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Government Contracts

  • April 16, 2025

    Groups Urge Congress To Probe DC's Use Of Private Attys

    The American Tort Reform Association and two other groups called on Congress on Wednesday to investigate District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb for the office's use of outside counsel for litigation, which they say has issued millions in legal contracts with little transparency or accountability.

  • April 16, 2025

    GAO Won't Redo Decision On Cancellation Of VA Display Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied a Virginia company's push to reconsider a decision affirming the Department of Veteran Affairs' choice to revisit a flawed solicitation for display monitors rather than award a contract to the company that didn't fully meet requirements.

  • April 15, 2025

    Trump Cites U.S. Security To Investigate Critical Minerals Tax

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued an executive order launching a so-called Section 232 national security tariff investigation into the United States' reliance on imported processed critical minerals, citing his belief that "an overreliance ... could jeopardize U.S. defense capabilities."

  • April 15, 2025

    Trump Orders Overhaul Of Federal Contracting Rules

    President Donald Trump issued orders Tuesday aimed at simplifying and reducing the costs of federal contracting for both government and contractors, directing agencies to pare back the Federal Acquisition Regulation to only "essential" requirements and to prioritize commercial item purchases.

  • April 15, 2025

    Judge Ends 'China Initiative' Prosecution Of Ex-Ga. Tech Prof

    A federal judge has dismissed the last remaining criminal charges against a former Georgia Tech professor who was indicted more than four years ago over allegations he was helping Chinese tech workers come to the U.S. under the guise of being university-affiliated researchers.

  • April 15, 2025

    Chase Says Fla. Biz Playing Games With NY 'Debanking' Suit

    JPMorgan Chase Bank NA wants a case accusing it of "debanking" a Florida company sent to the Sunshine State, arguing that it has already won at least one nearly identical suit there and that the company's attempt to bring the current action in New York is a transparent attempt at forum shopping.

  • April 15, 2025

    Judge Won't Hit Brakes On Army Helicopter Power Unit Award

    A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has rejected Hydraulics International Inc.'s attempt to block a sole-source award to Sun Test Systems Inc. for power units to service Army helicopters, saying the company failed to show it could deliver the equipment in question.

  • April 15, 2025

    Plane Part Cos. Settle For $1.3M Over False Small Biz Claims

    Two airplane parts manufacturers will pay more than $1.3 million after disclosing under the False Claims Act that they no longer qualified for federal contracts set aside for small businesses, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut.

  • April 15, 2025

    Journalists, Unions Fight VOA Shutdown In DC Federal Court

    A coalition of journalists, unions and a reporter advocacy group asked a D.C. federal judge not to disturb a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from dismantling the agency that oversees Voice of America, arguing the district court has jurisdiction to weigh in on the case.

  • April 15, 2025

    NJ Judicial Privacy Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Is Unconstitutional, 3rd Circ. Told

    A group of data brokers told the Third Circuit that the New Jersey judicial privacy measure, Daniel's Âé¶¹´«Ã½, is facially unconstitutional and that a federal district judge effectively "rewrote" it when he found otherwise.

  • April 15, 2025

    DC Maintains, Expands Tax Exemptions For NBA, NHL Arena

    The District of Columbia maintained and expanded tax breaks for the property and airspace of Capital One Arena, home to the NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals, as part of legislation that became law, according to a notice published in the district's register.

  • April 15, 2025

    DOL Blocked From Forcing Contractors To Swear Off DEI

    The U.S. Department of Labor cannot force federal funding recipients to certify that they don't operate programs that violate recent executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, an Illinois federal judge held, saying President Donald Trump's directive likely violates the First Amendment.

  • April 14, 2025

    Judge Vacates €978M Army Security Services Contract

    A Court of Federal Claims judge scrapped a €978.6 million ($1.02 billion) contract awarded by the U.S. Army for armed security services for installations in Germany, saying the agency relied on unstated evaluation criteria for past performance.

  • April 14, 2025

    9th Circ. Says $24M Punitive Damages In Jail Death Too Steep

    A jury correctly determined that a healthcare contractor was liable for the death of a woman in custody in a Washington jail, a split Ninth Circuit panel ruled Monday, but its $24 million award for punitive damages was excessive.

  • April 14, 2025

    Judge Backs Air Force In Drone Pilot Contract Dispute

    A Court of Federal Claims judge said the U.S. Air Force reasonably excluded two companies from competing for a contract to train drone pilots, after they failed to certify themselves as women-owned small businesses in the system for award management as required.

  • April 14, 2025

    Calif. Board Says SpaceX Suit Should Be Grounded For Good

    The California Coastal Commission moved Friday for another dismissal of SpaceX's suit alleging the commission wrongly tried to block its plan to increase rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, saying because the commission's opposition was overridden by the U.S. Air Force, no harm was caused.

  • April 14, 2025

    Quinn Emanuel, King & Spalding Rep Harvard In Trump Letter

    Harvard University on Monday turned to a pair of high-powered lawyers from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and King & Spalding LLP as the school pushed back on the Trump administration's policy demands linked to nearly $9 billion in federal funding — a move that prompted the government to freeze more than $2 billion in grants for the school.

  • April 14, 2025

    Top Court Ruling Dooms Suit Challenging Housing Grant Cuts

    A federal judge in Boston on Monday vacated an earlier ruling that had blocked the Trump administration from cutting $30 million in housing anti-discrimination grants, saying a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in a similar case involving teacher training grants likely strips the court of jurisdiction.

  • April 14, 2025

    V&E Makes Perkins Coie Atty Gov't Contracts Group Co-Head

    Vinson & Elkins LLP has hired a partner from Perkins Coie LLP who is joining V&E's litigation practice and will co-head the firm's government contracts practice, the firm announced Monday.

  • April 11, 2025

    21 AGs Back WilmerHale, Jenner & Block Over Trump Order

    A coalition of 21 attorneys general Friday filed briefs in support of WilmerHale and Jenner & Block LLP as the firms challenge President Donald Trump's retaliatory executive orders in D.C. federal court, arguing that the directives unconstitutionally punish the firms for representing people and causes the president doesn't like.

  • April 11, 2025

    Tool Co. Can't Yet Defeat Former Worker's FCA Claims

    A Georgia federal judge on Friday refused to hand a partial win to Kipper Tool Co. as it battles a False Claims Act suit brought by a former employee, rejecting the company's argument that a portion of the suit is barred by the statute of limitations.

  • April 11, 2025

    GAO Backs Feds' Setback, Co-Location Terms In Lease Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the General Services Administration reasonably set colocation and setback requirements in a request for lease proposals to house several agencies in one Wilmington, North Carolina, building, denying a protest that challenged the terms as unnecessary and overly restrictive.

  • April 11, 2025

    CFPB Cuts Loose Comerica Suit After Missing Filing Deadline

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday dismissed at least for now its suit against Comerica Bank in Texas federal court that accused the bank of mismanaging a government benefit card program after missing a filing deadline and losing out on a bid to have the action stayed.

  • April 11, 2025

    Feds Say Judge Should Limit Foreign Aid Freeze Injunction

    The Trump administration asked a D.C. federal judge on Friday to commit to dissolving part of a preliminary injunction requiring it to pay all grant recipients and contractors for foreign assistance work done prior to Feb. 13, in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

  • April 11, 2025

    DOGE, OMB Ordered To Ready 1,000s Of Pages In FOIA Suit

    A D.C. federal judge ordered the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Government Efficiency to start processing 1,000 pages of documents per month to potentially hand over to a watchdog group seeking insight into DOGE's "secretive operations," saying DOGE's actions were of "highest national concern."

Expert Analysis

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • Fla. Ruling May Undermine FCA Whistleblowers' Authority

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    A Florida federal court's decision in Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates last month will deprive relators of their ability to bring suits under the False Claims Act, limiting their capability to expose and rectify wrongdoings and potentially affecting billions in FCA recoveries, say Matthew Nielsen and Lily Johnson at Bracewell.

  • 'Minimum Contacts' Issues At Stake In High Court FSIA Case

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    In CC/Devas v. Antrix, the U.S. Supreme Court must decide whether a "minimum contacts" requirement should be implied in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, with the potential to dramatically change the legislative landscape through the establishment of a new and significant barrier to U.S. suits against foreign states, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Âé¶¹´«Ã½ Group.

  • 11th Circ. Kickback Ruling May Widen Hearsay Exception

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    In a $400 million fraud case, U.S. v. Holland, the Eleventh Circuit recently held that a conspiracy need not have an unlawful object to introduce co-conspirator statements under federal evidence rules, potentially broadening the application of the so-called co-conspirator hearsay exception, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • How A Trump Win Might Affect The H-1B Program

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    A review of the Trump administration's attempted overhaul of the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program suggests policies Donald Trump might try to implement if he is reelected, and specific steps employers should consider to prepare for that possibility, says Eileen Lohmann at BAL.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Âé¶¹´«Ã½yers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Debriefings, Timeliness, Documentation

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    ​James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims concerning an agency's decision not to hold post-award discussions, a timeliness trap in certain Federal Supply Schedule procurements and the importance of providing contemporaneous documentation in price-evaluation protests.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • John Deere Penalty Shows Importance Of M&A Due Diligence

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent $10 million penalty against John Deere underscores the risks of not conducting robust preacquisition due diligence and not effectively integrating a new subsidiary into the existing compliance framework, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

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