Government Contracts

  • July 26, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Online Posts Can Count As Work Harassment

    The Ninth Circuit breathed new life into a psychologist's suit alleging the Federal Bureau of Prisons failed to stop a correctional officer from creating sexist and threatening social media posts about her, ruling a lower court erroneously determined the online content didn't amount to workplace harassment.

  • July 25, 2024

    Boeing's 737 Max Plea Deal: Monitorship, Gov't Contracts

    Boeing will be branded with a felony criminal conviction after pleading guilty to conspiring to defraud U.S. regulators over the 737 Max 8's development, an ignominious distinction with fresh complications for the embattled American aerospace titan as it overhauls its corporate culture under a compliance monitorship.

  • July 25, 2024

    IT Firm Says $1.5M Commerce Award Redo Not Routine

    An IT consulting firm challenging a U.S. Department of Commerce corrective action on a $1.5 billion information technology deal made during ongoing bid protests told the Federal Circuit that the agency is undercutting its own position by claiming that such moves are routine.

  • July 25, 2024

    11th Circ. Revives FCA Dispute Over Small Biz Contracts

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday revived a whistleblower False Claims Act case alleging new owners of a construction firm fraudulently secured orders under a program for disadvantaged small businesses, saying those owners should have told the Small Business Administration about the ownership switch.

  • July 25, 2024

    Watchdog Says $30.2M IT Contract Holder Didn't Overedit Bid

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office upheld the U.S. Space Force's $30.2 million IT deal, rejecting claims that the eventual award-holder had revised too much of its bid after being allowed to alter parts of its proposal.

  • July 25, 2024

    4th Man Gets Jail In NYC Public Housing Anti-Bribery Sweep

    A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former New York City public housing superintendent to 19 months in prison for accepting $95,000 in bribes, bringing to four the number of people sentenced to time behind bars in the 70-defendant anti-corruption sweep.

  • July 25, 2024

    Edible Cannabis Co. Can't Revive RFID Tag Case

    A Colorado state judge has said he won't let a company that makes edible cannabis continue to challenge the state's mandated use of radio frequency identification tracking tags, concluding that a senior enforcement official's statement at a rulemaking hearing was not a final action the company could appeal.

  • July 25, 2024

    Watchdog Backs $77.8M DOD Deal Over Ethics Concern

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office tossed claims that the U.S. Department of Defense's $77.8 million audit services order was tainted by an official's prior work for the awardee, Deloitte & Touche LLP, saying the DOD correctly dismissed the conflict claims after a thorough investigation.

  • July 25, 2024

    USDA Drops Push To Certify Contractors' Labor Compliance

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday scrapped from a proposed rule requirements for federal contractors to attest that they were following federal and state labor laws, tossing President Barack Obama's efforts an earlier version of the rule revamped.

  • July 25, 2024

    DP World Wins OK Of $194M Award Against Djibouti

    A D.C. federal judge entered a $194.3 million judgment against the Republic of Djibouti, enforcing an arbitration award secured by a Dubai-based port terminal operator in a long-running legal battle over an international container terminal in the East African country.

  • July 24, 2024

    Boeing, DOJ Finalize 737 Max Plea Deal

    The Boeing Co. has finalized its agreement to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud safety regulators about the 737 Max 8's development, avoiding a criminal trial over a pair of deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, according to a U.S. Department of Justice court filing Wednesday evening.

  • July 24, 2024

    Co. Wants Gov't Sanctioned For Late Docs In Contract Dispute

    A contractor for the U.S. Air Force has urged the Court of Federal Claims to sanction the government after allegedly providing documents late and destroying other documents related to the company's suit alleging the Air Force wrongly terminated a support contract.

  • July 24, 2024

    Naval Engineers Urge 4th Circ. To Revive No-Poach Suit

    A pair of former naval engineers have urged the Fourth Circuit to revive their proposed class action accusing military shipbuilding contractors and related firms of using secret "no-poach" agreements, saying their suit was wrongly ruled untimely amid a cover-up of the alleged scheme.

  • July 24, 2024

    Ex-US Army Worker Gets 15 Years For $109M Fraud Scheme

    A former U.S. Army civilian employee will spend 15 years in prison for stealing nearly $109 million from a grant program meant for military dependents and their families to buy a fleet of luxury vehicles, jewelry and houses, federal prosecutors announced.

  • July 24, 2024

    Aerospace Co. Says Engine Buybacks Aren't Anticompetitive

    RTX Corp.'s subsidiary Pratt & Whitney urged a Pennsylvania federal court to toss a $450 million antitrust lawsuit from a "middleman" for used aircraft engine parts, arguing that Pratt & Whitney's decision to deal directly with numerous shops that break down old engines did not harm consumers or freeze the plaintiff out of the market.

  • July 24, 2024

    Ex-Atlanta Official Asks 11th Circ. To Toss Bribery Conviction

    A former Atlanta city commissioner sentenced to 4½ years in prison for taking bribes from a local contractor in exchange for steering millions of dollars to the contractor's company told the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday that her conviction must be reversed given the U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in Snyder v. U.S.

  • July 24, 2024

    Newman Facing 2nd Suspension For 'Continuing Misconduct'

    A panel of Federal Circuit judges on Wednesday recommended U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman remain suspended for another year based on her ongoing refusal to cooperate with an investigation into her health, or even acknowledge the court's concerns.

  • July 24, 2024

    ICE Contractor Hit With Class Action Over Family Separations

    A father and son who were separated for six years under the Trump administration's policy of "zero tolerance" for unlawful border crossings have brought a proposed class action against the private contractor responsible for transporting children, seeking to make it pay for the emotional trauma families have endured.

  • July 24, 2024

    Ex-Pharma Exec Gets Jail For Insider Trading On Kodak Loan

    A Manhattan federal judge sentenced a former pharmaceutical executive from South Carolina to three months in prison Wednesday for taking over $500,000 of illegal trading profit based on his advance knowledge that Kodak would get a massive pandemic-era government loan.

  • July 23, 2024

    Hogan Lovells Wants Afghanistan Atty Fee Award Enforced

    Hogan Lovells US LLP has asked a New York federal court to enforce a more than $1.2 million award it secured against Afghanistan in arbitration over fees it says it's owed for the firm's work representing the country in various legal matters, including litigation over the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

  • July 23, 2024

    Construction Co. Protests Union Clause In Army Corps Deal

    Hensel Phelps Construction Co. has protested over terms of an Army Corps of Engineers construction contract requiring bidders to enter into a project labor agreement, mandated by regulation, saying the PLA requirement violates a competitive contracting law.

  • July 23, 2024

    Ex-Raytheon Worker Asks High Court To Take Up Firing Suit

    A former employee of defense contractor Raytheon asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse his ouster from the company, arguing that the Fifth Circuit's finding that he shouldn't be reinstated set up a circuit split.

  • July 23, 2024

    Colo. Judges Want Clarity On When Moot Cases Need Rulings

    Colorado appellate judges on Tuesday pushed a popular ski town to define what makes a case of "great public importance," as a major resort company argued its land fight with the town is weighty enough that the judges should rule even if the actual dispute is now moot.

  • July 23, 2024

    $680M Allergan FCA Suit Tossed After High Court Revival

    A Maryland federal judge on Tuesday again tossed a False Claims Act suit accusing an Allergan unit of overcharging Medicaid, previously revived by the U.S. Supreme Court, saying a whistleblower still hadn't shown any deliberate wrongdoing by the company.

  • July 23, 2024

    Oshkosh Says USPS Followed NEPA With New Vehicle Plan

    Oshkosh Defense joined the U.S. Postal Service in firing back at environmentalists and a coalition of 17 states' attempt to secure judgment in litigation protesting the agency's decision to replace its aging delivery fleet with only 62% electric vehicles, saying the group's challenge threatens to undermine such a significant transformation.

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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