Claim Preparation Attorney's Fees Award Affirmed
Client Alert | 1 min read | 04.29.15
In SUFI Network Servs., Inc. v. U.S. (April 24, 2015), a C&M case, the Federal Circuit affirmed the award of attorney's fees to the contractor for claim preparation granted by the Court of Federal Claims, remanding the matter back to the CFC only to recalculate the starting point for interest and to add overhead and profit to the award. The court rejected the government's principal attacks, finding that SUFI was permitted to sue in the CFC after the CO had failed to issue a timely final decision on its claim, fees in this non-CDA case were foreseeable and recoverable as breach damages, and C&M's standard rates were reasonable, while finding merit in SUFI's cross-appeal requesting overhead and profit as part of the breach damages available under the common law.
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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
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