civil | Judiciary.org

“DOJ’s $2 Million Honeywell Settlement Under the Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative: What Compliance Failures Mean for Defense Contractors

Key Takeaways

DOJ used the FCA to settle with Honeywell Aerospace Inc. for $ 2,042,518 over allegations that a Honeywell business unit submitted claims for payment under a DoW contract while failing to comply with NIST SP 800-171 cybersecurity requirements incorporated through DFARS 252.204-7012, reinforcing that cybersecurity compliance failures can create significant FCA exposure for defense contractors.

The settlement arose from a 2022 qui tam whistleblower action filed by a former Honeywell employee, and DOJ reported a record

Supreme Court divided over disputed civil rights attorney’s fees

The justices on Tuesday were divided over a dispute regarding attorney’s fees for plaintiffs in civil rights cases. A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled that a group of drivers challenging a state motor vehicle law was entitled to reimbursement of their attorney’s fees because a federal district court had issued an order that temporarily barred the state from enforcing the law – and then the Virginia legislature repealed the law. During roughly 80 minutes of oral argument … Read the rest

Circuit Courts

Federal Judges Bring Civil Discourse Program to Law Students

Court proceedings put a premium on decorum and civil discourse, but the skills and dispositions that set the stage start long before the attorneys and parties enter the courtroom. That is why federal judges and attorneys collaborated with Duke Law School to bring the Judiciary’s Civil Discourse and Difficult Decisions program to law students for the first time.
Judiciary News – United States Courts… Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices consider civil rights tester’s right to sue

The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral argument in the case of a civil rights tester who searches the internet to find hotels whose websites do not provide information about the accessibility of their facilities, as required under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The owner of a Maine hotel argued that because the tester, Deborah Laufer, never intended to stay at the hotel, she does not have a legal right to bring a lawsuit. But after roughly 90 minutes … Read the rest