Government Not Immune To E-Discovery Costs
Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.16.07
In AAB Joint Venture v. United States (Feb. 28, 2007), the Court of Federal Claims held that Government email files stored on backup tapes were discoverable, even though producing them could cost "between $85,000 and $150,000 and take thirty days" -- because the government had a duty to preserve the evidence once plaintiff filed its request for equitable adjustment, and "the Court cannot relieve Defendant of its duty to produce those documents merely because Defendant has chosen a means to preserve the evidence which makes ultimate production of relevant documents expensive." But the Court declined to decide immediately whether the Government should bear the costs of restoring and producing all the responsive documents, instead ordering a "phased approach" in which (1) the government will restore one-quarter of the records at its own expense and (2) based on the content of those records, the Court will decide whether additional restorations are "likely to lead to relevant evidence and consequently who should bear the cost for additional restoration."
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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
