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Government Contracts

  • July 24, 2025

    Naval Engineers In No-Poach Suit Hint At New Named Plaintiff

    A proposed class of naval engineers suing the nation's major military shipbuilders and contractors over an alleged no-poach wage-fixing scheme may have a new named plaintiff to bring to the case.

  • July 24, 2025

    GAO Urges DOE Watchdog To Rethink Audit Division Costs

    A U.S. Department of Energy watchdog significantly underestimated how much it would cost to audit billions of dollars of inherently risky incurred cost contracts the department has awarded, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

  • July 23, 2025

    Columbia Says It'll Pay $200M To Put To Rest Beef With Trump

    Columbia University said Wednesday that it has agreed to pay a $200 million settlement to the federal government to resolve the Trump administration's allegations the institution didn't do enough to protect Jewish students, a move Columbia said means the "vast majority" of federal funding will be restored.

  • July 23, 2025

    Broadband Co.'s $168M Peruvian Award Suit Stays In DC

    A D.C. federal judge has declined to throw out a broadband corporation's suit seeking the enforcement of $168 million in arbitral awards against Peru-owned telecom service Pronatel, rejecting its argument that it was not properly served under Peruvian law.

  • July 23, 2025

    Trump Wins 9th Circ. Block On Order Providing Reorg Plans

    The Ninth Circuit greenlighted the Trump administration's request to pause a lower court ruling requiring the government to turn over its layoff and reorganization plans in the case disputing whether the president can lawfully reshape federal agencies without congressional approval.

  • July 23, 2025

    11th Circ. Throws Cold Water On Ga. County's Spaceport Suit

    An Eleventh Circuit panel signaled Wednesday that it was not buying a Georgia county's claims that it should be able to claw back $2.6 million it put down on a property where it intended to construct a commercial spaceport after the county's voters repealed authorization for the project in a referendum.

  • July 23, 2025

    Feds Seek 15 Months For Lobbyist Over Madigan Scheme

    Federal prosecutors have urged an Illinois federal judge to sentence ex-ComEd lobbyist Jay Doherty to one year and three months in prison for his "critical role" in a scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, whose associates were paid as "subcontractors" under Doherty's lobbying contract with the utility even though they did little to no work.

  • July 23, 2025

    Judge Denies Protest Over DOD Agency's $126M IT Deal

    A business challenging a Defense Intelligence Agency decision that sent a $126 million IT support contract to another company failed to show any basis to disturb the award, a U.S. Court of Federal Claims said.

  • July 23, 2025

    Wash. Counties Can Sue State Over Public Defense Funding

    A Washington state appeals court has ruled that a coalition of counties has standing to sue the state to force it to provide adequate funding for indigent defense services, saying the coalition had shown that it had been harmed by the current funding system.

  • July 23, 2025

    US Says It's Immune In Booz Allen Worker Tax Info Leak Suit

    A proposed class action seeking to hold the federal government and its contractor Booz Allen Hamilton responsible for a leak of thousands of wealthy people's tax returns, including President Donald Trump's, cannot move forward against the U.S., the government argued Wednesday, saying it's immune from the suit.

  • July 23, 2025

    No New General Causation Opinions In Camp Lejeune Case

    A North Carolina federal judge is limiting the scope of expert opinions in the consolidated litigation over water contamination at Camp Lejeune, saying the plaintiffs' specific causation experts can refer to prior general causation opinions but cannot introduce new general causation opinions.

  • July 23, 2025

    NJ Power Broker Blasts AG's Bid To Revive RICO Case

    Garden State power broker George E. Norcross III on Wednesday urged a New Jersey appeals court to affirm the dismissal of the state's explosive racketeering indictment, arguing the trial court was right to toss the charges because there are no factual allegations in the indictment that amount to a crime.

  • July 23, 2025

    Trump Publishes AI 'Action Plan' With 90 Policy Proposals

    In an effort to secure America's leadership in artificial intelligence, the Trump administration released a blueprint Wednesday outlining ideas to accelerate innovation, modernize infrastructure and foster international collaboration while safeguarding national security.

  • July 22, 2025

    FCA Draws Heavy Constitutional Fire After $1.6B J&J Verdict

    Reeling from a record fraud verdict tied to drug promotion practices, Johnson & Johnson is pursuing a sweeping constitutional challenge to the False Claims Act, and in filings this week at the Third Circuit, major industry allies rallied behind its views of whistleblower litigants usurping executive branch power.

  • July 22, 2025

    Air Force Can't Dodge $3M Lost Forklifts Claim, Board Says

    The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals denied the U.S. Air Force's request to dismiss a $3.1 million claim lodged after an Afghanistan base allegedly failed to return two rental forklifts procured under a $29,000 contract.

  • July 22, 2025

    IP Atty's FCA Suit Against Valeant Over Apriso Tossed Again

    A California federal judge on Tuesday again threw out an attorney's whistleblower False Claims Act suit alleging Valeant Pharmaceuticals fraudulently obtained a patent to block generic Apriso, but gave him several weeks to amend his case.

  • July 22, 2025

    Bid Protest Experts Push For Focus On Data, Debriefings

    Bid protest experts told lawmakers Tuesday that they should focus on collecting more data on the federal procurement process and expanding the use of enhanced post-award debriefing procedures to civilian agencies, rather than penalizing companies that file frivolous bid protests.

  • July 22, 2025

    Fla. Woman Gets 30 Months For Nearly $1M Student Aid Fraud

    A Florida woman was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to fraud-related charges for her role in a years-long scheme enrolling fake students in low-cost colleges to steal almost $1 million in federal financial aid from the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday. 

  • July 22, 2025

    Divided 3rd Circ. Backs ICE Detention Contracts In NJ

    A split Third Circuit panel on Tuesday backed a lower court's decision invalidating a New Jersey state law barring detention centers from contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ruling that the law directly regulates the federal government.

  • July 22, 2025

    Humana Asks Texas Court To Void 2025 Medicare Ratings

    Humana Inc. has asked a Texas court to vacate the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' 2025 star ratings for certain Medicare plans, writing that the evaluation rules "are dizzyingly complex" and unfairly resulted in a lower rating for its plan.

  • July 22, 2025

    Judge Blocks Some Planned Parenthood Cuts In Partial Ruling

    A Massachusetts federal judge partially blocked a measure passed by Congress this month stripping Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood-affiliated facilities, but only as it applies to those that do not provide abortions or that receive minimal federal support.

  • July 21, 2025

    Guinea Tells DC Circ. $22M Award Can't Be Enforced

    The Republic of Guinea has urged the D.C. Circuit not to revive a consulting company's bid to enforce a $22 million arbitration award, saying a lower court correctly found that it was unclear whether the country agreed to arbitrate the dispute in the first place.

  • July 21, 2025

    Lawmakers' Plan To Target Bid Protesters Seen As Unfounded

    Congress's quest to deter frivolous protests from companies that fail to win Pentagon contracts exposes a gap between lawmakers and attorneys who refute the problem, and worry that small businesses that get penalized could get shut out of the procurement process.

  • July 21, 2025

    Builder Accuses NC County Of Losing $1.3M In Phishing Scam

    A general contractor is suing to recoup the cost of renovating a county administrative building in eastern North Carolina after local officials fell for a phishing scam and sent more than $1.3 million in payments for the project to fraudsters, according to a state court complaint.

  • July 21, 2025

    COVID-19 Fraudster Can Keep His Pension, Conn. Judge Says

    A former Connecticut firefighter who pled guilty in connection with a COVID-19 relief fund scam can keep the pension he earned through 26 years of service, a state trial court judge has ruled, pointing to the employee's otherwise clean record and comparatively lesser role in the scheme.

Expert Analysis

  • DOJ Enforcement Trends To Watch In 2nd Half Of 2025

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    Recent investigations, settlements and a declination to prosecute suggest that controlling the flow of goods into and out of the country, and redressing what the administration sees as reverse discrimination, are likely to be at the forefront of the U.S. Department of Justice's enforcement agenda the rest of this year, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • DOJ's 1st M&A Declination Shows Value Of Self-Disclosures

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent decision not to charge private equity firm White Deer Management — the first such declination under an M&A safe harbor policy announced last year — signals that even in high-priority national security matters, the DOJ looks highly upon voluntary self-disclosures, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care

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    Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard​​​​​​​ at MG+M.

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Federal Construction Considerations Amid Policy Overhaul

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    The rapid overhaul of federal procurement, heightened domestic sourcing rules and aggressive immigration enforcement are reshaping U.S. construction, but several pragmatic considerations can help federal contractors engaged in infrastructure and public construction avoid the legal, financial and operational fallout, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • How High Court Ruling Can Aid Judgment Enforcement In US

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    In CC/Devas (Mauritius) v. Antrix, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that only two steps are required to keep a foreign sovereign in federal court, making it a little easier for investors to successfully bring foreign states and sovereign-owned and -controlled entities into U.S. courts, says Kristie Blase at Felicello Law.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • Kousisis Concurrence Maps FCA Defense To Anti-DEI Suits

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    Justice Clarence Thomas' recent concurrence in Kousisis v. U.S. lays out how federal funding recipients could use the high standard for materiality in government fraud cases to fight the U.S. Justice Department’s threatened False Claims Act suits against payees deviating from the administration’s anti-DEI policies, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Justices' Review Of Fluor May Alter Gov't Contractor Liability

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to review Hencely v. Fluor, a case involving a soldier’s personal injury claims against a government contractor, suggests the justices could reconsider a long-standing test for determining whether contractors are shielded from state-tort liability, says Lisa Himes at Rogers Joseph.

  • ICSID Annulment Proceedings Carry High Stakes For System

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    The annulment proceedings brought by Freeport-McMoRan before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, seeking to redress a glaring and prejudicial oversight in its arbitral award against Peru, are significant for delimiting the boundaries of procedural fairness within the ICSID's annulment framework, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • How Ending OFCCP Will Affect Affirmative Action Obligations

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    As President Donald Trump's administration plans to eliminate the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which enforces federal contractor antidiscrimination compliance and affirmative action program obligations, contractors should consider the best compliance approaches available to them, especially given the False Claims Act implications, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

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    Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

  • Measuring The Scope Of COFC's Telesto Bid Protest Ruling

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    The U.S. Court of Federal Claims described its recent denial of bid protest jurisdiction in Telesto v. U.S. over other transaction agreements as a modest departure from prior decisions, but the holding also makes it difficult to distinguish between a follow-on procurement and a definitive agreement to proceed, say lawyers at Wiley.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

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    My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.

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