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Fourth Circuit Interprets Corporate Knowledge And Materiality Under FCA

Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.08.04

In United States ex rel. Harrison v. Westinghouse Savannah River Co. (Dec. 19, 2003), the Fourth Circuit upheld a civil penalty of $195,000 ($7500 times 26 invoices) because the false cert "negatively affected the integrity of the bidding process," although zero actual damages were proven. The court held that (a) the False Claims Act's "knowledge" element was satisfied when one employee of the corporate defendant had knowledge of the facts making the corporation's certification false, even though there was no evidence that the same employee knew that the cert was required or even that it had been submitted; and (b) the false cert (that no organizational conflict of interest (OCI) existed in connection with a subcontract award) was "material" because it would have "had a natural tendency to influence" the government's decision to fund the subcontract "if it had known the full details" at the time of award, even though the government in fact concluded that no OCI existed when it subsequently learned of the issue and continued to pay for the subcontract work thereafter.

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Client Alert | 6 min read | 07.17.25

Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI Models Published: Compliance Just Got Clearer (Participation Still Optional)

On 11 July 2025, the European Commission published the final version of its Code of Practice for General-Purpose Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). This Code is meant to serve as a tool for GPAI model providers, helping them to comply with the transparency, copyright and security provisions governing general-purpose AI models as set out in the AI Act (arts. 53 and 55), which will become applicable on 2 August 2025. Adherence to the Code is on a voluntary basis....