Insights

Washington – June 4, 2026: Crowell & Moring earned 92 individual rankings for 81 attorneys, as well as 48 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2026 guide. The Chambers guide ranks the country’s top law firms and lawyers through in-depth research, client interviews, and feedback from attorneys at peer firms. 

Washington – June 6, 2024: Crowell & Moring earned 78 rankings for 67 lawyers, as well as 41 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2024 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

On September 1, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit issued its long-anticipated decision in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates LLC, holding that the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act are constitutional because relators are not officers of the United States who occupy continuing positions established by law. The decision overturned the 2024 district court ruling that sparked a wave of constitutional challenges to qui tam suits and aligns the Eleventh Circuit with the Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits on the issue. The constitutional debate is far from over, however, as the decision is limited to the constitutionality under the Appointments Clause. The court remanded the case for further evaluation of the parties’ Take Care and Vesting Clause arguments. At the same time, similar constitutional arguments are pending in the Third Circuit, related to the largest-ever FCA judgment in a non-intervened case, and multiple Supreme Court justices have already signaled potential willingness to weigh in on the qui tam provisions’ constitutionality. Crowell's FCA attorneys explain these developments and what's next in a “Feature Comment” published in The Government Contractor.

In recent years, the U.S. federal government has taken significant interest in the cybersecurity compliance of its contractor base. In 2025 alone, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative recovered more than $50 million across nine False Claims Act (FCA) cybersecurity fraud settlements, and it has secured almost 20 settlements since its launch in October 2021. Because most defendants facing FCA liability for alleged cybersecurity noncompliance enter into pre-litigation settlements, the last court decision in a cybersecurity FCA case was in 2022. However, earlier this month, on September 2, 2026, in  United States ex rel. Pannek v. Archer Daniels Midland Co., No. 23-cv-15145, 2026 WL 2593317 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 2, 2026), Judge Sunil R. Harjani of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a motion to dismiss on materiality grounds and offered additional guidance on what a plaintiff must allege to adequately state an FCA cybersecurity claim.

On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Deloitte LLP and several of its subsidiaries agreed to pay, collectively, $21.5 million to resolve allegations that Deloitte violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by failing to comply with new anti-discrimination requirements incorporated into its federal contracts, by discriminating against employees and applicants on the basis of race and sex, and by allocating and seeking reimbursement for costs related to those practices under its federal government contracts. This resolution is the second of its kind under DOJ’s recently launched Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, following a similar settlement by IBM in April 2026.

Crowell & Moring is pleased to announce the launch of our Government Contracts Breakfast Series. All of the sessions will be held in Northern Virginia and focus on issues most important to government contractors. Our January session is described below. When performing government contracts, contractors frequently experience performance challenges such as delays; increased performance costs attributable to government action; costs resulting from government-initiated contract termination; and costs of remediating certain environmental pollution and toxic tort litigation. Each of these add time or additional expense for which the government may have a legal obligation to pay. Join us as we discuss the process of filings claims and REAs, including a discussion of formal and informal dispute resolution under government contracts. We will provide a CLE certificate of attendance and other materials to use in seeking continuing education credits. Registration begins at 8:00 am.

Crowell & Moring is pleased to announce the launch of our Government Contracts Breakfast Series. All of the sessions will be held in Northern Virginia and focus on issues most important to government contractors. Our second session is described below.

Government spending cuts will mean cuts to your bottom line.  In this time of budget sequestration and programmatic uncertainties, it is more important than ever for contractors to quickly recognize and effectively respond to potentially costly contract changes. Join us for a practical discussion as we guide participants through several types of constructive changes, addressing the critical role for front-line personnel in recognizing changes, methods to ensure notice requirements are met, maintenance of proper documentation, and the use of cross-disciplinary teams to ensure impacts are evaluated correctly.  We will examine the preparation of contract claims and requests for equitable adjustment, as well as techniques to preserve agency relationships while still protecting the company from unjust losses.

In this episode, Jason Crawford, Brian Tully McLaughlin, and Agustin Orozco explore the issues before the Supreme Court in two consolidated cases involving the False Claims Act. The hosts discuss the April 18 oral argument in Schutte/Proctor where the question before the Justices is whether a defendant’s subjective knowledge about whether its conduct was legal is relevant to whether it “knowingly” submitted false claims.

In this episode, hosts Michael Shaheen and Tully McLaughlin cover part one of a discussion about the Department of Justice’s authority to dismiss qui tam complaints brought by relators.  The podcast: (1) outlines the government’s authority under the statute and the caselaw; (2) discusses how the Department of Justice wields that authority; and (3) describes the false controversy between the Department and Senator Grassley on the scope of that authority. "Let's Talk FCA" is Crowell & Moring’s podcast covering the latest developments with the False Claims Act.

In this episode, host Mana Lombardo and partner Tully McLaughlin discuss the top FCA decisions and developments of 2020 and look ahead to what’s in store in 2021 and beyond. "Let's Talk FCA" is Crowell & Moring’s podcast covering the latest developments with the False Claims Act.