Government Contracts

  • October 07, 2024

    High Court Rejects Pleas To Hear 7 Patent Cases

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down seven petitions seeking review of decisions in patent cases, including appeals dealing with double patenting, patent eligibility and Patent Trial and Appeal Board procedures.

  • October 07, 2024

    Worker's Age Bias Suit Survives IT Co.'s High Court Appeal

    The nation's top court won't take up a Virginia information technology company's appeal seeking to cast aside a former worker's age discrimination case, according to a list of cert denials issued Monday.

  • October 07, 2024

    High Court Rejects Ex-Raytheon Worker's Retaliation Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to revisit its prior ruling insulating security clearance decisions from court review, after a fired Raytheon worker urged the court to clarify whether that decision also applies to actions by federal contractors.

  • October 04, 2024

    Top 5 Supreme Court Cases To Watch This Fall

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear several cases in its October 2024 term that could further refine the new administrative law landscape, establish constitutional rights to gender-affirming care for transgender minors and affect how the federal government regulates water, air and weapons. Here, Law360 looks at five of the most important cases on the Supreme Court's docket so far.

  • October 04, 2024

    Navy Identifies Faulty Welds On 3 In-Service Vessels

    The U.S. Navy told lawmakers it has identified three in-service vessels with faulty welds after contractor Newport News Shipbuilding raised concerns about potentially deliberate problems with ships built or repaired at its shipyard, but said there were no related safety concerns.

  • October 04, 2024

    USDA Updates Regulation Without Labor Compliance Portion

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture filed a final rule Friday tweaking an acquisition regulation after nearly 30 years since a previous overhaul, but the rule doesn't include a proposal that would have required federal contractors to certify compliance with federal and state labor laws.

  • October 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Revives Boeing Contractual Cost Accounting Case

    The Federal Circuit on Friday revived Boeing's suit claiming the Defense Contract Management Agency wrongly adjusted contractual cost claims using a regulation that clashes with a federal cost accounting statute, finding the case was essentially a contract dispute and not a disallowed regulatory challenge.

  • October 04, 2024

    Healthcare Co. Inks Deal In DOL Equal Pay Investigation

    A healthcare diagnostics company has agreed to pay nearly $60,000 to the U.S. Department of Labor to end an agency probe over concerns that a New Jersey manufacturing facility undercompensated female employees compared to their male colleagues.

  • October 04, 2024

    There May Not Be Life On Mars, But There Could Be IP

    The rapidly expanding space tourism industry is raising a vast universe of potential intellectual property issues. Experts say most of the laws governing extraterrestrial IP are as unexplored as space itself.

  • October 04, 2024

    Justices Take Up Fight Over $1.3B Failed Satellite Deal

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a pair of cases asking it to clarify the analysis of a highly technical jurisdictional question, as shareholders of an Indian satellite communications company look to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitral award against a state-owned division of India's space agency.

  • October 03, 2024

    Hogan Lovells Can Serve Taliban Via X And Email, Judge Says

    A New York federal judge Thursday allowed Hogan Lovells to use alternative means to serve the Taliban, either by way of social media, publication or email, in the firm's effort to enforce a $1.2 million arbitration award against the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan over unpaid legal fees.

  • October 03, 2024

    Fired Tech Subcontractor Seeks $1.3M Over Caltrans Project

    A Connecticut-based transportation data company should be forced to pay nearly $1.3 million for canceling a software development deal with a subcontractor hired to perform information technology work on a California Department of Transportation project, according to a Connecticut federal court lawsuit filed Thursday.

  • October 03, 2024

    Boeing Says Amended NASA Tech IP Suit Is An Overreach

    Boeing is seeking to ground an engineering company's updated complaint accusing the aerospace giant of stealing protected technology, arguing that new intellectual property claims exceed a Washington federal judge's prior authorization to amend the case.

  • October 03, 2024

    Energy Dept. Hands Out $1B Loan For EV Charging Expansion

    The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Thursday that it has made a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.05 billion aimed at expanding public electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country.

  • October 03, 2024

    Parties Ask For Stay In Title IX Transgender Protection Case

    The U.S. Department of Education and Texas have asked a Texas federal judge to stay a case involving a challenge to the agency's new policy enforcing protections for transgender students in Lone Star State schools while the issue gets worked out at the Fifth Circuit in a Thursday motion.

  • October 03, 2024

    12 Lawyers Who Are The Future Of The Supreme Court Bar

    One attorney hasn't lost a single U.S. Supreme Court case she's argued, or even a single justice's vote. One attorney is perhaps "the preeminent SCOTUS advocate." And one may soon become U.S. solicitor general, despite acknowledging there are "judges out there who don't like me." All three are among a dozen lawyers in the vanguard of the Supreme Court bar's next generation, poised to follow in the footsteps of the bar's current icons.

  • October 03, 2024

    High Court Told Bid-Rigging Conviction Was Rightly Tossed

    A former Contech executive is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the government's effort to revive his bid-rigging conviction, saying enforcers are asking for a rule that would make common agreements between manufacturers and distributors vulnerable to legal challenge.

  • October 03, 2024

    Flint Water Judge Wishes Public Knew Case Complexity

    A Michigan federal judge on Thursday gave the final approval to a $25 million settlement to end claims from a class of Flint adults and businesses accusing a firm of failing to properly alert officials about the dangers of the city's water, noting that the case took years to resolve because it involved complicated legal issues.

  • October 03, 2024

    NJ Contractors Accused Of $10M Fraud In Lead Removal Work

    A New Jersey construction company billed the city of Newark $10.2 million for replacing 1,500 lead water service lines but never did the work, instead concocting false evidence to show new copper pipes had been installed, federal authorities said Thursday in announcing the arrests of the chief executive and a foreperson.

  • October 03, 2024

    Md. Woman Gets House Arrest For No-Show Contractor Job

    A Maryland woman will spend six months on home confinement for accepting nearly $500,000 in salary for a no-show job arranged by her boyfriend, a U.S. Army contracting officer, a Massachusetts federal judge has ordered.

  • October 03, 2024

    Sens. Question If Payouts Taint Execs' Push For US Steel Deal

    Two U.S. senators wrote to U.S. Steel's president and CEO on Wednesday seeking guarantees that a $72 million "golden parachute" deal wasn't driving the executive's willingness to support a $14.1 billion merger with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel.

  • October 03, 2024

    NJ Mogul's Brother Says Lawyering Isn't Racketeering

    Parker McCay PA shareholder Philip A. Norcross is urging a New Jersey state judge to toss the sweeping indictment against him, his power broker brother and others over an alleged extortion scheme to acquire riverfront property in a distressed city, arguing that none of the targeted conduct is criminal.

  • October 03, 2024

    White House Directs Agencies On Responsible AI Acquisition

    The White House has issued guidance to agencies on responsible purchases of artificial intelligence, addressing issues such as mitigating associated privacy and performance risks, ensuring the market for AI remains competitive, and enabling related collaboration across the government.

  • October 03, 2024

    Energy Dept. Awards $1.5B For 4 Power Line Projects

    The U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday handed out $1.5 billion in Congressional funding for a quartet of long-distance transmission projects, as well as a study that calls for a massive expansion of the U.S. electric grid over the next 25 years.

  • October 02, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Lab Co. Settles Bogus Testing Claims With Feds For $27M

    Precision Diagnostics Toxicology Lab, one of the nation's largest drug testing laboratories, has agreed to pay $27 million to resolve allegations that it billed Medicare and other federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary tests, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Biden Admin Proposals May Facilitate US, UK, Australia Trade

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    Recent proposals that create exceptions to U.S. export licensing requirements for defense trade with Australia and the U.K. would remove hurdles that have hindered trade among the three countries, and could enable smaller companies in the sector to greatly expand their trade horizons, say Keil Ritterpusch and Grace Welborn at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Shows Lies Must Go To Nature Of Bargain

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Milheiser decision, vacating six mail fraud convictions, clarifies that the key question in federal fraud cases is not whether lies were told, but what they were told about — thus requiring defense counsel to rethink their strategies, say Charles Kreindler and Krista Landis at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Adopting 7 Principles May Improve Voluntary Carbon Markets

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    The Biden administration's recently issued joint policy statement on improving the integrity of voluntary carbon markets may help companies using carbon credits to offset their emissions withstand scrutiny by government agencies, the public and investors, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • 5 Steps For Gov't Contractor Affirmative Action Verification

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    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.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    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.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    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.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    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.

  • National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 2

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    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.

  • National Security And The Commercial Space Sector: Part 1

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    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.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Contractors Must Prep For FAR Council GHG Emissions Rule

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    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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