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Contractor Must Actually Receive Final Decision To Start The Clock

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 05.20.05

The Federal Circuit in Riley & Ephriam Constr. Co. (May 18, 2005) emphasized that the Contract Disputes Act requires actual delivery of the final decision to the contractor or its designated agent before the time to file an appeal at the board or a case in the Court of Federal Claims starts to run. In this case, the Federal Circuit rejected as "receipt" by the contractor both delivery to a P.O. box and a fax transmission sheet to the contractor's attorney when receipt of the fax was denied and the CO did not follow up to confirm receipt personally.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 04.14.26

DOJ’s False Claims Act Resolution Against IBM Signals Heightened Risk for Federal Contractors with DEI Programs

On Friday, April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has agreed to pay just over $17 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by failing to comply with federal anti-discrimination requirements incorporated into its federal contracts due to allegedly discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employment practices. This resolution marks the first FCA settlement secured by the DOJ under its Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, created in May 2025, and announced by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of the administration’s coordinated efforts to target allegedly unlawful DEI practices. Per the agreement, the settlement is neither an admission of liability by IBM nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded....