Airport Public-Private Partnerships Taking Off?
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 02.29.12
The recently enacted FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 caps the budget for airport improvement funds through FY15, which likely will prompt airports to consider using public-private partnerships (P3s) for infrastructure improvements. Illustrative of this potential, earlier this month the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced it is continuing to explore a P3 to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain a new, $3.6 billion Central Terminal Building at LaGuardia Airport and has received "significant interest" from investors, airport construction and development companies, facility operations and management firms, and concession developers in response to an initial request for information.
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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
