The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on June 27, 2025, announced a comprehensive, full-scale audit of its 8(a) Business Development Program (8(a) Program), marking a significant escalation in federal oversight of...more
7/2/2025
/ 8(a) Program ,
Audits ,
Bribery ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Government Investigations ,
Joint Venture ,
SBA ,
Small Business ,
Whistleblowers
A significant number of government contracts and grants have been terminated recently by federal agencies pursuant to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) "cost efficiency initiative" and review of "covered...more
5/8/2025
/ Contract Disputes ,
Contract Termination ,
Corporate Liability ,
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Grants ,
Fraud ,
Risk Management ,
Settlement ,
Trump Administration ,
Whistleblowers
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ or the Department) has published statistics on False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments for fiscal year (FY) 2024, a year in which the Department saw the highest number of qui tam...more
2/5/2025
/ Cybersecurity ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
PHI ,
Qui Tam ,
Whistleblowers
Late last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its complaint-in-intervention in a qui tam lawsuit against the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), alleging that the university failed to meet certain...more
8/28/2024
/ Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DFARS ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Statements ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Implied Certification ,
Internal Controls ,
Invoices ,
NIST ,
Qui Tam ,
Security and Privacy Controls ,
Universities ,
US Air Force ,
Whistleblowers
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on June 6, 2024, published a Final Rule (the Rule) to eliminate self-certification for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) whose federal government contracts...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) has published statistics on False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments for fiscal year (FY) 2023, noting that this was the highest number of settlements and judgments...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Feb. 7, 2023, released its annual statistics for its civil False Claims Act (FCA) and fraud cases from the 2022 fiscal year (FY). Up front, we see the following key takeaways ...more
False Claims Act (FCA) cases, particularly in the government contracts space, often have several defendants; prime contractors, subcontractors, vendors and individuals are all common targets. In healthcare FCA cases, with...more
In the wake of the (coronavirus) COVID-19 pandemic, federal agencies are starting to use their delegated authority under the Defense Production Act ("DPA"), 50 U.S.C. § 4511 and the related Executive Order 12919 to place...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has a renewed focus on government contracting and, more specifically, anti-competitive behavior in federal procurement. As mentioned in a prior blog post, the DOJ's Antitrust Division...more
3/18/2020
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Market Allocation Scheme ,
Price-Fixing ,
RICO ,
The Clayton Act
Contractors have struggled to prevent the release of confidential information such as proposals incorporated into contracts and unit pricing requested by competitors and others under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)....more
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a report highlighting its work conducted in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. The report provides statistics on the number of audits,...more
In December 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual statistics for its civil False Claims Act (FCA) and fraud cases from the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2018 (fiscal year 2018). The DOJ reports it...more
A recent dismissal of a qui tam action demonstrates there exists an affirmative approach for disposing of wasteful and meritless non-intervened qui tam claims without the time and expense of protracted litigation with...more
10/17/2018
/ Cooperative Agreements ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dismissals ,
Energy Sector ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Nuclear Power ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Research and Development
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced the creation of a Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Relevant to the contracting and healthcare community, the task force is designed to strengthen the...more
7/19/2018
/ Antitrust Division ,
Civil Liability ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Fraud ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Elder Abuse ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FBI ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Fraud ,
Fraudulent Procurement ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
HEAT ,
Investigations ,
Medicare Fraud Strike Force ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Tax Division ,
Tax Fraud ,
Trump Administration ,
Veterans
Most practitioners are aware that the statute of limitations under the False Claims Act (FCA) is six years after the date on which the violation is committed. 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b)(1). That is, unless the FCA’s tolling...more
5/2/2018
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dismissals ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
First-to-File ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Government Officials ,
OIG ,
Qui Tam ,
Real Party in Interest ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Tolling Provisions
This is the fifth blog post in a series of blogs analyzing the current draft of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as agreed-to by House and Senate negotiators on November 8, 2017. Stay tuned for additional...more
Companies involved in False Claims Act suits filed by qui tam relators often find themselves facing potential suspension or debarment from federal contracting. A recent decision out of the United States District Court for the...more