Search PillsburyLaw.com
  • All
  • Lawyers
  • Capabilities
  • Insights

Service

Government Contracts Investigations and Fraud

Contacts

Aaron S. Dyer
Partner, Los Angeles
T: +1.213.488.7321
Thomas C. Hill
Partner, Washington, DC
T: +1.202.663.8073
John E. Jensen
Partner, Northern Virginia
T: +1.703.770.7560
See All Professionals

Areas of Focus

We have a deep bench of experienced practitioners, including former prosecutors and executive agency lawyers, to assist clients in conducting privileged internal investigations, defending against civil False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuits (including qui tam actions brought by whistleblowers), making mandatory disclosures under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and conducting training and advising on the laws and regulations that ensure procurement integrity.

Contractors face risks throughout the life cycle of a government contract. Information contained in proposals must be current, accurate and complete. Representations made to contracting officers and other government officials during contract performance must be precise and accurate. Contractors need to exercise extreme care when they price contract adjustments and contract modifications. Likewise, contractors must ensure that they accurately record the quality assurance and testing data that they present to government representatives. And they must be meticulous in invoicing under applicable law and regulation.

A host of different types of government agents and investigators closely monitors each of these areas. If the investigators discover a mistake and believe that the company intentionally misled the government, the consequences can be severe. Contractors and their employees could be prosecuted criminally. The company could be sued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) or whistleblowers under the civil FCA. Contractors could be debarred from performing government contracts. Even the threat of such actions, or publicity about the possibility of action, could harm a company’s reputation and financial well-being immeasurably.

View More

When contractors face these issues, they turn to our practitioners to conduct skilled internal investigations to advise management of risks and possible paths forward. We regularly counsel our clients on whether allegations are sufficiently credible to warrant disclosure to the government under the Mandatory Disclosure Rule. We are experienced in defending against civil FCA lawsuits related to supply chain, cybersecurity, quality assurance, defective pricing and procurement fraud issues. We deal regularly with the DOJ, the United States Attorney’s offices, and agency Inspectors General. We also counsel our clients on issues related to illegal gifts, illegal gratuities, antitrust violations, kickbacks and trade secret misappropriation.

Representative Experience

  • Serve as lead counsel to Parsons Corporation in a civil FCA lawsuit filed against it and Cochise Corporation by former employee Billy Joe Hunt, which was the subject of a recent Supreme Court decision.
  • Represented a large publicly traded aerospace contractor in a major criminal and civil investigation carried out by the DOJ, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service related to allegations of fraud in contracts performed by a company acquired by the contractor.
  • Represented a large publicly traded aerospace contractor in a civil investigation carried out by the DOJ and various Department of Defense (DOD) agencies involving alleged supply chain non-compliances.

View More

  • Represented a large publicly traded information technology firm in a civil FCA settlement with the DOJ, and in a related Office of Inspector General investigation and a contractor disclosure, involving alleged violations of the Trade Agreements Act.
  • Represented a software company in a defective pricing contractor disclosure under a General Services Administration (GSA) schedule contract and resultant settlement with the Office of Inspector General and contracting officer.
  • Represented a Japanese trading company in connection with federal and California qui tam FCA cases involving the sale and distribution of allegedly defective bulletproof vests to state and local law enforcement agencies funded with federal dollars.
  • Represented a defense contractor in connection with a potential criminal, civil and ultimately administrative FCAfalse claims investigation concerning its sale of aerospace equipment to Department of Defense (DOD) agencies.
  • Represented a defense contractor in connection with a criminal, civil and ultimately unsuccessful effort by the Air Force to suspend and debar, based upon allegations of violations of the FCA.
  • Represented the manufacturer of the Hubble Space telescope in one of the earliest expansive uses of the FCA in an effort by the DOJ to transform contract disputes into FCA cases to gain the leverage of the threat of treble damages and the increased discovery opportunities of a Civil Investigative Demand.
  • Represented a consulting company in an investigation concerning allegations of false billings for work performed in Iraq and Afghanistan under contracts with the DOD.
  • Represented a major Fortune 100 company in connection with a criminal and civil FCA investigation relating to the company’s relationship with GSA.
  • Represented a DOD contractor in connection with an FCA investigation of allegations of violations of the federal bribery and gratuities statute.
  • Represented a major construction company in connection with allegations of false claims under the District of Columbia’s FCAalse Claims Act statute.
  • Represented a major IT company in connection with allegations that it had provided bribes and/or unlawful gratuities to DOD and DOJ officials in connection with the award of federal contracts.
  • Represented a major international transportation company against allegations brought by a whistleblower under the FCA alleging Amtrak had been sold defective environmental systems in connection with the Acela and Superliner train contracts. These claims were ultimately dismissed in a precedent-setting opinion by the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • Represented a manufacturer of office furniture in a lawsuit alleging violations of the federal FCA, as well as the corresponding FCAs in California, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, New York and North Carolina. The qui tam whistleblower alleged that over a period of several years, the company sold office furniture to non-government customers at prices below those given to the GSA, without notifying the GSA that it had done so, as allegedly required by the Price Reduction and Most Favored Customer clauses in the manufacturer’s contract with the GSA.
  • Represented a major government contractor in a qui tam FCA case involving allegations of mischarging by one of its subcontractors under DOD contracts.

Resources

2022 Law360 Practice Group of the Year

Pillsbury's Government Contracts team named Practice Group of the Year by Law360