Government Contracts

March 24, 2025
Conn. Hospital Lacks Justiciability In $8.3M Fight, State Says

A Connecticut state court cannot offer any practical relief to a children's hospital that says the Department of Social Services should have paid it an $8.3 million performance-based bonus for 2022, so a lawsuit that seeks only declaratory rulings should be thrown out, the state said Monday.
March 24, 2025
Ga. Clinic Hit With Retaliation, Confidentiality Allegations

A former employee of a Georgia sexual assault survivors' clinic filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the organization Friday claiming that she was forced out of her position after refusing to help cover up allegations that the clinic was violating victim confidentiality laws.
March 24, 2025
Colo. Justices Take Subcontractor's Forfeit For Excess Case

The Colorado Supreme Court will consider whether a construction company that allegedly overstated how much it was owed from a project to build a new Denver rail line forfeited its ability to pursue any remedy for that $12.7 million claim, in a case involving a novel interpretation of a public works law.
March 24, 2025
Trump Asks High Court To Halt Fed. Workers' Reinstatement

The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to pause a California federal court order reinstating tens of thousands of probationary federal workers who were fired from six agencies, arguing the band of nonprofit groups that obtained the order have no standing to challenge the firings.
March 24, 2025
DOL Abandons Biden's Wage Hike For Federal Contractors

The U.S. Department of Labor said it is no longer enforcing the Biden-era minimum wage for federal contractors after President Donald Trump axed the raise, asking the Ninth Circuit to vacate a panel's decision against the wage bump.
March 21, 2025
Voice Of America Staff, Unions Challenge Agency's Shuttering

Journalists and staff with Voice of America on Friday accused their parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, of illegally firing virtually everyone with the government-funded media outlet, a move they said was because the Trump administration perceives their work to be "inconsistent" with the president's "political agenda."
March 21, 2025
ICE's 'No Release Policy' Is Back In Effect, Attys Say

Attorneys representing noncitizens who successfully challenged the New York Field Office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's policy of detaining virtually every noncitizen it arrested told a Manhattan federal judge that the so-called no release policy is back in place.
March 21, 2025
Iraq Urges Supreme Court To Uphold $120M Immunity Ruling

Iraq has urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to take up a petition asking it to clarify parts of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's commercial activity exception, as it looks to avoid a $120 million judgment issued to a Pennsylvania defense contractor following a dispute over a two-decade-old contract.
March 21, 2025
Lockheed, Navy Push To Nix $8.25M Dock Damage Suit

Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy are urging a Michigan federal judge to dismiss a marine transportation company's lawsuit accusing them of negligently causing $8.25 million worth of damages to its dock while testing a naval combat vessel.
March 21, 2025
DOJ Seeks To DQ Judge From Perkins Coie's Exec Order Suit

The U.S. Department of Justice moved Friday to disqualify the D.C. federal judge presiding over Perkins Coie LLP's challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm for its diversity-focused hiring efforts and its political representation.
March 21, 2025
3rd Circ. Takes On NJ Judicial Privacy Law's Constitutionality

The Third Circuit has granted requests by several data brokers to review a lower court judge's ruling that New Jersey's judicial privacy and security measure, known as Daniel's Law, is constitutional.
March 21, 2025
Gov't Backs GEO To Have Full 9th Circ. Mull $23.2M Wage Row

A Ninth Circuit panel disregarded Congress' wishes when it ordered the GEO Group to pay $23.2 million because it needed to pay detainees in a work program under Washington state's minimum wage, the government said, backing the company's bid for rehearing.
March 20, 2025
NTSB Says Maryland Didn't Track Risks Of Key Bridge Collapse

The National Transportation Safety Board recommended Thursday that 68 bridges in 19 states be evaluated for risk of collapse in the event of a vessel strike, and found that Maryland officials failed to adequately calculate vulnerabilities in Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge well before its collapse last year.
March 20, 2025
Texas Says Planned Parenthood Can't Get Atty Immunity

Texas has urged the full Fifth Circuit to reconsider a panel's decision concluding that Planned Parenthood is entitled to attorney immunity in a whistleblower suit accusing the organization of improperly billing Medicaid programs, saying state-law attorney immunity doesn't apply.
March 20, 2025
Hesai Says DOD's View On 'Chinese Military Co.' Too Broad

The legal team representing a Shanghai-based manufacturer of lidar products urged a D.C. federal judge to remove the company from the U.S. Department of Defense's list of "Chinese military companies," saying the department's definition of the term is so expansive it could apply to almost any company in China.
March 20, 2025
DOL Must Face Part Of Trade Groups' Prevailing Wage Suit

The U.S. Department of Labor cannot fully escape a lawsuit from two trade associations challenging the agency's final rule updating prevailing wage rates for federal construction projects, with a Texas federal judge finding the groups showed that their members could be harmed by the changes.
March 20, 2025
Robinson Bradshaw Adds Ex-FBI Deputy Chief Of Staff

Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson PA has hired a former FBI deputy chief of staff, whose new role will focus on representing clients in complex internal investigations similar to those he led in a previous position at the Justice Department, the firm announced.
March 19, 2025
Judge Tells DOJ To Alert All Agencies Of Perkins Coie Ruling

A Washington, D.C., federal judge Wednesday directed the Trump administration to tell all federal agencies to rescind requests for disclosures about government and contractor relationships with Perkins Coie LLP, following an order last week blocking enforcement of the president's executive order against the Seattle-based law firm.
March 19, 2025
Fed. Circ. Says Lacking License Dooms DOD Fuel Deal Protest

The Federal Circuit refused Wednesday to revive a case challenging a $134 million sole-source fuel supply contract for the U.S. military in Djibouti, saying the challenger wasn't eligible for the deal even if the Defense Logistics Agency had opened it up to competition.
March 19, 2025
Judge Questions Standing In DEI Executive Orders Challenge

A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday questioned whether three civil rights nonprofits have standing to block the Trump administration's executive orders ending federal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs and cutting off funding for groups focused on minority populations.
March 19, 2025
3rd Circ. Passes On Appeal Of NJ Judicial Privacy Law Ruling

Data brokers cannot consolidate dozens of lawsuits in federal court that claim they violated the New Jersey data privacy statute known as Daniel's Law, after the Third Circuit declined to revisit an earlier ruling that sent the lawsuits back to state court.
March 19, 2025
Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2025 Editorial Boards

Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards.
March 18, 2025
Lab Co-Founder Takes Stand For Gov't In $40M Testing Case

A co-founder of a laboratory accused of submitting $40 million in unnecessary COVID-19 and genetic testing claims to healthcare benefit programs took the stand for the government on Tuesday, first testifying that the lab used an unauthorized test to cut corners and save money before admitting on cross-examination that the test was chosen because it performed better.
March 18, 2025
NIH Avoids Contempt In Trans Case Despite Judge's Criticism

A federal judge said there is no clear evidence that the National Institutes of Health's revoking a Washington hospital's research grant violated her order blocking President Donald Trump's efforts to cut funding for gender-affirming care for young people, but the judge chastised the administration for its "narrow and self-serving view" of what makes up care.
March 18, 2025
Md. Judge Says USAID Dismantling Is Likely Unconstitutional

A Maryland federal judge on Tuesday ruled that Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the U.S. Constitution "in multiple ways" in their drive to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Expert Analysis

Series

Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
3 Noteworthy Effects Of The 2025 NDAA

The 2025 defense budget includes further restrictions on semiconductor sales to Huawei, requiring companies to rethink customer-base oversight, but other provisions are likely to broaden procurement contract opportunities, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.
FTC Privacy Enforcement Takeaways From 2024

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission distinguished three prominent trends in its privacy-related enforcement actions: geolocation data protections, data minimization practices, and artificial intelligence use and marketing, say Cobun Zweifel-Keegan at IAPP and James Smith at Dechert.
Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
Public Corruption Enforcement In 2024 Has Clues For 2025

If 2024 activity is any indication, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely continue to rein in expansive prosecutorial theories of fraud in the year to come, but it’s harder to predict what the new administration will mean for public corruption prosecutions in 2025, says Cathy Fleming at Offit Kurman.
Anticipating How GAO Pleading Standards May Shift

The 2025 National Defense Authorization Act's mandate to create an enhanced pleading standard at the U.S. Government Accountability Office may change the calculus for where to file when challenging a U.S. Department of Defense procurement, say attorneys at Rogers Joseph.
How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark

All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
5 Notable Information Security Events In 2024

B. Stephanie Siegmann at Hinckley Allen discusses 2024's largest and most destructive data breaches seen yet, ranging from ransomware disrupting U.S. healthcare systems on a massive scale, to tensions increasing between the U.S. and China over cyberespionage and the control of U.S. data.
US-China Deal Considerations Amid Cross-Border Uncertainty

With China seemingly set to respond to the incoming U.S. administration's call for strategic decoupling and tariffs, companies on both sides of the Pacific should explore deals and internal changes to mitigate risks and overcome hurdles to their strategic plans, say attorneys at Covington.
Series

Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.
How 2025 NDAA May Affect DOD Procurement Protests

A bid protest pilot program included in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act shifts litigation costs onto unsuccessful bid protesters and raises claim-filing thresholds, which could increase risks to U.S. Department of Defense contractors who file protests, and reduce oversight of DOD procurement awards, say attorneys at Venable.
Opinion

No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.
5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.
What To Expect From Federal Cybersecurity Policy In 2025

There are 12 cyber policy questions to keep an eye on as the new administration and Republican control of Congress present an opportunity to advance less regulatory approaches and revisit some choices from the prior administration, say attorneys at Wiley.