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Government Contracts
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October 10, 2024
Feds Say 'Buy America' Waiver In Train Project Should Stand
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration is urging a D.C. federal court to toss a suit alleging it wrongly waived "Buy America" requirements for a Las Vegas high-speed train project, arguing the plaintiff vendor hasn't shown it would have won the contract if the waiver hadn't been granted.
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October 09, 2024
Fed. Circ. May Need To Fix Contractor Registration Dilemma
Two opposing Court of Federal Claims decisions regarding when a strict registration requirement applies to federal contractors have opened up a clash that could require the Federal Circuit's intervention to be resolved.
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October 09, 2024
Peruvian Telecom Co. Looks To Nix $168M Award Suit
A Peruvian state-owned telecom is diving into D.C. federal court to tell the judge overseeing the arbitration enforcement proceedings against it that he has no right to issue a $168 million order commanding the company to pay up.
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October 09, 2024
Repeat Whistleblowing Led To Firing, Ex-Sikorsky Worker Alleges
A Connecticut man who describes himself as a "well-known" whistleblower at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. says he was illegally terminated for reporting alleged wage and hour and environmental violations to government authorities, claiming the helicopter manufacturer fired him using bogus allegations he broke into an office he was given clearance to access.
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October 09, 2024
Lima Urges DC Circ. To Ax $200M Awards To Ex-Odebrecht Co.
The Peruvian city of Lima has urged the D.C. Circuit to vacate $200 million in arbitration awards secured by a former subsidiary of "corrupt" Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht over a failed toll road construction contract, calling the construction giant "an inveterate worldwide briber."
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October 09, 2024
Court Affirms Waste Management Win In 'Titans Of Trash' Spat
A Florida appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a win for Waste Management Inc. of Florida Inc. in a dispute with Bergeron Environmental and Recycling LLC over a joint venture to provide municipal trash pickup services and said the agreement's jury trial waiver was valid.
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October 09, 2024
State Action Doesn't Mean State Monopoly OK, Airline Says
A Northern Mariana Islands airline urged a federal court Tuesday to preserve antitrust claims accusing a rival of using an $8 million government COVID-19 relief contract to drive it out of business, arguing the government contract doesn't convey immunity from monopolization allegations.
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October 09, 2024
NYC Housing Bribe Case Is 'Guilt By Association,' Jury Told
Counsel for a New York City public housing superintendent accused of taking nearly $38,000 in bribes told a Manhattan federal jury Wednesday that the defendant is a victim of "guilt by association," kicking off the first trial after an antibribery sweep saw 70 people charged.
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October 09, 2024
Mozambique Targets Heirs Over 'Tuna Bond' Bribery Award
Mozambique urged a London court on Wednesday to hold the heirs of shipbuilding magnate Iskandar Safa liable for the French-Lebanese billionaire's involvement in a bribery scheme as the country seeks to enforce a $1.9 billion damages award.
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October 08, 2024
Texas Looks To Sink Suit Challenging Anti-ESG Law
Texas officials have asked a federal court to toss claims brought against them over a law restricting state investments with financial firms and businesses that want to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, arguing they have sovereign immunity and the law doesn't violate the First Amendment.
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October 08, 2024
Military Health Plans Deny They Were Overpaid On DOD Deal
Five military healthcare plan providers have asked the Maine federal court to dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice's claims that they were overpaid for healthcare services, arguing they were paid exactly what they were owed under their fixed-price contracts.
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October 08, 2024
Ropes & Gray Attys Chided For Wielding Excessive Footnotes
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday struck a summary judgment motion penned by Ropes & Gray LLP lawyers representing Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a challenge to the government's interpretation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, finding that the filing improperly employed "excessive" footnotes to circumvent page limitations.
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October 08, 2024
Jackson, Kagan Target Loper Bright In Ghost Gun Case
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was uncharacteristically quiet during initial arguments Tuesday over the federal government's authority to regulate ghost guns. While her colleagues debated whether kits of unassembled parts qualify as firearms, she waited patiently to post a different question: Can courts now toss agency interpretations they don't like?
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October 08, 2024
GOP, Trade Groups Urge 6th Circ. To Void Highway GHG Rule
Republican lawmakers and construction trade groups are urging the Sixth Circuit to snuff out for good a U.S. Department of Transportation rule requiring states to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded highway projects.
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October 08, 2024
Fulton County Sues Over Ga. Board's 'Hand-Picked' Monitors
Yet another front has opened in the fight over Georgia election law in the run-up to November, as the election board of the state's largest county sued its statewide counterparts over the attempt to impose a set of "hand-picked" monitors tasked with surveilling the county's performance.
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October 08, 2024
Judge Clarifies Contentious Registration Rule For Contractors
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims clarified that a contentious registration requirement for federal contractors only kicks in when they submit final proposals in response to government solicitations, blessing a previously disqualified business' $45 billion nuclear cleanup deal.
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October 08, 2024
1st Circ. Warned Not To 'Speculate' In Union Debt Ceiling Suit
A lawyer for a governmental workers' union challenging the constitutionality of the federal debt limit told a First Circuit panel on Tuesday that a January default is a virtual certainty under existing law, and urged the judges to avoid trying to predict whether President Joe Biden and a lame-duck Congress might extend the ceiling.
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October 08, 2024
3rd Circ. Preview: Constitutional Rights Fears Top October
Constitutional challenges dominate an October argument lineup that will task the Third Circuit with mulling drug price fights by AstraZeneca and other pharmaceutical powerhouses and a suit by a Pennsylvania man claiming his past convictions don't foreclose his right to own a gun.
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October 08, 2024
Conn. Ethics Board Tosses Grievance Against Ex-Town Atty
A Connecticut ethics panel has dismissed a grievance at the heart of a former town attorney's claims that the tax assessor spread lies about his conduct and character, finding that the lawyer broke no professional conduct rules and concluding no further investigation was warranted.
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October 08, 2024
Senior Renters Say Mass. Facility Charged Exorbitant Fees
A proposed class of low-income, elderly residents at an assisted living facility have told a Massachusetts federal court the facility's owner and operators charged an illegal "ancillary fee" calculated to extract all but a $100 monthly allowance from residents.
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October 08, 2024
Honeywell To Spin Off Materials Biz Amid $9B Buying Spree
Skadden-advised Honeywell said Tuesday it will spin off its advanced materials business into an independent publicly traded company, the latest maneuver in a $25 billion strategic restructuring that the company said has included about $9 billion deployed for acquisitions in 2024.
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October 08, 2024
Contractors Tell 5th Circ. They Belong In Border Wall Suit
Border wall construction firms urged the Fifth Circuit to insert them into Texas' suit challenging the Biden administration's border wall spending plan, saying they were barred from the case even though it threatens their financial rights under their old contracts.
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October 07, 2024
Feds Face Biggest Test Yet In Madigan Probe: Mike Madigan
The man who was once Illinois' most influential politician heads to Chicago federal court this week to stand trial on charges that he led a criminal enterprise for nearly a decade, amassing power and benefits for himself, his law firm and his allies. The stakes for prosecutors are higher than ever as they face the elected official at the center of their Illinois corruption probe.
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October 07, 2024
Man Who Faced Espionage Case Gets Probation Over Taxes
A Chinese engineer initially accused of illegally exporting documents on military aircraft to China was given probation and fined for failing to report about $1.4 million in business income by a Texas federal court after the government dropped its export charges.
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October 07, 2024
Judge Backs $3.3M DOD Sole-Source Parts Deal For Boeing
A Court of Federal Claims judge has denied a protest over a $3.3 million Defense Logistics Agency sole-source contract with Boeing, covering helicopter spare parts the protester argued it could also provide, ruling the DLA reasonably determined Boeing was the only available source.
Expert Analysis
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Electrifying Transportation With Public-Private Partnerships
Many clean energy goals remain public policy abstractions that face a challenging road to realization — but public-private partnership models could be a valuable tool to electrify the transportation sector, says Michael Blackwell at Husch Blackwell.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.
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How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
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Expect The Unexpected: Contracts For Underground Projects
Recent challenges encountered by the Mountain Valley Pipeline project underscore the importance of drafting contracts for underground construction to account for unexpected site conditions, associated risks and compliance with applicable laws, say Jill Jaffe and Brenda Lin at Nossaman.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.
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Fed. Circ. Percipient Gov't Contract Ruling Is Groundbreaking
The effects of the Federal Circuit's decision last month in Percipient.ai v. U.S. may be limited to commercial product and service suppliers, but it is significant for government procurement in opening the door to protests by suppliers who previously would have lacked standing and Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
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.
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Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal
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.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
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.
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Roundup
After Chevron
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.
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Opinion
Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
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.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Addressing Dispositive Motions
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
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Series
Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
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.