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Fifth Circuit Breaks New Ground on Vicarious Liability Under the Anti-Kickback Act

Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.25.13

In U.S. ex rel. Vavra v. Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. (July 19, 2013), the Fifth Circuit addressed, as a matter of first impression, whether the double damages provision of the Anti-Kickback Act (AKA) can be applied to a corporate entity under a vicarious liability theory or whether doing so would render the single damages provision that applies to corporate entities whose "employees" violate the AKA superfluous. The Fifth Circuit held that the AKA does allow for vicarious liability when an employee is acting either within her scope of employment or under "apparent authority," as defined by the common law of agency.


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Client Alert | 4 min read | 11.18.25

DOJ Announces Major Enforcement Actions Targeting North Korean Remote IT Worker Schemes

On November 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a sweeping series of enforcement actions, including four guilty pleas and more than $15 million in civil forfeitures against the  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) for remote information technology (IT) worker schemes. These actions underscore the federal government’s escalating focus on the exposure of U.S. companies to North Korean IT worker infiltration, following a series of U.S. Government action against the DPRK....