Government Contracts

  • August 08, 2024

    11th Circ. Affirms OK Of $188M Award Against Venezuelan Co.

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday enforced a $188 million arbitral award issued to a British Virgin Islands commodities firm, ruling in a published opinion that a Venezuelan state-owned mining firm's corruption arguments wrongly took aim at an underlying contract, rather than the award itself.

  • August 08, 2024

    Olympic Museum Scores Partial Win In $2M COVID Relief Suit

    A D.C. federal judge handed the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum a victory over the Small Business Administration on Wednesday, ruling the agency unfairly denied its application for a $2 million pandemic relief grant.

  • August 08, 2024

    Ghana Must Pay $111M In Power Plant Fight, Court Rules

    A D.C. federal judge has issued a default judgment against Ghana for more than $111 million left unpaid on an arbitral award issued by a London tribunal over the country's breach of a power plant operating deal with a subsidiary of commodities giant Trafigura.

  • August 08, 2024

    Atty Accuses NYC Agency Of Bias, EEOC Charge Retaliation

    A staff attorney accused the New York City Administration for Children Services of abruptly revoking his years-old disability accommodations while he was recovering from heart surgery, alleging in a federal lawsuit Wednesday that the administration tried to force him to quit after he filed a state court action and a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

  • August 08, 2024

    DOE To Back Integrated Georgia Solar Plant With $1.45B Loan

    The U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office said Thursday it plans to move forward with a $1.45 billion loan to support Qcells' ongoing expansion of a new integrated solar supply chain manufacturing facility in Georgia.

  • August 07, 2024

    DOD Contractor Wants No Prison For Parts Sales From Turkey

    A Florida defense contractor who admitted to using a front company to supply critical military components that were made in Turkey asked Tuesday for a non-prison sentence, arguing that her participation in the scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense was driven by financial desperation and a misplaced trust in those who ran the operation.

  • August 07, 2024

    Feds Let The Wrong Family Bury Hopi Artist's Body, Kids Say

    The children of a renowned Hopi artist have sued the United States in Arizona federal court on claims that an Indian Health Service facility gave their deceased mother's body to the wrong family, saying they couldn't give her a proper burial due to the government's negligence.

  • August 07, 2024

    Pipe Co. Exec Says Criminal Antitrust Charges Unconstitutional

    A former executive of an aluminum pipe company defending the Fourth Circuit's reversal of his bid-rigging conviction has told the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that all criminal antitrust prosecutions under Section 1 of the Sherman Act are unconstitutional, claiming they violate "fundamental constitutional principles" of nondelegation and objectivity.

  • August 07, 2024

    Green Groups Say Export-Import Bank Is Harming Climate

    Environmental and animal rights groups on Wednesday asked the U.S. Department of State to order the Export-Import Bank to stop helping fund projects they said are contributing to climate change.

  • August 07, 2024

    Parts Co. Fights Bid To Pause Pratt & Whitney Antitrust Suit

    A parts supplier accusing RTX Corp. subsidiary Pratt & Whitney of using illegal agreements to monopolize the aftermarket supply of their turboprop engine components asked a Pennsylvania federal court to keep discovery moving while considering the possible dismissal of the $450 million lawsuit.

  • August 07, 2024

    GAO Says Protest Over $865M Air Force Deal Premature

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has tossed General Dynamics Information Technology Inc.'s protest over the U.S. Air Force's proposed corrective action on an $865 million communications contract, saying GDIT's allegations were largely premature, anticipating actions the agency has yet to take.

  • August 07, 2024

    NJ AG, Data Biz Say Judicial Privacy Law Is Constitutional

    The New Jersey Office of Attorney General stepped in to defend the judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law this week, arguing alongside a data privacy company in federal court that a group of data brokers accused of violating it are relying on "hypotheticals and edge cases" to claim the law is unconstitutional.

  • August 07, 2024

    Air Force Says Sanctions Bid In Contract Dispute Unwarranted

    The U.S. Air Force has hit back at a contractor's bid for sanctions over alleged late document production and document destruction in a contract dispute, saying the motion was unexpectedly sprung on it while the parties were negotiating discovery issues.

  • August 07, 2024

    11th Circ. Says Drivers Can Use Contracting Law For OT Math

    Three drivers for a company that provides medical transportation to veterans can base their calculation of overtime they're owed on a Service Contract Act prevailing rate that's higher than the wages they were paid, the Eleventh Circuit has ruled, partially flipping a lower court's ruling.

  • August 07, 2024

    Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme

    The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.

  • August 06, 2024

    Wash. Again Sues GEO Group Over ICE Detention Inspections

    Washington state's health department has again sued The GEO Group, alleging that the private prison contractor has illegally blocked health officials from entering an ICE facility to investigate a rash of suicide attempts and hundreds of reports of unhealthy conditions.

  • August 06, 2024

    Houston Partially Escapes Pappas Restaurants' Airport Suit

    A state appeals court agreed Tuesday with Houston's argument that a concessions contract with the William P. Hobby Airport did not require the city to follow the Texas Government Code's competitive bidding requirements, partially tossing a suit brought by Pappas Restaurants over its loss of the 2023 agreement.

  • August 06, 2024

    Conn. AG Says Utility Misconstrued Power Plant Cleanup Deal

    The Connecticut Attorney General's Office has told a state court that The United Illuminating Co., now part of Avangrid Inc., raised inapplicable defenses to an environmental cleanup lawsuit by misconstruing an earlier consent decree as a "contract" the government could breach as the utility remediated an abandoned New Haven power plant.

  • August 06, 2024

    Military Part Supplier Says Competitors Stole Equipment, Info

    A machining manufacturer that supplies parts for military aircraft said in a complaint filed in Michigan federal court on Monday that some of its former workers used their access to steal confidential information and equipment to start competing businesses.

  • August 06, 2024

    Defense Contractor Wants Maynard Nexsen DQed In Bias Case

    Defense contractor Parsons Corp. urged an Alabama federal judge to disqualify Maynard Nexsen PC from representing a former engineer in his unlawful termination case against the company, saying the firm was also representing Parsons when he filed his case.

  • August 06, 2024

    Ex-Army Contract Officer Gets 1 Year For GF's No-Show Job

    A former U.S. Department of Defense contracting officer has been sentenced to a year in prison for getting his girlfriend a high-paying, no-show job at a defense contractor, then taking multiple trips to Disney World and other vacation spots with her on taxpayers' dime.

  • August 06, 2024

    Energy Dept. Awards $2.2B For 8 Grid Upgrade Projects

    The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday awarded $2.2 billion of congressional funding for an eight-pack of electric grid projects, including $700 million for a transmission line that would create a new link between the western and eastern portions of the U.S. grid.

  • August 05, 2024

    Coinbase Broke Campaign Finance Laws, Crypto Critics Say

    Crypto exchange Coinbase violated campaign finance laws when it donated $25.5 million to political action committees while negotiating a federal contract, prominent crypto critics told a federal election watchdog — a claim the firm's legal chief has staunchly denied.

  • August 05, 2024

    GSA Makes First Tribal Carbon-Free Electricity Purchase

    A Seneca Nation holding company is the first tribal majority-owned business to be awarded a bid from the U.S. General Services Administration to sell carbon pollution-free electricity to the federal agency, a move that's been in the works since at least April.

  • August 05, 2024

    GOP Sens. Urge Biden To Lift 'Partial Arms Embargo' On Israel

    Nearly all Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Senate urged President Joe Biden to "use every available emergency authority" to swiftly deliver weapons to Israel, criticizing what they called a partial arms embargo that flouted the "will of Congress."

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal

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    In its Snyder v. U.S. decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a bribery law does not criminalize gratuities, continuing a trend of narrowing federal anti-corruption laws and scrutinizing public corruption prosecutions that go beyond obvious quid pro quo schemes, say Carrie Cohen and Christine Wong at MoFo.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Addressing Dispositive Motions

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    Stephanie Magnell and Bret Marfut at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Claims and the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals that provide interesting takeaways about the nuances of motion practice utilized by the government to dispose of cases brought under the Contract Disputes Act prior to substantive litigation

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Mapping, Jurisdiction, Incumbency

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Nicole Giles and Ethan Sterenfeld at MoFo discuss a decision from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and two from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which highlight how labor mapping, jurisdiction questions and incumbency bias can affect outcomes.

  • Gov't Contractors Shouldn't Skip Steps In Rush To Adopt AI

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    Government contractors that may be tempted to deploy artificial intelligence in day-to-day operations like billing and data protection should first take time to consider and address the specific risks that come with using AI tools, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Lower Courts May Finally Be Getting The Memo After Ciminelli

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    A year after the U.S. Supreme Court again limited prosecutors' overbroad theories of fraud in Ciminelli v. U.S., early returns suggest that the message has at least partially landed with the lower courts, spotlighting lessons for defense counsel moving forward, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • Atmospheric Rivers: Force Majeure Or Just A Rainy Day?

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    As atmospheric rivers pummel California with intense rainfall, flooding and landslides, agencies and contractors in the state struggling to manage projects may invoke force majeure — but as with all construction risk issues, the terms of the agreement govern, and relief may not always be available, say Kyle Hamilton and Corey Boock at Nossaman.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

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