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Government Contracts
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August 13, 2024
Wisconsin Bell Tells Justices FCA Doesn't Apply To E-Rate
AT&T subsidiary Wisconsin Bell Inc. told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday that applying the False Claims Act to fraudulent E-rate program reimbursements means turning the "heavy artillery of the administrative state" onto private transactions.
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August 13, 2024
DOD Says Missing License Is Needed To Dispute $1B Fuel Deal
The Defense Logistics Agency has urged the Court of Federal Claims to toss a protest alleging a $1 billion African fuel supply deal requires a license that can only be secured through bribery, saying not already having the license dooms the protester's case.
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August 13, 2024
Poland Inks Estimated $12M Deal For Boeing Military Copters
Boeing announced Tuesday that it inked a deal to sell 96 Apache combat helicopters to Poland for its military, formalizing an estimated $12 billion transaction approved last year.
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August 13, 2024
FirstEnergy Makes Nonprosecution Deal To End Ohio AG Probe
FirstEnergy said Tuesday that it has secured a nonprosecution agreement with Ohio's attorney general stemming from an alleged $1 billion bribery scandal involving the former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, with both parties touting the utility company's remediation and compliance improvements.
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August 13, 2024
Janssen Wants New FCA Trial As Relators Seek $1.85B Win
Janssen has urged a New Jersey federal judge to toss a jury's $150 million False Claims Act verdict that found the pharmaceutical company illegally profited from the off-label marketing of popular HIV medications, while whistleblowers have asked the court for a whopping $1.85 billion judgment consisting of trebled damages and statutory penalties.
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August 13, 2024
Contractor Can't DQ Maynard Nexsen From Bias Case
An Alabama federal judge won't disqualify Maynard Nexsen PC from representing a former Parsons Corp. engineer in his discrimination suit against the company for allegedly representing both parties at the same time, saying Parsons' disqualification motion was "unmeritorious."
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August 13, 2024
Rising Star: Morrison Foerster's Caitlin Crujido
Morrison Foerster LLP's Caitlin Crujido's work on prominent contractor acquisition deals and a successful challenge to a $45 billion U.S. Department of Energy contract has earned her a spot among the government contracts attorneys under 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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August 12, 2024
GAO Says VA Deal Awardee Wasn't Missing Key Staff Member
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected Booz Allen Hamilton's protest over a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs agreement for healthcare market assessments, saying there was no evidence that a key worker for the awardee wasn't available to work on the deal.
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August 12, 2024
Judge Won't DQ Asst. US Atty In Standard Chartered FCA Case
A New York federal judge on Monday declined to disqualify an assistant United States attorney from a long-dismissed False Claims Act suit against Standard Chartered Bank, calling the whistleblower's arguments for disqualification meritless "to the point where they verge on vexatious and frivolous."
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August 12, 2024
Deadline Passes For Camp Lejeune Claims
The deadline for U.S. Marine Corps servicemembers and their families to file administrative claims with the federal government over illnesses contracted by contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune passed on Saturday, with more than 320,000 claims that have been filed with the U.S. Navy.
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August 12, 2024
SEC, SolarWinds In Settlement Talks After Cyber Suit Trimmed
Software company SolarWinds Corp. is in talks to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cybersecurity lawsuit after a Manhattan federal judge dismissed the majority of claims over a 2020 data breach, the parties said Monday.
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August 12, 2024
Protest Tossed After Navy Cancels $12M Software Deal
A Court of Federal Claims judge has dismissed a technology company's protest over the U.S. Navy's alleged violation of a federal preference for commercial products when it issued a sole-source software contract, finding cancellation of the deal made the dispute effectively moot.
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August 12, 2024
2nd Circ. Nixes 'Excessive' $5M Award For Housing Nonprofit
The Second Circuit on Monday overturned a $5 million award to a nonprofit that faced pushback from a Connecticut town while trying to open a group home for individuals with disabilities, finding that it was unconstitutionally excessive, but at the same time castigated the municipality's officials for "highly reprehensible" conduct.
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August 12, 2024
Rising Star: Blank Rome's Robyn N. Burrows
Blank Rome LLP's Robyn Burrows helped undo a U.S. Government Accountability Office ruling on a personnel dispute that cost KPMG a contract and convinced the U.S. Department of Energy to allow millions of dollars of costs for a Hanford Site contractor, earning her a spot among the government contracts law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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August 09, 2024
DoD Engineer Arrested For Taking Home 'Top Secret' Docs
A U.S. Department of Defense civilian employee accused of taking thousands of pages from his workplace was arrested early Friday morning, according to an affidavit that also reveals he was en route to Mexico for a fishing trip and that "stacks of papers" with top secret documents were found in his Virgnia home.
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August 09, 2024
Feds Say Smartmatic Execs Bribed Philippine Elections Head
Federal prosecutors have accused three Smartmatic executives — including the voting-machine company's co-founder and president — of bribing a Philippines elections official to secure contracts for the country's 2016 elections, according to an indictment filed Friday in Florida federal court.
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August 09, 2024
Top 4 Gov't Contracting Policies Of 2024: Midyear Report
Federal agencies have made several prominent policy moves affecting contractors this year, headlined by programs incentivizing whistleblowers to come forward with information about contracting fraud, tweaks to a wide-ranging cybersecurity standard, and guidance for how agencies should purchase generative tools. Here, Law360 examines four significant policy changes from the first half of 2024 that will affect government contractors.
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August 09, 2024
Valeant's Legal Gripe A Total 'Nothingburger,' Justices Told
A lawyer who assembled a whistleblower lawsuit against a major pharmaceutical company using publicly available patent board filings says the larger legal question of whether he can do that is way too niche for the U.S. Supreme Court to bother thinking about.
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August 09, 2024
Bond Denied For Ex-Ecuador Official Convicted In Bribery Plot
A Florida federal judge denied bond to Ecuador's ex-comptroller Friday after a jury convicted him earlier this year of laundering more than $12 million in bribes received in a construction scandal, saying the record would not support releasing him from custody before he is sentenced.
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August 09, 2024
Appeals Board Says BAE Not Owed $21M Pension Cost Claim
The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals rejected BAE Systems' $20.8 million appeal over costs related to withdrawing from a union pension plan at the end of a U.S. Air Force contract, saying the contract did not cover those costs.
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August 09, 2024
Justices Urged To Turn Away $1.3B Sovereign Immunity Case
A commercial division of India's space agency is urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to revisit a Ninth Circuit decision refusing to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitral award issued to a satellite communications company, arguing that the jurisdictional question raised in the petition has been long settled.
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August 09, 2024
Immigrants In Ind. Jail Resist ICE Bid To Dodge Detention Suit
Immigrant detainees challenging conditions at an Indiana county jail resisted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's attempt to duck claims that it kept paying the county to detain immigrants, even though the prison's sanitation and medical services fell short of federal standards.
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August 09, 2024
Colo. Panel Says Vail Resorts' Land Spat With Town Is Moot
The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled against Vail Resorts in its suit challenging a local ordinance that allegedly blocked the company's development of 23.3 acres of land that was subsequently taken by the town via eminent domain.
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August 09, 2024
Highway Contractor, Exec Charged With $100M Price-Fixing
Federal prosecutors announced the indictment of an Oklahoma highway runoff contracting business and two of its employees for their involvement in a price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation conspiracy that impacted over $100 million in publicly funded construction contracts in the state.
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August 09, 2024
GAO Says Alleged Conflict Didn't Affect $795M Navy Deal
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has denied Amentum Services Inc.'s protest over a $795.3 million U.S. Navy aircraft support contract, ruling the Navy properly found there was no conflict of interest stemming from the awardee's subcontractor hiring a former Navy official.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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SolarWinds Ruling Offers Cyber Incident Response Takeaways
The New York federal court's dismissal of all charges related to the 2019 Sunburst cyberattack is a devastating blow to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's cybersecurity case against SolarWinds, but the well-reasoned opinion provides valuable lessons that may improve companies' defensive posture in the wake of a major cybersecurity incident, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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PE Firms Should Prepare For Increased False Claims Scrutiny
The impact private equity firms may have over medical decisions and care is increasingly attracting potential liability under the False Claims Act and attention from states and the federal government, so investors should follow best practices including conducting due diligence both before and after acquisitions, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Pros And Cons Of 2025 NDAA's Space Contracting Proposal
The introduction of a Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve fleet in the pending 2025 National Defense Authorization Act presents a significant opportunity for space and satellite companies — despite outstanding questions, and potential risks, for operators, say attorneys at Wiley.
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3 Healthcare FCA Deals Provide Self-Disclosure Takeaways
Several civil False Claims Act settlements of alleged healthcare fraud violations over the past year demonstrate that healthcare providers may benefit substantially from voluntarily disclosing potential misconduct to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, say Brian Albritton and Raquel Ramirez Jefferson at Phelps Dunbar.
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Heading Off Officials' Errors When Awarded A Gov't Contract
Government contractors awarded state or local projects funded through federal programs should seek clarification of their compliance obligations, documenting everything, or risk having to defend themselves when they seek reimbursement months later, with only their word for support, says George Petel at Wiley.
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2nd Circ. Ruling May Limit Discovery In Int'l Arbitration
The Second Circuit's recent Webuild v. WSP decision, affirming a discovery order's nullification in arbitration between Webuild and the government of Panama, demonstrates courts' unwillingness to find that arbitral tribunals in investor-state cases fall within the scope of the discovery statute, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Justices' Intent Witness Ruling May Be Useful For Defense Bar
At first glance, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Diaz v. U.S. decision, allowing experts to testify to the mental state of criminal defendants in federal court, gives prosecutors a new tool, but creative white collar defense counsel may be able to use the same tool to their own advantage, say Jack Sharman and Rachel Bragg at Lightfoot Franklin.
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How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market
Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
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What Patent Litigators Should Know About CHIPS Act Grants
With the U.S. Department of Commerce now actively awarding grants under the CHIPS and Science Act, recipients should ensure they understand the implications of promises to construct new semiconductor manufacturing facilities, especially in jurisdictions with active patent litigation dockets, say Gabriel Culver and Peter Hillegas at Norton Rose.
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Unpacking HHS' Opinion On Cell Therapy Refund Programs
A recent advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, determining that a biopharma company's refund program for its cell therapy will not be penalized, indicates an encouraging willingness to engage, but the regulator's assumptions about the program's limited term warrant a closer look, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health.
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Series
Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights
Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.