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With More to Come, DoD Expands Reach of Detection and Avoidance of Counterfeit Parts Requirements

Client Alert | 1 min read | 08.02.16

Today, DoD published a final rule further – but still only partially – implementing the FY12 DoD Authorization Act requirement (since amended) for detection and avoidance of counterfeit electronic parts by imposing on all contractors and subcontractors, including small businesses and suppliers of COTS products and commercial items, traceability obligations and procedures for identifying “contractor approved sources” when electronic parts are unavailable from the original manufacturer or other source identified in the new clause (DFARS 252.246-7008). The new clause also provides for specific procedures to be followed, including notifying DoD and performing authentication, inspection, and testing to industry standards when electrical parts are obtained from subcontractors that refuse flowdown of the clause or from sources other than those expressly authorized under the clause.

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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....

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