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Government Contracts
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May 29, 2024
Whistleblower Counsel Can't Get 'Exorbitant' $11.5M Fee
A Boston federal judge slashed an "exorbitant" $11.5 million fee request made by counsel for a False Claims Act whistleblower in a case involving lab testing company Fresenius Medical Care, hammering the attorneys for inflated hourly rates, inflated time entries and a host of questionable billing practices.
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May 28, 2024
Orsted Inks $125M Deal With NJ Over Scrapped Wind Farms
Orsted, a Danish wind energy company, has agreed to pay New Jersey $125 million to settle claims over the company's abrupt cancellation last fall of two offshore wind farms.
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May 28, 2024
White House Looks To Boost Carbon Credit Market Integrity
The Biden administration on Tuesday released new guidelines for voluntary carbon markets, touting the measures as a foundation for "ambitious and credible climate action" that also attempts to address questions about the integrity of credits that companies use to show a greener footprint.
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May 28, 2024
States, Greens Want Judgment Over USPS' New Vehicle Plan
Environmentalists and a coalition of 17 states called on a California federal judge to grant them judgment in litigation alleging the U.S. Postal Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it decided to replace its aging delivery fleet with "gas-guzzling vehicles."
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May 28, 2024
GSA Audit Authority Ruling Bars Crowley Suit Over DOD Deal
A Court of Federal Claims judge has rejected Crowley Government Services Inc.'s protest over the terms of a U.S. Transportation Command solicitation for freight services, saying the company effectively attempted to relitigate an already decided dispute over the General Services Administration's audit authority.
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May 28, 2024
Conn. Judge Asks If 'Sham' Exception Saves Stadium Fight
A Connecticut appellate judge asked Tuesday if a "sham" exception to limits on government contracting lawsuits can restore claims that the city of Hartford ran a fake bidding process for the redevelopment of Dillon Stadium, but counsel for several defendants pushed back and said it would not apply to the facts of the case.
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May 28, 2024
$3.1B Satellite Deal Needs Justices' Review, Co. Says
A broker accusing Lockheed Martin and Airbus of cutting it from a $3.1 billion military satellite deal opposed the Biden administration's contention that a U.S. Supreme Court review isn't needed, saying the administration incorrectly focused on an underlying F-35 deal.
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May 28, 2024
Mich. Atty Can't Have Dominion Info, Pa. Court Told
Dominion Voting Systems told a Pennsylvania state court Tuesday that information copied from election machines as part of a county's fraud probe was "fruit of the poisonous tree" and can't be shared with a Michigan attorney who has been in hot water for allegedly accessing other states' machine data and releasing the privileged information.
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May 24, 2024
SEC Hits Back At SolarWinds' 'Distortion' Allegations
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sent a letter to a New York federal judge Friday pushing back on SolarWinds Corp.'s accusations that it was overstating and distorting its case against the government contractor over a data hack, saying its complaint is "well-grounded in facts" uncovered during its investigation.
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May 24, 2024
Claims Court Won't Toss $1.1M Breach Suit Against Navy
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims won't free the U.S. Navy from a $1.1 million breach-of-contract case from an engineering contractor, saying its handling of indirect and billing rates potentially amounted to a breach.
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May 24, 2024
Contractor Entitled To Share In Navy Savings, Board Rules
The U.S. Navy must share with a construction contractor savings resulting from the contractor's changes to a design-build task order, after the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals ruled the Navy constructively accepted the contractor's proposal for the money-saving changes.
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May 24, 2024
HNTB's Liability Capped In Seattle Tunnel Delay Claim
A contract clause caps engineering firm HNTB Corp.'s potential liability over a long-delayed Seattle highway tunnel project, a Washington state court judge ruled Friday, likely dashing a joint venture's bid to recover more than $700 million.
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May 24, 2024
Staff Squeeze May Be Limiting Small Biz Roles In Procurement
The federal government has introduced several strategies over the last decade to help small businesses vie for procurement contracts, but overstretched acquisition staff may have limited capacity to deploy these strategies and reverse a downward trend in small business participation.
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May 24, 2024
Green Groups Lose In California Fish Protection Lawsuit
The federal government properly considered the needs of fish protected under the Endangered Species Act when it approved water supply contracts for California's Central Valley Project, the Ninth Circuit said in a ruling rejecting environmental groups' claims to the contrary.
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May 24, 2024
Navy Owes Crane Contractor $5M After Refusing Proposed Fix
The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals ruled that the U.S. Navy must pay a Konecranes ABP unit roughly $4.9 million after the Navy wrongly refused to accept a proposed fix for problems discovered before delivery of a crane.
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May 24, 2024
Biden's Judicial Impact And What's Left On The Wish List
President Joe Biden secured confirmation of his 200th federal judge Wednesday and has transformed the judiciary by picking more women and people of color than any other president. But the upcoming election season could derail his hopes of confirming many more judges.
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May 24, 2024
Union Carbide To Pay EPA $600K For Colo. Superfund Site
Union Carbide Corp. and the federal government filed a $600,000 proposed settlement in Colorado federal court, resolving claims the company and its subsidiary owed more than $1.2 million in reimbursement costs connected to the cleanup of hazardous chemicals at a former uranium and vanadium processing facility.
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May 24, 2024
Biden Urges 1st Circ. To Find Debt Cap Challenge Moot
The Biden administration asked the First Circuit to affirm a finding that a government workers' union lacks standing to challenge the debt ceiling's constitutionality and that its case was further rendered moot by passage of a deal to suspend the spending limit until January.
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May 24, 2024
CFPB Seeks $20M Penalty For Inaccurate Loan Data
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has urged a Florida federal court to hit Freedom Mortgage with a $20 million civil penalty for allegedly submitting error-filled government mortgage loan data.
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May 24, 2024
Insurer Owes Coverage For School Defect Claim, Builder Says
A general contractor told a Washington federal court it is entitled to coverage under a subcontractor's commercial general liability policy with a Liberty Mutual unit for defects and damage that a school district alleges was caused by the subcontractor while working on a school expansion project.
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May 23, 2024
Feds Ask 5th Circ. To Weigh Highway GHG Rule Vacatur
The Biden administration has asked the Fifth Circuit to review a Texas district court's recent decision vacating a Federal Highway Administration rule that would've required states to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded highway projects.
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May 23, 2024
Joint Venture Says Defense Agency Errors Thwarted Contract
An Alabama joint venture hauled the U.S. government into the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, alleging it was shut out of a Missile Defense Agency deal due to multiple errors the agency made when assessing the joint venture.
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May 23, 2024
NJ Justices Toss Direct Appeals Over Hospital Contract Bid
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Thursday that an independent state-owned teaching hospital's conduct cannot be challenged directly in the state's intermediate appellate court because it isn't considered an administrative agency, affirming the dismissal of two protests over the hospital's selection of a pharmacy vendor.
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May 23, 2024
Bell, Boeing Face Suit Over Marines Killed In Osprey Crash
The families of four of the five marines killed in the June 2022 crash of an Osprey V-22 aircraft sued Bell Textron Inc., The Boeing Co. and Rolls-Royce Corp. Thursday in California federal court, alleging defects in the aircraft led to the fatal crash.
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May 23, 2024
Lockheed Urges 11th Circ. To Affirm Win In Solvent Suit
Lockheed Martin Corp. asked the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to uphold a Florida district court's rejection of a proposed expert's testimony purporting to link a now-deceased former employee's multiple sclerosis to her work-related exposure to industrial solvents.
Expert Analysis
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How 3 New Laws Change Calif. Nonprofits' Legal Landscape
Legislation that went into effect on Jan. 1 should be welcomed by California’s nonprofit organizations, which may now receive funding more quickly, rectify past noncompliance more easily and have greater access to the states’ security funding program, say Casey Williams and Brett Overby at Liebert Cassidy.
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ChristianaCare Settlement Reveals FCA Pitfalls For Hospitals
ChristianaCare's False Claims Act settlement in December is the first one based on a hospital allegedly providing private physicians with free services in the form of hospital-employed clinicians and provides important compliance lessons as the government ramps up scrutiny of compensation arrangements, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Series
Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.
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Freight Forwarders And Common Carriers: Know Your Cargo
Freight forwarders and other nonprincipal parties involved in global cargo movement should follow the guidance in the multi-agency know-your-cargo compliance note to avoid enforcement actions should they fail to spot evasive tactics used in supply chains to circumvent U.S. sanctions and export controls, say attorneys at Venable.
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SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap
As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.
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Opinion
The PLUS Act Is The Best Choice For Veterans
Of two currently pending federal legislative proposals, the Preserving Lawful Utilization of Services Act's plan to diversify and expedite the processing of veterans' claims through an expanded network of accredited providers offers the better solution, say Michael Andrews at McGuireWoods and Matthew Feehan at Nearside Solutions.
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Skirting Anti-Kickback Causation Standard Amid Circuit Split
Amid the federal circuit court split over the causation standard applicable to False Claims Act cases involving Anti-Kickback Statute violations, which the First Circuit will soon consider in U.S. v. Regeneron, litigators aiming to circumvent the heightened standard should contemplate certain strategies, say Matthew Modafferi and Terence Park at Frier Levitt.
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What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes
The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Standing And A Golden Rule
In this month's bid protest roundup, Victoria Angle at MoFo examines one recent decision that clarifies the elements necessary to establish prejudice and federal claims court standing in multiphase protests, and two that exemplify a government procurements golden rule.
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Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout
While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Grant Compliance Takeaways From Ga. Tech's FCA Settlement
Georgia Tech’s recent False Claims Act settlement over its failure to detect compliance shortcomings in a grant program was unique in that it involved a voluntary repayment of funds prior to the resolution, offering a few key lessons for universities receiving research funding from the government, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.
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ASBCA Ruling May Pave Way For Pandemic-Related Claims
The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals’ recent decision that the government failed to meet its evidentiary burden when it sought dismissal under the sovereign acts doctrine offers hope to contractors and subcontractors that faced performance challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, say Edward Arnold and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth.
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Opinion
White Collar Plea Deals Are Rarely 'Knowing' And 'Voluntary'
Because prosecutors are not required to disclose exculpatory evidence during plea negotiations, white collar defendants often enter into plea deals that don’t meet the U.S. Supreme Court’s “knowing” and “voluntary” standard for trials — but individual courts and solutions judges could rectify the issue, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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EEO-1 Ruling May Affect Other Gov't Agency Disclosures
By tightly construing a rarely litigated but frequently asserted term, a California federal court’s ruling that the Freedom of Information Act does not exempt reports to the U.S. Department of Labor on workplace demographics could expand the range of government contractor information susceptible to public disclosure, says John Zabriskie at Foley & Lardner.