01/05/2010 - Texas Government Contracts: New Year, New Rules
Seeking a state purchasing contract? You may now be required to register as a lobbyist. Some independent contractors who help vendors secure procurement contracts in Texas are now required to register with the Texas Ethics Commission. House Bill 3445, which the Texas Legislature passed last spring during the 81st Texas Legislative Session, established new guidelines for lobbying activities related to state procurement contracts.

07/13/2009 - Obama Administration Renews Support of Mandatory E-Verify Use for Federal Contractors
Reinforcing the federal government policy of only doing business with companies that have a legal workforce, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it supports a regulation that awards federal contracts only to those entities enrolled in E-Verify.

05/27/2009 - Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act Expands Liability Under the False Claims Act and Criminal Fraud Provisions
On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (“FERA”). This comprehensive legislation expands the reach of federal law and increases funding for federal agencies to combat financial fraud. The most dramatic changes affecting government contractors and organizations participating in federally-funded programs are found in FERA’s expansion of the False Claims Act (“FCA”).

04/23/2009 - False Claims Act: New Rules for Pleading?
In a case that will undoubtedly be embraced by relators, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently allowed a lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) to proceed even though the relator did not know certain details about the invoices he alleged were fraudulently submitted to the government. In United States ex rel. Grubbs v. Kanneganti, the Fifth Circuit reversed a district court’s decision to dismiss an FCA claim for failure to allege fraud in sufficient detail. Although relators will argue that the decision opens the door for many more FCA lawsuits to survive early dismissal, the decision does not signal—as relators hope—that courts are abandoning heightened scrutiny.

12/18/2008 - Siemens AG Concludes FCPA Investigations with Record-Setting Criminal Penalty
On Monday, December 15, 2008, Siemens AG entered comprehensive settlements in the United States and Germany related to charges of widespread bribery of foreign officials from 2001 through 2007. Siemens agreed to pay a record-setting $1.6 billion to resolve charges asserted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"). This alert digests this landmark case and provides observations relevant to companies' FCPA compliance efforts.

11/25/2008 - Ready or Not, Here They Come — The Government’s Game of Hide and Seek is Over
Nowhere it seems is corporate compliance getting more attention these days than in the Federal government contracts arena.

Government contractors are being barraged with regulations regarding business conduct, ethics and integrity, including rules mandating, among other things, the timely reporting of violations of law followed by full cooperation with government investigators. Haynes and Boone’s Government Contracts practice prepared the attached Alert to highlight recent changes (effective on December 12) to the Federal Acquisition Regulation in this area, several of which are likely to become controversial during the foreseeable future.

09/12/2008 - Criminal Prosecution of the FCPA
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") has provided the basis for an increasing number of criminal prosecutions during recent years. For example, The Department of Justice initiated more individual prosecutions on FCPA charges than in any other year since the FCPA was enacted, and twice as many as in 2006. The Department of Justice recently obtained a guilty plea in one of its highest profile FCPA cases in the history of the Act. While Albert "Jack" Stanley's plea has garnered significant media attention, significant events during the first two weeks of September in two other cases provide additional insight into FCPA criminal enforcement activity.  The attached alert discusses the developments in these three cases.

09/05/2008 - Recent SEC Action Reinforces Principles of Compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
This alert digests the Con-way case and highlights four principles of FCPA compliance that are reinforced by this SEC enforcement action.

08/13/2008 - Government Contracts News Alert: Heads-Up For Government Contractors
It’s a popular myth that an ostrich will bury its head in the sand when faced with an attack by predators. Under the Defense Department’s Voluntary Disclosure Program, defense contractors can opt to voluntarily report potential criminal or civil fraud matters identified through their self-governance efforts. Or they can leave their heads in the sand, at their peril of course.

06/27/2008 - Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”)
The United States government’s increase in enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) during the past five years has raised awareness of domestic and foreign corporations to the Act’s requirements. Still, violations continue to make headlines. The latest news came from Houston May 14, when an oil and gas services company agreed to pay $32 million in sanctions for FCPA violations in connection with international contracting activities.

07/12/2007 - When is a Convenience Termination of a Government Contract not a Termination?
The Federal Circuit, in an opinion written by Judge Rader and joined by Judges Lourie and Prost, has determined that a termination of a contract for the government’s convenience does not terminate obligations to perform warranty and software upgrade services under the contract. The Court of Federal Claims, in a well-reasoned opinion by Judge Miller, had determined otherwise.

09/24/2001 - The SBIR Program: Venture Capital That's Still Available