MoFo Defends L3Harris in FCA Suit over Australian Navy Software Work

MoFo represented L3Harris Technologies—a leader in aerospace and defense products, systems, and services—in the successful defense of a False Claims Act suit by former employee, James Steuert, alleging L3Harris improperly billed the U.S. for software work performed for the Australian Navy. This is one of the few FCA cases that addresses and clarifies the standard for government contractors to avoid false claims liability when accounting for their Independent Research and Development costs. Those costs are a significant proportion of contractors’ expenditures and a frequent target for false claims allegations. The Complaint was dismissed on March 31, 2022.

The MoFo team was led by Washington, D.C.-based senior counsel W. Jay DeVecchio and Edward Jackson, and included associates Locke Bell and Victoria Dalcourt Angle, all members of the firm’s Government Contracts & Public Procurement practice.