GAO Report Reveals That DCAA’s Audit Backlog Continues
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.24.17
On September 28, the Government Accountability Office issued a report indicating that, while DCAA has reported a reduction in its audit backlog by half since 2011 through the use of a “risk-based” approach and multi-year audits, the agency did not meet its goal of eliminating the backlog by 2016. GAO also found that in fiscal year 2016, DCAA averaged 885 days to complete incurred cost audits from the date the ICS was deemed adequate by DCAA, including on average 138 days “to complete the actual audit work.” According to GAO, “staff availability [wa]s the primary factor for the delay before starting audit work.” The GAO Report explains that the 138 day average time for disposition of proposals included proposals that were closed without an audit, through the issuance of “low-risk memorandums” for low-risk incurred cost proposals not selected for audit. Because the average time for closing unaudited low risk proposals was about 72 days in 2016 and because it appears that nearly 2/3 of the audit backlog since 2012 has been closed with low-risk memorandums, the GAO report would support a conclusion that the average length of an audit for proposals that were actually audited may be substantially greater than 138 days.
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Client Alert | 5 min read | 12.12.25
Eleventh Circuit Hears Argument on False Claims Act Qui Tam Constitutionality
On the morning of December 12, 2025, the Eleventh Circuit heard argument in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, et al., No. 24-13581 (11th Cir. 2025). This case concerns the constitutionality of the False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam provisions and a groundbreaking September 2024 opinion in which the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held that the FCA’s qui tam provisions were unconstitutional under Article II. See United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Fla. Med. Assocs., LLC, 751 F. Supp. 3d 1293 (M.D. Fla. 2024). That decision, penned by District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, was the first success story for a legal theory that has been gaining steam ever since Justices Thomas, Barrett, and Kavanaugh indicated they would be willing to consider arguments about the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions in U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Exec. Health Res., 599 U.S. 419 (2023). In her opinion, Judge Mizelle held (1) qui tam relators are officers of the U.S. who must be appointed under the Appointments Clause; and (2) historical practice treating qui tam and similar relators as less than “officers” for constitutional purposes was not enough to save the qui tam provisions from the fundamental Article II infirmity the court identified. That ruling was appealed and, after full briefing, including by the government and a bevy of amici, the litigants stepped up to the plate this morning for oral argument.
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.11.25
Director Squires Revamps the Workings of the U.S. Patent Office
Client Alert | 8 min read | 12.10.25
Creativity You Can Use: CJEU Clarifies Copyright for Applied Art
Client Alert | 4 min read | 12.10.25
Federal Court Strikes Down Interior Order Suspending Wind Energy Development
