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Government Contracts
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September 27, 2024
Disbarred Ex-DA Must Face Rival's Malicious Prosecution Suit
A Colorado federal judge on Thursday declined to throw out a malicious prosecution claim by a former elected district attorney alleging his disbarred successor falsely charged him with felony embezzlement, concluding that the disbarred prosecutor is not entitled to absolute or qualified immunity.
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September 27, 2024
Gov't Contracts Of The Month: Warships And Lunar Relays
In September, the U.S. Navy shored up its fleet, issuing a combined $16.35 billion order for amphibious warships and oilers, while NASA struck a new $4.8 billion lunar communications deal. Here are Law360's most noteworthy government contracts for September.
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September 27, 2024
Medical Equipment Co., Founder Settle FCA Suit For $20M
A Florida-based medical equipment company and its founder will pay $20 million to settle claims under the federal False Claims Act that they improperly billed government healthcare plans for duplicated and unnecessary sales of devices meant to offer pain relief through electrical stimulation, Pennsylvania prosecutors said Friday.
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September 26, 2024
Texas Supreme Court Leaves State Fair Gun Ban Intact
The state's high court rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's attempt to toss out the State Fair of Texas' new policy prohibiting fairgoers from carrying handguns, with three justices finding in a late Thursday opinion that, as a private entity, the State Fair has the right to determine if people carry guns at the fair.
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September 26, 2024
Seattle Firm Seeks $143M In Tunnel Machine Insurance Trial
A Seattle construction contractor told a Washington state jury on Wednesday its insurers owe $143 million for repairs to a massive tunneling machine that sustained "catastrophic damage" when it struck a steel pipe underground in 2013, urging jurors to reject the defense that the claim fell under a "machinery breakdown" exclusion.
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September 26, 2024
GEO Agrees To Let Labor Inspectors Into Wash. ICE Facility
A Washington federal judge on Wednesday signed off on an agreement between the state of Washington and private prison operator GEO Group Inc. to allow state labor inspectors access to an immigration detention facility GEO owns and operates for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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September 26, 2024
GAO Faults Amentum For Not Being Forthright In Contract Bid
Amentum Services Inc. got no support from the U.S. Government Accountability Office for its protest over getting rebuffed on an $840 federal contract in Iraq, with the watchdog finding that two of the company's subcontractors weren't licensed to work in Iraq.
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September 26, 2024
Senate Bill Calls For Stronger Healthcare Cyber Standards
Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday aiming to better protect patient health information and avoid cyberattacks by strengthening cybersecurity standards, months after a highly publicized data breach earlier this year of a UnitedHealth unit that lacked basic security measures like two-factor authentication.
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September 26, 2024
Religious Nonprofit Can Keep Refugee Aid Contracts For Now
Michigan will abandon its bid for early termination of contracts awarded to a Christian adoption and refugee agency while the organization's lawsuit, alleging the state forced it to hire non-Christians to qualify for contracts, plays out in federal court.
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September 26, 2024
Air Force Urged To Cut Back On Using Chinese Suppliers
Republican lawmakers have asked the U.S. Air Force to cut back on using suppliers from China for "critical weapons platforms," arguing that using Chinese suppliers poses a serious national security risk and empowers China to defeat the U.S. without the need for armed conflict.
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September 26, 2024
VivoPower Keeps HQ In UK To Qualify For $21B Gov't Program
Sustainable energy solutions company VivoPower International PLC and hydrogen technology business Future Automotive Solutions and Technologies on Thursday outlined additional terms to their proposed $1.13 billion merger, including settling the combined company's headquarters in the U.K. in order to qualify for potential "significant and attractive" government incentives.
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September 26, 2024
Behavioral Health Exec Pleads Guilty To Medical Billing Fraud
The chief executive of a behavioral health company on Thursday admitted to directing employees to bill Medicare and Medicaid for extra psychotherapy sessions that never took place.
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September 26, 2024
NJ Atty Rips AG For 'Grossly Distorted' Power Broker Case
A New Jersey attorney charged in the state's sweeping indictment against power broker George E. Norcross III accused the Attorney General's Office on Thursday of "attempting to criminalize the routine practice of law" with its charges against him.
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September 26, 2024
Dallas VA Center Overpaid $3.7M For Wheelchair Services
A Texas veterans medical center will have to recover $3.7 million it overpaid a contractor for wheelchair transportation services between 2022 and 2023, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General said Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
11th Circ. Reverses DOJ Defeat In $400M Kickback Case
The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday held that a lower court should've admitted prosecutors' evidence of alleged co-conspirators in a $400 million health insurance fraud case, finding that an exclusion to the hearsay rule was misapplied by the district court in the closely watched Anti-Kickback Statute litigation.
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September 25, 2024
Novel Labor Clause Ruling May Beg Scrutiny In Court
A controversial demand from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for prospective contractors to recognize union organizing may stretch the limits of the government's required neutrality in contactors' labor disputes, and a ruling supporting it is likely to attract close scrutiny from courts.
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September 25, 2024
Defense Contractor Hit With $2.25M Fine For Bribery Scheme
A California federal judge issued a $2.25 million fine to a defense company for its role in a bribery scheme through which a former executive bribed an ex-Navy contracting official in exchange for lucrative contracts.
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September 25, 2024
Baltimore Bridge Wreck: 6 Months Later, Claims Mount
A court deadline to challenge liability limits over Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse shows an intense legal battle brewing as the U.S. government, Maryland and private plaintiffs sharpen their claims for damages against the owner and manager of the cargo ship that slammed into the bridge six months ago.
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September 25, 2024
Developer Says Minn. City Made Rule To Block Mosque
A developer and its Muslim founders claimed in federal court that Islamophobia motivated Lino Lakes, Minnesota, and several of its lawmakers to approve a moratorium that blocked the construction of a mixed-use development project that featured a mosque.
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September 25, 2024
US Steel Clears One Hurdle In $14B Nippon Steel Deal
An arbitration board has sided with U.S. Steel amid its union's challenge to a planned $14.9 billion acquisition by Nippon Steel, clearing one hurdle while Nippon continues fighting on another front for approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
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September 25, 2024
Fed. Claims Court Won't Toss Abandoned Border Fence Suit
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims refused to throw out a suit filed by California property owners who claimed that the federal government owed them compensation after it abandoned a U.S.-Mexico border fence project on the owners' leased properties, leaving behind construction debris and causing environmental damage.
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September 25, 2024
Cargo Airline Strikes $84K Deal To End DOL Equal Pay Probe
A cargo airline has agreed to pay female workers more than $84,000 in back wages and interest to resolve a U.S. Department of Labor investigation alleging it paid them less than their male counterparts, the federal agency announced.
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September 25, 2024
Pittsburgh Council OKs $500K To Settle Bridge Collapse Suits
The city of Pittsburgh approved handing a Pennsylvania state court $500,000 — the city's maximum liability under state law — so it can bow out of lawsuits brought by people injured in the 2022 collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge.
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September 25, 2024
Watchdog Pans Feds For Sole-Sourcing $5.6M Pavement Deal
The U.S. General Services Administration's internal watchdog faulted the agency for using a preexisting contract to obtain $5.6 million worth of pavement services at border stations along the northern border, saying the work should have been put out for bidding.
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September 24, 2024
Full 9th Circ. Vaporizes First-To-File Precedent For FCA Suits
The full Ninth Circuit on Tuesday overruled circuit precedent and held that the so-called first-to-file rule governing False Claims Act cases is not jurisdictional, meaning that courts can't toss a whistleblower action on jurisdictional grounds rooted in the first-to-file provision.
Expert Analysis
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How Contractors Can Prep For DOD Cybersecurity Rule
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.
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NYSE Delisting May Be The Cost Of FCPA Compliance
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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Series
Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer
When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Boeing Plea Deal Is A Mixed Bag, Providing Lessons For Cos.
The plea deal for conspiracy to defraud regulators that Boeing has tentatively agreed to will, on the one hand, probably help the company avoid further reputational damage, but also demonstrates to companies that deferred prosecution agreements have real teeth, and that noncompliance with DPA terms can be costly, says Edmund Vickers at Red Lion Chambers.
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Justices' Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review
Each of the 11 criminal decisions issued in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently concluded term is independently important, but taken together, they reveal trends in the court’s broader approach to criminal law, presenting both pitfalls and opportunities for defendants and their counsel, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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Series
After Chevron: Bid Protest Litigation Will Hold Steady For Now
Though the substantive holding of Loper Bright is unlikely to affect bid protests because questions of statutory interpretation are rare, the spirit of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision may signal a general trend away from agency deference even on the complex technical issues that often arise, say Kayleigh Scalzo and Andrew Guy at Covington.
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Opinion
Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Series
After Chevron: Piercing FEMA Authority Is Not Insurmountable
While the Federal Emergency Management Agency's discretionary authority continues to provide significant protection from claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, Loper Bright is a blow to the argument that Congress gave FEMA unfettered discretion to administer its own programs, says Wendy Huff Ellard at Baker Donelson.
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'Outsourcing' Ruling, 5 Years On: A Warning, Not A Watershed
A New York federal court’s 2019 ruling in U.S. v. Connolly, holding that the government improperly outsourced an investigation to Deutsche Bank, has not undercut corporate cooperation incentives as feared — but companies should not completely ignore the lessons of the case, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Anna Nabutovsky at Selendy Gay.
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Series
Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.
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Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State
Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Criminal Enforcement Considerations For Gov't Contractors
Government contractors increasingly exposed to criminal liability risks should establish programs that enable detection and remediation of employee misconduct, consider voluntary disclosure, and be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to make a mandatory disclosure where the government concludes it was required, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.