Articles and Blogs

The Fifth Circuit ruled that a whistleblower’s voluntary dismissal with prejudice cannot affect the Government’s ability to pursue related litigation. When the Government has not yet intervened, and thus is not a yet a party, a case cannot be dismissed with prejudice as to the Government by a whistleblower. Background In Vaughn, ex rel.... READ MORE

The Eleventh Circuit recently held that a qui tam relator cannot intervene in criminal forfeiture proceedings when the Government chooses to criminally prosecute fraud rather than intervene in a qui tam action. In United States v. Couch,[1] a former employee (“Relator”) of a pain management clinic in Alabama tried to recover amounts she believed... READ MORE

The past several years have seen a trend of attorneys now taking on the role of relator as well as counsel. This raises a new question: how are relators who act as counsel to be rewarded? By the relator’s share? By attorneys’ fees? By both? That question was answered recently by the Illinois Supreme Court, interpreting... READ MORE

Most health care providers caring for federal health care program beneficiaries are familiar with the False Claims Act[1] (“FCA”) and its qui tam provision,[2] which grants private citizens the right to sue health care providers on behalf of the federal government. The seemingly routine 6+ figure FCA settlements garner much-deserved attention. After all, providers... READ MORE

On May 10, 2018, United States Senior District Judge for the Central District of Illinois, Joe Billy McDade, issued an order that should form the template for all courts asked to keep the government’s False Claims Act (“FCA”) extension motions under seal.¹ Far too often, courts simply grant the government’s ex parte motions without... READ MORE

On April 11, 2018, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals split from the Fourth and Tenth Circuits when it issued an order effectively granting relators in qui tam actions an additional three years to file. The court ruled that § 3731(b)(2)’s three-year limitation, which has traditionally only been applied when the United States is... READ MORE

In United States ex rel. Schneider v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, Nat’l Ass’n [1], the D.C. Circuit re-affirms its position that contingent penalties are not obligations under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). BACKGROUND In the initial suit[2], Relator brought a qui tam action under the FCA against mortgage loan servicer JPMorgan Chase (“Chase”), alleging, in... READ MORE

In an opinion loaded with linguistic hooks, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida recently reinforced the Supreme Court’s holding in Escobar, enthusiastically highlighting the importance of materiality and scienter in FCA cases. Background In U.S. ex rel. Ruckh v. Salus Rehabilitation, LLC, et al., Relators were successful in a... READ MORE

The Fifth Circuit recently addressed pre-suit disclosure and causation requirements for FCA theories of liability in United States ex rel. King v. Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc., 871 F.3d 318 (5th Cir. 2017). Two former employees (“Relators”) of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. filed a qui tam suit claiming that Solvay induced false Medicaid claims through a variety... READ MORE

On September 7, 2017, the Second Circuit realigned its stance on false certifications under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) in light of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 136 S.Ct. 1989, 195 L.Ed.2d 348 (2016). Background In the initial action, relators brought a qui tam action... READ MORE