BLOG: Court of Federal Claims Denies Oracle Protest of JEDI Contract: Is This It For Oracle?

The Department of Defense (“DoD”) first released the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (“JEDI”) cloud contract on July 26, 2018. One main purpose of the JEDI contract, as listed in the DoD’s published “Determination and Findings,” was to acquire foundational commercial cloud technologies that would “enable war fighters to better execute a mission that is increasingly dependent on the exploitation of information.” With this purpose in mind, the DoD made a controversial decision to move forward with a single-award approach to . . . Read More

BLOG: Cybersecurity, Implied Certifications, and the False Claims Act

As I am sure many of you know and have read about already, the first False Claims Act (“FCA”) case, US Ex rel. Markus v. AeroJet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., et al., No. 2:15-cv-2245, has been filed in the Eastern District of California by a disgruntled former Director of Cyber Security Compliance and Controls, and it survived a motion to dismiss in May of this year. When the existence of the AeroJet case is layered over the U.S. Supreme Court’s findings in Universal Health Servs., . . . Read More

BLOG: How Government Contractors Can Take Advantage of CPARS Trends to Win (and Maintain) Federal Contracts

On July 18, 2019, the Professional Services Council hosted an important event covering Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (“CPARS”) trends, their impact on contractor past performance ratings, and the consequence they have on winning federal contracts. As one of the speakers at this event, PilieroMazza’s Samuel Finnerty offered recommendations on what government contractors can do now to proactively engage and manage their CPARS ratings and  position themselves for future growth.    One of the most interesting trends discussed was the sharp decline . . . Read More

BLOG: Justice Department Issues New False Claims Act Guidance on Cooperation Credit That May Reduce FCA-Defendant Liability

Last week, on May 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the issuance of formal guidance to clarify the manner in which the DOJ allocates credit to defendants who cooperate with government investigations in False Claims Act (“FCA”) matters. In a press release from the Office of Public Affairs, the DOJ explained that it “has taken important steps to incentivize companies to voluntarily disclose misconduct and cooperate with [DOJ] investigations[.]”  Specifically with regard to the FCA, the DOJ . . . Read More

BLOG: Federal Appeals Court Gives $34 Million False Claims Act Pay Day to Whistleblower and Takes it From Another

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . .”  Charles Dickens was not thinking of the False Claims Act when he wrote “A Tale of Two Cities,” but the First Circuit Court of Appeals was when it decided United States ex rel. McGuire v. Millenium Laboratories, Inc.earlier this week.  With the decision, a three judge panel of that Court moved over $34 million in relator fees from one whistleblower to another, highlighting the risks—for both . . . Read More

Fourth Circuit Makes It Harder for Whistleblowers in FCA Cases

In a relatively recent decision, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit raised the bar a notch for whistleblowers in False Claim Act (“FCA”) cases whose allegations lack specificity as to direct evidence of presentment for payment to the government for fraudulent services. Indeed, in her dissenting opinion in U.S. ex rel. David Grant v. United Airlines, Inc., No. 17-2151 (4th Cir. 2018), Judge Keenan opined that this ruling, affirming the dismissal of the claim at the pre-discovery . . . Read More

Facing Costly Litigation? An Offer of Judgment May Save You Money in the Long Run

“[I]n this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” This oft-cited quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin may be timeless, but it fails to tell the whole story in the modern world—at least for businesses facing unwelcome litigation. As companies conduct more and more of their business digitally, the cost of defending a lawsuit is increasing, due in large part to the impact of electronic discovery obligations. Electronic discovery, or e-discovery, generally involves the identification, collection, . . . Read More

Title VII’s Protections Don’t Extend That Far—4th Circuit Says Review and Copying of Confidential Files Not Protected Activity

Catherine Netter, a 19-year employee of the Guilford County, N.C., Sheriff’s Office, believed a disciplinary sanction she received in 2014, which impeded her ability to be promoted, was motivated by discrimination. Netter, who is African-American and Muslim, felt that other similarly situated officers who were neither African-American nor Muslim had not been disciplined in a similar manner, so she filed complaints with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (“EEOC”) and the Guilford County Human Resources Department. So far, so good. But, . . . Read More

Recent Maryland Case Is a Reminder to Employers to Review the Language of Their Offer Letters, Employment Contracts, and Employee Manuals

The vast majority of states are at-will employment states, which means that an employer may terminate an employee for a good reason, a bad reason, or any reason at all, so long as the basis for termination does not violate a statute or public policy of the state. In Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and a number of other states, an employment relationship is strongly presumed to be at-will. Thus, even when the employee signed an employment contract, so . . . Read More

The Climb to Enforce Your Teaming Agreement in Virginia Has Gotten Steeper

A few years ago, we  wrote  about the likely effect of a case commonly called “Cyberlock” on teaming agreement enforceability in Virginia. Cyberlock Consulting, Inc. v. Info. Experts, Inc., 939 F. Supp. 2d 572, 580 (E.D. Va. 2013), aff’d, 549 F. App’x 211 (4th Cir. 2014). While decided in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Cyberlock looked to Virginia state court precedent for its conclusions on the enforceability of the teaming agreement at issue. As we noted at the time, the Cyberlock court . . . Read More