Military Aid To Israel
Palestinian human rights activists cannot revive their lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's support for Israel's military efforts in Gaza, the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday, saying the decision to provide military or other aid to a foreign nation is a political arrangement that does not belong in the courts.
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July 15, 2024
Fed. Circ. Rejects FEMA Contractor's Water Restocking Fees
The Federal Circuit on Monday upheld the rejection of an embattled government contractor's claim for $13.5 million in restocking fees after the Federal Emergency Management Agency sharply reduced the amount of bottled water the agency ordered in response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
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July 15, 2024
Gov't Facing Sanctions Over Docs Withheld In Contract Row
A Court of Federal Claims judge has ordered the federal government to explain why it shouldn't be sanctioned for wrongly asserting privilege and withholding documents in a dispute over the allegedly bad faith cancelation of a U.S. Air Force construction task order.
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July 15, 2024
Owner Of Bankrupt Gov't Contractor Charged With Perjury
The owner of a bankrupt government water contractor has been indicted on perjury charges, accused of falsifying the company's bankruptcy filings by failing to report millions in assets transferred to her and other company insiders.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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Practical Steps For Navigating New Sanctions On Russia
After the latest round of U.S. sanctions against Russia – the largest to date since the Ukraine war began – companies will need to continue to strengthen due diligence and compliance measures to navigate the related complexities, say James Min and Chelsea Ellis at Rimon.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Conflict, Latent Ambiguity, Cost Realism
In this month's bid protest roundup, Markus Speidel at MoFo examines a trio of U.S. Government Accountability Office decisions with takeaways about the consequences of a teaming partner's organizational conflict of interest, a solicitation's latent ambiguity and an unreasonable agency cost adjustment.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Valeant Ruling May Pave Way For Patent-Based FCA Suits
The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Silbersher v. Valeant marks a significant development in False Claims Act jurisprudence, opens new avenues for litigation and potentially raises the stakes for patent applicants who intend to do business with the government, say Joshua Robbins and Rick Taché at Buchalter.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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Series
Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.
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Unpacking The New Russia Sanctions And Export Controls
Although geographically broad new prohibitions the U.S., U.K. and EU issued last week are somewhat underwhelming in their efforts to target third-country facilitators of Russia sanctions evasion, companies with exposure to noncompliant jurisdictions should pay close attention to their potential impacts, say attorneys at Shearman.
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Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power
In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
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Mitigating Whistleblower Risks After High Court UBS Ruling
While it is always good practice for companies to periodically review whistleblower trainings, policies and procedures, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent whistleblower-friendly ruling in Murray v. UBS Securities helps demonstrate their importance in reducing litigation risk, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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A Cautionary Tale On Hospital-Physician Alignment Structures
A $345 million settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Community Health Network highlights how quickly hospital and physician alignment relationships can violate legal restrictions on such dealings, and the onerous financial penalties that can ensue, say Robert Threlkeld and Elliott Coward at Morris Manning.
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Contract Disputes Recap: The Terms Matter
Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine recent decisions from the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which offer reminders about the importance of including contract terms to address the unexpected circumstances that may interfere with performance.
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6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media
In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.
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Opinion
Biden Admin's March-In Plan Would Hurt Medical Innovation
The Biden administration's proposal to reinterpret the Bayh-Dole Act and allow the government to claw back patents when it determines that a commercialized product's price is too high would discourage private investment in important research and development, says Ken Thorpe at the Rollins School of Public Health.