Government Contracts

  • August 15, 2024

    Army 'Shortcomings' Won't Sink $60 Million Support Deal

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has rejected a protest over a $60.3 million U.S. Army program support deal, ruling that although the Army had "shortcomings" in how it assessed proposals, those issues didn't make the overall analysis unreasonable.

  • August 15, 2024

    Judge Says Sioux Tribe Can't Hold US Liable In Building Row

    The federal government is not responsible for paying for a deteriorating building on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, a Federal Claims Court judge has determined, saying that although given every opportunity to present its theory, missteps plagued the tribe's presentation for monetary relief.

  • August 15, 2024

    4th Circ. Won't Revive Interpreters' Unpaid Wages Suit

    The Fourth Circuit declined Thursday to reinstate a lawsuit two Nepalese-English interpreters brought against a government contractor accusing it of failing to pay them overtime wages, saying the Maryland laws they sued under don't apply to their case because they worked in Afghanistan.

  • August 15, 2024

    Fake Prescription Caper Yields $10.2M Fine For Bankrupt Co.

    A Manhattan federal judge hit a defunct unit of bankrupt biotechnology concern DMK Pharmaceuticals Corp. with a $10.2 million fine Thursday, after the subsidiary admitted to criminally faking horse-drug prescriptions in a scheme that generated $4.2 million.

  • August 15, 2024

    NC Small Biz Challenges VA Bid Process For Prostate Drug

    A service-disabled veteran-owned small business in North Carolina is challenging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' bid process for prostate medication, saying the terms unfairly favor foreign manufacturers despite purporting to prioritize American-made products.

  • August 15, 2024

    Ga. Man Accused Of Trying To Steal $1.9M In COVID Funds

    A Georgia man was indicted in a scheme to steal $1.9 million in pandemic relief money and accused of wire fraud, submitting fraudulent federal tax returns and stealing dozens of Social Security numbers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

  • August 15, 2024

    Rising Star: Perkins Coie's Julia Fox

    Julia Fox of Perkins Coie LLP beat back bid protests against her client KBR Inc.'s contract awards in an $82 billion U.S. Army procurement and juggled an ever-growing U.S. Coast Guard shipbuilding contract fight in a $3 billion bid protest against Austal USA, earning her a spot among the top government contracts attorneys honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 15, 2024

    In-House Cyber And Gov't Contracts Pro Joins Ice Miller In DC

    Ice Miller LLP has brought aboard an experienced cybersecurity and government contracts attorney who for the last 18 years has worked in-house for defense and technology contractors, most recently as senior principal and counsel at L3Harris Technologies.

  • August 14, 2024

    ICE Faces Trimmed Suit Over Detainee's COVID-19 Death

    A California federal court on Tuesday again allowed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to trim a lawsuit alleging it failed to protect a man who died in detention but kept claims alleging ICE failed to oversee its facilities or protect the man from COVID-19.

  • August 14, 2024

    DOJ Defends Boeing Plea Deal Over Families' Objections

    The U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday that Boeing's plea agreement is the best possible criminal resolution that holds the company accountable for defrauding regulators about the 737 Max 8's development, rejecting claims from crash victims' families that the "morally reprehensible" deal lets Boeing skirt culpability.

  • August 14, 2024

    GSA Hit With Protest Over $985M Migrant Kid Transport Deal

    Trailboss Enterprises Inc. is protesting the General Services Administration's decision to award a $985.4 million transportation and logistics contract for unaccompanied children in federal custody to a competitor, saying it lost the contract because of a flawed selection process.

  • August 14, 2024

    DOD Issues Contractor Cybersecurity Implementation Rule

    The U.S. Department of Defense on Wednesday issued a proposed rule laying out how it will incorporate its stringent pending Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, intended to boost cybersecurity standards across the defense industrial base, into defense contracts.

  • August 14, 2024

    Air Force Didn't Vet Trade Agreement Compliance On IT Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has sustained an HP Inc. unit's protest over a U.S. Air Force information technology deal, saying the winning bidder didn't properly show whether monitors it offered complied with the Trade Agreements Act.

  • August 14, 2024

    HHS Calls For More Research, Planning To Combat Heat Risks

    Citing a sharp increase in deaths from extreme heat, the Biden administration unveiled a national strategy Wednesday that calls for better communicating the health risks of hot weather to the public and taking other steps to protect people from life-threatening heat waves.

  • August 14, 2024

    Ohio Panel Says Union Wage Dispute Filed In Wrong Court

    An Ohio state appeals court declined to rule on a union's appeal in its suit over whether the state's prevailing wage law pertains to the construction of a college dormitory by a public university because the union sued in the wrong county, avoiding deciding a matter of first impression.

  • August 14, 2024

    CPSC Foes Widen Assault On New Deal-Era Precedent

    A maker of child care products is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality of protections barring the president from firing U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission members without good cause, telling the justices that the powerful agency doesn't fit the narrow exceptions to the White House's otherwise unrestricted removal authority.

  • August 14, 2024

    NC DOT Looks To Ditch Race Bias Suit Over $17.8M Megasite

    The North Carolina Department of Transportation wants an early exit from a subcontractor's suit claiming that its Black employees were met with racial discrimination on a large development site, saying the subcontractor's real beef is with the main contractor on the project.

  • August 14, 2024

    Feds Nab US-Iran Citizen On Aircraft Parts Charges

    A dual U.S.-Iranian citizen was charged in D.C. federal court with procuring American aircraft parts and attempting to send them to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.

  • August 14, 2024

    Rising Star: Gibson Dunn's Lindsay Paulin

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's Lindsay Paulin's work in high-profile and novel cases, such as a dispute that helped convince the Pentagon to abandon a controversial $10 billion cloud contract, has earned her a position among the government contracts attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 13, 2024

    Calif. Bar Officially Inks $8M Deal With Kaplan For New Exam

    The State Bar of California has officially entered into an $8.25 million agreement with Kaplan Exam Services LLC to replace the National Conference of Bar Examiners' exam after four decades of using the NCBE's Multistate Bar Examination, according to an announcement made Tuesday.

  • August 13, 2024

    Wisconsin Bell Tells Justices FCA Doesn't Apply To E-Rate

    AT&T subsidiary Wisconsin Bell Inc. told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday that applying the False Claims Act to fraudulent E-rate program reimbursements means turning the "heavy artillery of the administrative state" onto private transactions.

  • August 13, 2024

    DOD Says Missing License Is Needed To Dispute $1B Fuel Deal

    The Defense Logistics Agency has urged the Court of Federal Claims to toss a protest alleging a $1 billion African fuel supply deal requires a license that can only be secured through bribery, saying not already having the license dooms the protester's case.

  • August 13, 2024

    Poland Inks Estimated $12M Deal For Boeing Military Copters

    Boeing announced Tuesday that it inked a deal to sell 96 Apache combat helicopters to Poland for its military, formalizing an estimated $12 billion transaction approved last year.

  • August 13, 2024

    FirstEnergy Makes Nonprosecution Deal To End Ohio AG Probe

    FirstEnergy said Tuesday that it has secured a nonprosecution agreement with Ohio's attorney general stemming from an alleged $1 billion bribery scandal involving the former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, with both parties touting the utility company's remediation and compliance improvements.

  • August 13, 2024

    Janssen Wants New FCA Trial As Relators Seek $1.85B Win

    Janssen has urged a New Jersey federal judge to toss a jury's $150 million False Claims Act verdict that found the pharmaceutical company illegally profited from the off-label marketing of popular HIV medications, while whistleblowers have asked the court for a whopping $1.85 billion judgment consisting of trebled damages and statutory penalties.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Healthcare FCA Deals Provide Self-Disclosure Takeaways

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    Several civil False Claims Act settlements of alleged healthcare fraud violations over the past year demonstrate that healthcare providers may benefit substantially from voluntarily disclosing potential misconduct to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, say Brian Albritton and Raquel Ramirez Jefferson at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Heading Off Officials' Errors When Awarded A Gov't Contract

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    Government contractors awarded state or local projects funded through federal programs should seek clarification of their compliance obligations, documenting everything, or risk having to defend themselves when they seek reimbursement months later, with only their word for support, says George Petel at Wiley.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling May Limit Discovery In Int'l Arbitration

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    The Second Circuit's recent Webuild v. WSP decision, affirming a discovery order's nullification in arbitration between Webuild and the government of Panama, demonstrates courts' unwillingness to find that arbitral tribunals in investor-state cases fall within the scope of the discovery statute, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Justices' Intent Witness Ruling May Be Useful For Defense Bar

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    At first glance, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Diaz v. U.S. decision, allowing experts to testify to the mental state of criminal defendants in federal court, gives prosecutors a new tool, but creative white collar defense counsel may be able to use the same tool to their own advantage, say Jack Sharman and Rachel Bragg at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • What Patent Litigators Should Know About CHIPS Act Grants

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    With the U.S. Department of Commerce now actively awarding grants under the CHIPS and Science Act, recipients should ensure they understand the implications of promises to construct new semiconductor manufacturing facilities, especially in jurisdictions with active patent litigation dockets, say Gabriel Culver and Peter Hillegas at Norton Rose.

  • Unpacking HHS' Opinion On Cell Therapy Refund Programs

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    A recent advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, determining that a biopharma company's refund program for its cell therapy will not be penalized, indicates an encouraging willingness to engage, but the regulator's assumptions about the program's limited term warrant a closer look, says Mary Kohler at Kohler Health.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights

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    Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Recent Settlement Shows 'China Initiative' Has Life After Death

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    Though the U.S. Department of Justice shuttered its controversial China Initiative two years ago, its recent False Claims Act settlement with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation demonstrates that prosecutors are more than willing to civilly pursue research institutions whose employees were previously targeted, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • DOJ Innovasis Settlement Offers Lessons On Self-Disclosure

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    The recent $12 million settlement with Innovasis and two of its executives demonstrates the U.S. Department of Justice's continued prioritization of Anti-Kickback Statute enforcement amid the growing circuit split over causation, and illustrates important nuances surrounding self-disclosure, say Denise Barnes and Scott Gallisdorfer at Bass Berry.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Standing, Prejudice, Conflicts

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Caitlin Crujido at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office concerning whether a would-be protestor was an interested party with standing, whether an agency adequately investigated potential procurement violations and whether a proposed firewall sufficiently addressed an impaired objectivity organizational conflict of interest.

  • How Contractors Can Prep For DOD Cybersecurity Rule

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    The proverbial clock is ticking for defense contractors and subcontractors to strengthen their compliance posture in preparation for the rollout of the highly anticipated Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, so those affected should analyze their existing security standards and take proactive steps to fill in any significant gaps, say Beth Waller and Patrick Austin at Woods Rogers.

  • NYSE Delisting May Be The Cost Of FCPA Compliance

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    ABB’s recent decision to delist its U.S. depository receipts from the New York Stock Exchange, coupled with having settled three Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions, begs the question of whether the cost of FCPA compliance should factor into a company's decision to remain listed in the U.S., says John Joy at FTI Law.

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