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"Collective Knowledge" Rejected

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 12.07.10

In U.S. v. Science Applications Int'l Corp., the D.C. Circuit concluded that the government cannot use "collective knowledge" jury instructions to prove that a corporation violated the False Claims Act because it would allow FCA liability without the level of knowledge required by the statute – i.e., that the corporation's employees acted in deliberate ignorance or reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of its claims. A collective knowledge instruction improperly allows the government "to prove scienter by piecing together scraps of innocent knowledge held by various corporate officials."

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Client Alert | 4 min read | 09.12.25

SBA’s OHA Further Defines Extraordinary Action in SDVOSB Appeal

On September 4, 2025, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) granted an appeal challenging SBA’s determination that a service-disabled veteran did not control an entity applying for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) status based on a minority owner’s ability to block certain actions in the matter of VSBC Appeal of: Blue Skye Foods, LLC, SBA No. VSBC-442-A....