By Brian Tully McLaughlin, Jason M. Crawford and Sarah Hill on Posted in False ClaimsOn January 26, 2017, the Fourth Circuit heard oral argument in United States ex rel. Omar Badr v. Triple Canopy, one of four False Claims Act decisions that the Supreme Court vacated and remanded for further consideration in light of the Court’s June 2016 holding regarding the implied certification theory in Universal Health Servs. v.… Continue Reading
By David B. Robbins and Peter J. Eyre on Posted in Legal DevelopmentsCrowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without, with the latest edition hosted by partners David Robbins and Peter Eyre and including updates on GSA, NASA, and DoD rules, DIUx’s… Continue Reading
By David B. Robbins and Peter J. Eyre on Posted in Legal DevelopmentsCrowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without. This latest edition is hosted by partners David Robbins and Peter Eyre and includes updates on defense acquisition, modernizing federal IT systems,… Continue Reading
By David B. Robbins and Peter J. Eyre on Posted in False ClaimsTo disclose or not to disclose-that is not the only question. The Mandatory Disclosure Rule can be challenging for government contractors to work with, and common methods of analyzing disclosure obligations cause contractors to miss potentially significant risks to their enterprise. The requirement to timely disclose credible evidence of a Federal criminal law involving fraud,… Continue Reading
By Brian Tully McLaughlin, Jason M. Crawford and Patrick S. Brown on Posted in False Claims“False Claims Act cases have been particularly hot in 2015”—so reads the opening line of an opinion in a FCA decision from the past year. This is an apt description for a year that saw total FCA recoveries exceed $3 billion, a sign that the FCA will continue to be the source of government and… Continue Reading
By Jason M. Crawford and Mary Kate Healy on Posted in False ClaimsOn September 29, 2015, the Fourth Circuit agreed to hear an interlocutory appeal in U.S. ex rel. Michaels et al. v. Agape Senior Community, Inc. to address whether the statistical method of extrapolation may be used to prove liability, in addition to damages, under the False Claims Act. The Fourth Circuit will be the first… Continue Reading
By David W. O'Brien, Brian Tully McLaughlin, Jason M. Crawford and Jared Engelking on Posted in False ClaimsLast week, in a case that will have a significant impact on the government contracting industry, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, a False Claims Act (FCA) case from the First Circuit. By agreeing to hear the case, the Court appears set to resolve a… Continue Reading
By Mark R. Troy on Posted in False ClaimsPartner Mark Troy, in this three-part video series, provides an overview of the trends in False Claims Act litigation that are likely to affect companies in the coming year, including the proper measure of damages and how to deal with whistleblower employees and enforce contractual releases. All three videos are embedded below for viewing. For… Continue Reading
By Jason C. Lynch on Posted in False ClaimsEarlier this year, Crowell & Moring assembled an interdisciplinary team of attorneys to begin reporting on legal developments regarding whistleblowers. The result is the Whistleblower Watch blog (whistleblowerwatch.com), on which more than 15 contributing authors post about everything from the False Claims Act to Sarbanes-Oxley to the SEC. They monitor legislation and case law at… Continue Reading
By J. Catherine Kunz on Posted in GSA Schedule/Commercial ItemsJust last week, the Department of Justice announced another large False Claims Act settlement with a GSA Schedule contractor – for $60.9 million. A review of the underlying qui tam complaint, filed by a former vice president of the contractor, reveals multiple alleged failures by Tremco Inc. and RPM International to comply with the basic… Continue Reading
By J. Catherine Kunz on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceThe start of a new year is a perfect opportunity for government contractors to refocus and rejuvenate their compliance efforts. Regardless of whether a company is contractually required to have a compliance program, contractors should take time to determine the contractual obligations and risks they face now and in the year ahead. Is your company… Continue Reading
By J. Catherine Kunz on Posted in False ClaimsTwo years ago, GSA reached a $128 million settlement with Network Appliance, now known as NetApp Inc., based on a whistleblower False Claims Act (“FCA”) suit that alleged the company had failed to comply with the Price Reduction Clause of the contract. The settlement amount was, and continues to be, the largest Schedule contract fraud settlement… Continue Reading
By J. Catherine Kunz on Posted in False ClaimsProfessional whistleblower Brady Folliard’s most recent False Claims Act suit against technology vendors alleging violations of the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”) has survived a motion to dismiss with respect to two defendants (GovPlace and Government Acquisitions, Inc.), but otherwise has been dismissed for the other six defendants (which include Hewlett Packard and GTSI Corporation). In… Continue Reading
By J. Catherine Kunz on Posted in GSA Schedule/Commercial ItemsThe United States has intervened in yet another False Claims Act suit against GSA Schedule contractors alleging violations of the Trade Agreements Act. On November 24, 2010, the United States filed its Complaint in Intervention in U.S. ex rel. Navarro v. Divine Imaging, Inc. et al. The complaint alleges that four different office supply companies… Continue Reading
