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... Continue Reading →Tags: AKS, Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act, FCA, Fifth Circuit, Northern District of Georgia, qui tam, Southern District of Texas, Vaughn ex rel. v. United Biologics, Voluntary Dismissal with Prejudice, whistleblower
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 extension motions under seal.[1] Far too often courts simply grant the Government’s ex... Continue Reading →Tags: Champion Fitness, False Claims Act, FCA, Morgan, qui tam, seal, unseal
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... Continue Reading →Tags: False Claims Act, FCA, penalty, potential, qui tam
The public disclosure bar remains one of the most important tools for disposing of False Claims Act (“FCA”) claims. The Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in United States ex rel. Bellevue v. United Health Services of Hartgrove, Inc. clarified the effect of the 2010 amendments to the public disclosure bar and affirmed... Continue Reading →Tags: FCA, qui tam, Seventh Circuit, whistleblower
The Attorney General of the United States has an unreviewable veto power over qui tam settlements, according to the Fourth Circuit’s recent published decision in United States ex rel. Michaels v. Agape Senior Community.[1] In the same decision, the court declined to decide an issue raised by the relators over... Continue Reading →Tags: Agape, False Claims Act, Fourth Circuit, government, Michaels, qui tam, settlement, statistical sampling, statistics, veto
On May 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Kellog Brown & Root Service, Inv. et al. v. United States ex rel. Carter, 575 U.S. ____ (2015), Case No. 12-1497. Most of the commentary on the case centers around the Court’s decision on the Wartime Suspension... Continue Reading →Tags: bar, Brown, Carter, False Claims Act, FCA, first to file, Kellogg, original source, prejudice, public disclosure, qui tam, Root, settlement, whistleblower
Written by David B. Honig and Ritu Kaur Cooper. On February 3, 2015, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that disclosures to the public officials responsible for managing the subject of a False Claims Act lawsuit did not qualify as “public disclosures” for the purpose of the FCA’s public disclosure bar. US... Continue Reading →Tags: audit, Bank of Farmington, compliance, David B. Honig, False Claims Act, FCA, Graham County, original source, public disclosure, qui tam, Rita Kaur Cooper, self-disclosure, whistleblower
Leslie R. Caldwell, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, announced recently that all new qui tam complaints would be “shared by the Civil Division with the Criminal Division as soon as the cases are filed.” Fraud prosecutors will now review all qui tam complaints to determine whether to open a parallel criminal... Continue Reading →Tags: civil, criminal, Department of Justice, False Claims Act, qui tam
The Fifth Circuit rejected the government’s attempt to expand the FCA’s reach to include non-government funds overseen by a non-governmental entity simply because the government had the ability to exert a modicum of control over the entity.... Continue Reading →Tags: 12(b)(6), Fifth Circuit, government contractor, motion to dismiss, qui tam, Texas, whistleblower
Three new FCA cases of interest were reported in the last few weeks. One was discussed previously on FCADefense.com in Toumey Loses Stark/FCA Case Again by Drew Howk. Another, Ulysses, Inc. v. United States 1 is yet another example of the growing trend of failed FCA counter-claims by the Government in response... Continue Reading →Tags: False Claims Act, FCA, Fresenius, Keltner, Lakeshore Medical Clinic, qui tam, South Carolina, Toumey, ulysses, whistleblower