Government Contracts

  • December 23, 2024

    DOL Wants Full 9th Circ. Review Of Contractor Wage Ruling

    A split Ninth Circuit panel decision that blocked President Joe Biden from raising federal contractors' minimum wage to $15 an hour shrinks the president's power, the U.S. Department of Labor said, urging the full appellate court to step in.

  • December 20, 2024

    TD Bank, Boeing And Medicare: Compliance Headlines In 2024

    Corporate compliance lessons were never far from the headlines in 2024, as regulatory challenges and headaches facing industries ranging from healthcare to aerospace played front and center, including TD Bank's historic $3.1 billion money laundering settlement that federal prosecutors billed as one for the risk-management textbooks.

  • December 20, 2024

    Independent Health Inks $98M Deal For Medicare Overcharges

    Independent Health Association Inc. has agreed to pay up to $98 million to resolve a decade-old False Claims Act whistleblower suit alleging it knowingly submitted invalid diagnosis codes for Medicare Advantage Plan enrollees to boost payments that the insurer received from Medicare, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

  • December 20, 2024

    3rd Circ. Denies Challenge To Pa. Autism Settlement

    A Third Circuit panel on Friday rejected claims a settlement requiring around-the-clock care for a woman with autism is too impractical to be enforced, reversing a lower-court decision and handing a victory to the Pennsylvania woman's family.

  • December 20, 2024

    Senate Passes 3-Month Funding Bill, Avoiding Shutdown

    The U.S. Senate on Saturday passed a three-month temporary government funding deal after the removal of a contentious proposal to suspend  the federal debt ceiling, staving off a government shutdown.

  • December 20, 2024

    Top Under-The-Radar Gov't Contracts Cases Of 2024

    Here are four lower-profile decisions in 2024 with important legal findings for federal contractors, addressing issues such as when a contractor needs to press an agency for payment and when the government cannot claim sovereign immunity for COVID-19 response.

  • December 20, 2024

    Top Government Contracts Of 2024: Year In Review

    This year, the U.S. General Services Administration made dozens of awards for two massive, uncapped governmentwide deals, while the U.S. Department of Energy awarded more than $70 billion both for making nuclear weapons and cleaning up their legacy. Here, Law360 looks at seven of the biggest government contracts awarded in 2024.

  • December 20, 2024

    DC Circ. Backs Dismissal Of Energy Co.'s $1.1B Angola Suit

    The D.C. Circuit refused Friday to revive an energy company's lawsuit against Angola over $1.1 billion worth of nixed power plant contracts, agreeing with courts in New York that the dispute must be litigated in the African country.

  • December 20, 2024

    Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Litigants Cite EPA's Chemical Ban

    Veterans and family members who claim they were injured due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune will use the Biden administration's final rule banning certain chemicals to prosecute their case over toxic water at the Marine base, according to a notice they filed in North Carolina federal court.

  • December 20, 2024

    FTA Proposes Buy America Waiver For Electric Minibuses

    The Federal Transit Administration has asked for public feedback on whether it should grant a temporary nonavailability waiver from domestic sourcing requirements for battery electric minibuses, saying it had received related requests from multiple transit operators.

  • December 20, 2024

    GAO Stands Firm On Bid Filing Deadline Despite Tech Trouble

    Three o'clock means three o'clock, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said, denying a company's claim that the Navy improperly excluded an electronically submitted project proposal that came through minutes late because of technological troubles.

  • December 20, 2024

    NJ Atty Says RICO Case Only Alleges He Acted As Lawyer

    New Jersey attorney William Tambussi has slammed the Garden State's response to his bid to toss charges against him in the state's sweeping indictment against power broker George E. Norcross III, claiming it does not show how his routine legal work constitutes a crime.

  • December 19, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Seeks Denial Of Newman Bid To Unseal Documents

    The Federal Circuit judges asked the D.C. Circuit on Thursday to reject U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's request to unseal documents about her suspension for refusing to participate in an investigation into her fitness, saying they are of "questionable relevance" and will be released soon anyway.

  • December 19, 2024

    House Rejects 3-Month Funding Bill Despite Trump Support

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a three-month temporary funding deal that would have staved off a government shutdown and had been hastily introduced after President-elect Donald Trump criticized an earlier proposed continuing resolution.

  • December 19, 2024

    Top Gov't Contracts Cases Of 2024

    Courts and the U.S. Government Accountability Office have made several high-profile, consequential decisions for government contractors this year, addressing the constitutionality of the False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions and the limits of the president's authority over federal procurement.

  • December 19, 2024

    $1.1B Diablo Canyon Award Challenge Meets Skeptical Judge

    A California federal judge appeared skeptical Thursday that an environmental group has standing to challenge the U.S. Department of Energy's award of $1.1 billion to help Pacific Gas & Electric Co. continue operating the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

  • December 19, 2024

    Feds Could Pay $1.1M To Settle WWII Refinery Waste Fight

    A Valero Energy Corp. unit is asking a Michigan federal judge to sign off on a deal that would have the U.S. government pay it $1.1 million for cleanup costs allegedly stemming from the government's wartime operations at a refinery in Houston.

  • December 19, 2024

    Top Gov't Contracts Policies Of 2024

    Lawmakers and federal agencies have introduced several consequential policy moves affecting government contractors this year, including a long-pending cybersecurity rule for defense contractors and a clarification to an unintendedly harsh interpretation of a federal registration requirement.

  • December 19, 2024

    GAO Says Army Can Stop Solicitation After Multiple Protests

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest over the U.S. Army's decision to cancel a medical instructor support deal, saying the Army reasonably found it had to address changed circumstances after a string of related protests.

  • December 19, 2024

    New Jersey Power Broker Says RICO Case Isn't Fit For Jury

    Defendants dubbed the "Norcross Enterprise" are fighting back against New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin's assertion that their bid to toss a criminal indictment accusing them of engaging in a sprawling racketeering scheme is out of place, claiming the state misunderstands the roles of judge and jury.

  • December 19, 2024

    Addiction Group Pays $2M In Mass. AG False Billing Probe

    An addiction treatment physician group with offices across western Massachusetts will pay $2 million to settle allegations that it overcharged for visits and billed for tests that were not medically necessary, the state's attorney general said Thursday.

  • December 19, 2024

    Cos. Press Justices To Review Contractors Min. Wage Dispute

    Opposite opinions over the scope of the president's authority "cry out" for the U.S. Supreme Court intervention in a case challenging President Joe Biden's increase of the federal contractors' hourly minimum wage, two outdoor groups said, pointing to a Ninth Circuit's decision axing the wage hike.

  • December 18, 2024

    Lockheed, Air Force Agree To Ax $132M Contract Appeal

    The Federal Circuit dismissed an appeal on Wednesday by the Air Force challenging an Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals' ruling entitling Lockheed Martin to more than $131.8 million for excessive "over and above" work under a 2007 contract.

  • December 18, 2024

    Ex-Fla Rep. Charged Again For Foreign Agent Violations

    Former Florida Rep. David Rivera, who is battling an indictment in Miami over lobbying work for Venezuela, faces additional criminal charges in D.C. federal court, after a grand jury indicted him on charges he failed to register as a foreign agent when he lobbied on a Venezuelan businessman's behalf.

  • December 18, 2024

    CVS Fueled Opioid Epidemic In Rush For Profits, Feds Say

    The U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a suit Wednesday accusing CVS, the nation's largest pharmacy chain, of knowingly filling invalid prescriptions for powerful opioids and ignoring internal pleas from its pharmacists as it allegedly put profits over safety. 

Expert Analysis

  • Electrifying Transportation With Public-Private Partnerships

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    Many clean energy goals remain public policy abstractions that face a challenging road to realization — but public-private partnership models could be a valuable tool to electrify the transportation sector, says Michael Blackwell at Husch Blackwell.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Expect The Unexpected: Contracts For Underground Projects

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    Recent challenges encountered by the Mountain Valley Pipeline project underscore the importance of drafting contracts for underground construction to account for unexpected site conditions, associated risks and compliance with applicable laws, say Jill Jaffe and Brenda Lin at Nossaman.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Fed. Circ. Percipient Gov't Contract Ruling Is Groundbreaking

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    The effects of the Federal Circuit's decision last month in Percipient.ai v. U.S. may be limited to commercial product and service suppliers, but it is significant for government procurement in opening the door to protests by suppliers who previously would have lacked standing and Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • 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.

  • After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 37 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.

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