Government Contracts

  • January 07, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Rejects Software Co.'s Bid For $86M From Navy

    A Federal Circuit panel affirmed a decision holding that the U.S. Navy owes a software company just $154,000 for its infringing use of a 3-D virtual reality program, and not the nearly $86 million the company sought based on installations on more than 429,000 computers.

  • January 07, 2025

    GAO Calls Navy's Construction Deal Conditions 'Reasonable'

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office rejected an Indiana-based contractor's challenge of the U.S. Navy's requirement to register with the Spanish Ministry of Finance to be considered for a Spain-based explosive ordnance disposal facility contract, calling the extra step "reasonable."

  • January 06, 2025

    Trump Selects Long Island Judge For EDNY's Top Prosecutor

    President-elect Donald Trump, who was born in Queens, has picked a Long Island state court judge to serve as the next U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, according to an announcement made Monday on Truth Social.

  • January 06, 2025

    Athira Inks $4M FCA Deal Over Ex-CEO's Research Fraud

    Athira Pharma Inc. has agreed to pay $4 million to resolve allegations it used falsified academic research papers on neurological disorders like Alzheimer's to secure federal grants from the National Institute of Health, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.

  • January 06, 2025

    $182M Army Corps Deal Protest Tripped Up By Employee Exit

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest over a $181.5 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction contract, saying a key staff member's departure meant the protester wasn't eligible for the deal even if its protest was otherwise valid.

  • January 06, 2025

    Boeing, DOJ Given More Time To Rework 737 Max Plea Deal

    The U.S. Department of Justice and The Boeing Co. have until mid-February to rework a plea agreement in the American aerospace giant's 737 Max criminal conspiracy case, a Texas federal judge ruled Saturday, ensuring that the incoming Trump administration will oversee final negotiations on any potential new deal.

  • January 06, 2025

    DOD Adds WeChat Owner, CATL To Chinese Military Co. List

    The U.S. Department of Defense added dozens of businesses Monday to its list of companies affiliated with the Chinese military, including electric-car battery maker CATL and Tencent Holdings Ltd. — owner of the popular text-messaging app WeChat — prompting Tencent to slam the designation as "clearly a mistake."

  • January 06, 2025

    Impossible Registration Requirement Protest Ruled Untimely

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office ruled that a protest over an impossible joint venture registration requirement in a U.S. Department of State architectural and engineering services deal was untimely, because the disputed requirement was clear in the contract solicitation.

  • January 06, 2025

    Space Biz Accused Of Gov't Satellite Contract Bait-And-Switch

    A subcontractor hit a Colorado space company with a $17.2 million breach of contract lawsuit in federal court Saturday, accusing Sierra Space of adopting a bait-and-switch strategy in which it dragged out subcontracting negotiations in order to win a lucrative federal satellite contract and then awarded the business to a rival subcontractor.

  • January 03, 2025

    Boeing, DOJ Say No Agreement Yet For Revised 737 Max Plea

    The Boeing Co. and the U.S. Department of Justice told a Texas federal judge Friday they have not yet reached an agreement on how to revise the aircraft manufacturer's plea agreement in the 737 Max criminal conspiracy case, after the judge last month rejected the initial deal.

  • January 03, 2025

    Vizgen Loses Antitrust Claims Against 10x In Biotech IP Fight

    A Delaware federal court on Friday dropped Harvard's business partners at 10x Genomics Inc. out of some of the antitrust counterclaims by a rival biotech developer that is targeted in a patent lawsuit set for trial next month.

  • January 03, 2025

    Hospital Org Inks $135M Deal To End Ex-CFO's Fraud Claims

    Community Health Network has agreed to pay $135 million to end federal healthcare fraud claims brought by its former chief financial officer, a deal reached two years after the Indiana healthcare system agreed to pay $345 million to settle False Claims Act allegations from the government in the qui tam action, the ex-CFO's counsel announced Thursday.

  • January 03, 2025

    Fla. Gov't Contractor Agrees To Pay $1M Over Rigging Bids

    A Florida owner of two government contractors agreed to fork over $1 million to the U.S. government to settle civil allegations he conspired with a Massachusetts-based company to submit false bids and resulted in driving up the cost of U.S. Department of Defense contracts, federal officials said Friday.

  • January 03, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Revive Bias Suit Over SBA Small Biz Program

    A disabled veteran's constitutional challenge to a Small Business Administration contracting program over racial bias concerns must fail because the veteran didn't actually qualify for the program, the Fourth Circuit ruled Friday.

  • January 03, 2025

    Booz Allen To Pay $15.8M To Settle False Claims Case

    Booz Allen Hamilton struck a $15.8 million settlement with the federal government Friday, resolving claims a subsidiary submitted false claims under a contract meant to supply computer military training simulators to the U.S. Department of Defense.

  • January 03, 2025

    Ex-Mich. Public Defender Fined For Revealing Client's 'Secret'

    The retired director of the public defender's office in Muskegon, Michigan, has been handed a 75-day suspension and ordered to pay more than $3,000 in fees after disciplinary authorities found he shared a client's "confidence or secret" and failed to enact and enforce policies to avoid conflicts of interest in the office.

  • January 02, 2025

    IT Firm Loses Effort To Make GSA Add Evidence In Bid Protest

    The U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Thursday reaffirmed that an information tech consulting firm can't force the federal government to add evidence to the administrative record in litigation over its terminated IT contract with the U.S. Air Force.

  • January 02, 2025

    Issa Again Selected To Lead House IP Subcommittee

    Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., will again lead the House subcommittee overseeing intellectual property in the upcoming Congress, a role in which he has sponsored bills seeking to limit how many patents can be asserted in biosimilar cases and require disclosure of litigation funding.

  • January 02, 2025

    Citi Unit Fined Over Analysts Who Didn't Take FINRA Exam

    Citigroup Global Markets Inc. has agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claims that three of its municipal securities research analysts authored hundreds of research reports without having taken their subject area's required exam.

  • January 02, 2025

    DC US Atty Matthew Graves Stepping Down Jan. 16

    Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for D.C. who led the federal investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, said he'll be stepping down as the capital's top federal prosecutor four days before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

  • January 02, 2025

    Hogan Lovells Gets $1.25M Afghanistan Award OK'd

    Hogan Lovells won enforcement on Thursday of a $1.25 million arbitral award it won against Afghanistan over its representation of the country in various legal matters, an award that the new Taliban-led government has ignored for two years.

  • January 02, 2025

    GAO Rejects Telecom Co.'s Protest Of DOD Contract Denial

    A Bahrain telecommunications company failed to specify the make and model of the equipment required to secure a U.S. Department of Defense contract, the Government Accountability Office said, rejecting the company's claim that the agency wrongly deemed its quote unacceptable.

  • January 02, 2025

    Feds Ink $1B Supply Deal With Constellation Nuke Plants

    The U.S. General Services Administration said Thursday it has cut the largest energy procurement deal in its history after purchasing 10 million megawatt-hours of electricity from Baltimore-based Constellation New Energy Inc. in combined energy contracts totaling more than $1 billion.

  • January 02, 2025

    Trump Transition Underway At Key Environmental Agencies

    President-elect Donald Trump's landing teams — tasked with aiding the upcoming transition in the White House — are busy gathering information to set the new administration on course to implement its priorities on day one.

  • January 01, 2025

    The Hottest Topics Appellate Attys Are Tracking In 2025

    Appellate lawyers in 2025 should probably stock up on coffee and expect some all-nighters — numerous high-profile appeals, a new presidential administration and a new framework for legal challenges to regulations suggest it'll be an uncommonly tumultuous trip around the sun.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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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