Privacy issues are inherent in almost all facets of a business — from operations, employment, and technology to customer service, contracts, legal and compliance — all with varying degrees of risk. Most companies mitigate...more
8/27/2024
/ Business Litigation ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Law Enforcement ,
Personal Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Privacy Policy ,
Stored Communications Act ,
Subpoenas ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) ,
Verizon ,
Warrants
On June 28, 2024, SCOTUS overturned the long-standing Chevron doctrine in its decision Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce. The Court’s ruling will have a significant impact on...more
7/15/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Government Agencies ,
Healthcare ,
Hospice ,
Judicial Authority ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
MACs ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation
On Monday, June 17, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced settlements involving $11.3 million in payments for consulting companies failing to comply with cybersecurity requirements in federally funded contracts. The...more
6/21/2024
/ Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Investigations ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Settlement ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
In its traditional form, the advice of counsel defense can validate conduct that might otherwise be considered criminal. But invocation carries a steep cost: The defendant must waive his privilege with the lawyer who gave the...more
As we do every year, this issue revisits the key cases and other developments from the year gone by. And by most metrics, 2023 was a notable year for the False Claims Act (FCA).
We start with the numbers: The Department...more
2/28/2024
/ Causation ,
Damages ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Materiality ,
Objective Falsity ,
Penalties ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Retaliation ,
Scienter ,
Settlement ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Whistleblowers
Unfortunately, but as predicted earlier this year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has shown no signs of pausing use of the False Claims Act (FCA) as a tool to enforce cybersecurity compliance.
On September 5, 2023, DOJ...more
On August 25, 2023, the Third Circuit continued its trend of rulings unfavorable to FCA healthcare defendants in the latest appeal of U.S. ex rel. Druding et al. v. Care Alternatives et al., No. 22-1035, 2023 WL 5494333 (3d...more
9/18/2023
/ Appeals ,
Clerical Errors ,
Documentation ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Healthcare ,
Hospice ,
Medical Records ,
Medicare ,
Qui Tam ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Summary Judgment
Last week, the Sixth Circuit and Supreme Court issued opinions on criminal law that could affect trial and sentencing strategy for white collar defendants in regulated industries.
District court discretion does not...more
The government’s announcement of renewed emphasis on cybersecurity enforcement has spawned recent million-dollar enforcement actions. Continued government attention on cybersecurity promises a treacherous enforcement...more
On February 22, 2023 the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a new policy governing self-disclosure of corporate criminal wrongdoing to United States Attorney’s Offices (USAOs). The policy entitled “United States Attorney’s...more
In 2022, the False Claims Act (FCA) continued to be the federal government’s chief tool for combatting fraud. Many trends in recent years were likewise present in 2022: robust FCA enforcement generally, healthcare as the...more
E. False Claims Act: Materiality -
1. False Claims Amendments Act of 2021 (S.2428) -
• The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has approved for the Senate’s full consideration an amendment to the FCA that would...more
The year 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the Bradley False Claims Act Year in Review. In that decade, much has remained the same in FCA enforcement. To start with the obvious: It continues to result in billions of dollars...more
2/3/2022
/ Alternate Remedy ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
CARES Act ,
Causation ,
Class Action ,
Cybersecurity ,
Damages ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dismissals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Government Investigations ,
Healthcare ,
Local Coverage Determination (LCD) ,
Materiality ,
Overpayment ,
Pleading Standards ,
Public Disclosure Bar ,
Request for Equitable Adjustment ,
Scienter ,
Settlement
In a ruling that may portend a significant uptick in False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblower cases, last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed a 2018 decision that vacated Medicare's...more
Like many industries, the health care industry has become increasingly digitized and reliant on technology. Technology advancements also have had a major effect on enforcement. In his comments to the Federal Bar Association...more
As part of Bradley’s continuing coverage of the North Carolina Sandbox Act, we wanted to know what community members and NC fintech aficionados thought about this proposed legislation. We posed six questions to Tariq Bokhari,...more
8/4/2021
/ Banking Sector ,
Blockchain ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Insurance Industry ,
NGOs ,
North Carolina ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Stakeholder Engagement ,
Startups ,
State and Local Government
Technology is booming and financial technology (“fintech”) is advancing society in new and innovative ways. In 2021 alone, North Carolina has been the target for some very high-profile technology announcements, including...more
Technology is evolving and advancing at a dizzying pace across the globe. Emerging technologies are reimagining everything from how we interact with each other to how we interact with businesses and institutions. Given the...more
7/20/2021
/ Cybersecurity ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Innovation ,
North Carolina ,
Privacy Laws ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Provisional Waiver Applications ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
State and Local Government ,
Technology Sector
On March 18, 2021, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) announced three new research programs that are “designed to safeguard and protect the U.S. energy...more
7/19/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Energy Sector ,
Government Agencies ,
Pipelines ,
Transportation Security Administration ,
TSA
While more states push forward on new privacy legislation statutorily granting consumers the right to litigate control of their personal information, federal courts continue to ponder how data breach injury fits traditional...more
This year saw substantial activity in FCA settlements and litigated court cases. Although no single case or development dominated the discourse this year, several important court decisions were issued, including two that may...more
2/1/2021
/ Ambiguous ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Damages ,
Deficit Reduction ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Fee-Shifting ,
First-to-File ,
Fraud ,
Materiality ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Qualified Immunity ,
Reasonable Interpretations ,
Retaliation ,
Speaker Programs ,
Statute of Limitations
In the latest instance of courts interpreting the Supreme Court’s landmark False Claims Act ruling in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. Escobar, the Eleventh Circuit recently departed from the trend of giving great weight in...more
1/20/2021
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Appeals ,
Audits ,
Department of Veterans Affairs ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fees ,
Fraud ,
Qui Tam ,
SCOTUS ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar ,
Veterans
It’s 8 a.m., and you just learned that a material cyber-incident occurred in your organization. You fire up your Incident Response Plan. You engage outside counsel, and outside counsel engages a forensic firm. Your company,...more
Resolving a circuit split, the United States Supreme Court in Cochise Consultancy, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Hunt held that False Claims Act (FCA) whistleblowers are able to take advantage of an expanded statute of limitations,...more
5/17/2019
/ Appeals ,
Cause of Action Accrual ,
Cochise Consultancy Inc v United States ex rel Hunt ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Government Officials ,
Intervenors ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Oral Argument ,
Qui Tam ,
Reaffirmation ,
Relators ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Statute of Limitations
INTRODUCTION -
Unlike some recent years, 2018 was somewhat short on headline grabbing news related to the False Claims Act (FCA). There were, to be sure, significant developments in the courts and within the Department of...more
1/18/2019
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dismissals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Implied Certification Theory ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Retaliation ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar ,
Whistleblowers ,
Yates Memorandum