The Development: On August 1, 2024, the Department of Justice's ("DOJ") Criminal Division announced its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program ("Pilot Program"), designed to reward whistleblowers who report information...more
8/20/2024
/ CFTC ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Money Laundering ,
Pilot Programs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
On April 22, 2024, the U.S. government issued a final rule ("Rule") to restructure and update the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR") to implement a requirement for agencies to procure sustainable products and services to...more
5/7/2024
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Counsel ,
ENERGY STAR Program ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
Goods or Services ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Sustainability
Qui tam relators and the U.S. Department of Justice continue to expand usage of the False Claims Act....more
3/4/2024
/ Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Life Sciences ,
Qui Tam ,
Settlement ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
The False Claims Act's ("FCA") use of qui tam relators (private individuals bringing suit on behalf of the government) has long raised both procedural and substantive challenges....more
The U.S. Supreme Court clarified the standard for a defendant's state of mind in False Claims Act ("FCA") cases, holding that a defendant acts "knowingly"—which the FCA defines also to include deliberate ignorance and...more
In Short: -
The Situation: The United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") recently issued statistics and a related press release regarding its fiscal year ("FY") 2022 enforcement activity under the False Claims Act...more
In response to pressure from Congress, OFCCP has extended the deadline for contractors to object to disclosure of EEO-1 reports and opened the door for new objections....more
DOJ recovers a record $5.6 billion from FCA cases in 2021, the largest annual total since 2014. -
The United States Department of Justice Civil Division ("DOJ") recently announced a recovery of more than $5.6 billion in...more
2/23/2022
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Qui Tam
In July 2021, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill, S. 2428, entitled the False Claims Amendments Act of 2021 ("S. 2428"), which proposed substantive and procedural amendments to the False Claims Act ("FCA")....more
11/2/2021
/ Burden of Proof ,
Burden-Shifting ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Materiality ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Qui Tam ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Relators ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
The U.S. Department of Justice announces an initiative targeting cybersecurity-related fraud by government contractors and grant recipients.
On October 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") announced a new Civil...more
A recent action by the Department of Justice ("DOJ") rescinds two prior policies (commonly referred to as the Brand Memo and the Sessions Memo) that had established limits on the federal government's use of agency guidance...more
The Biden administration's newly proposed rule would increase Buy American Act requirements and impose new reporting obligations. On July 30, 2021, the Biden administration issued a proposed rule to amend the Federal...more
The Situation: On January 25, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order titled "Ensuring the Future is Made in All of America by All of America's Workers" ("Made in America EO" or "EO"). The Made in America EO...more
The Situation: Manufacturers of allergenic extracts that are injected into a patient must obtain a Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") approved license in order to ensure their products are safe for consumption. Until the...more
The Situation: A new line of qui tam cases predicated on alleged human trafficking violations has begun to emerge.
The Result: Potential exposure to qui tam claims heightens the risk of allegations of human trafficking...more
The Situation: Challenges to the scope of an agency's corrective action are notoriously hard to win at the U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") because of the high level of deference normally afforded to agencies in...more
The Situation: The U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") recently sustained a bid protest concluding that a company was ineligible for award because of "key personnel unavailability." Although the employee remained...more
The Situation: The Supreme Court's ruling in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Escobar, 136 S. Ct. 1989 (2016), opened the door to more materiality defenses under the False Claims Act ("FCA"), but without making...more
3/4/2020
/ Defense Strategies ,
Deficit Reduction ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Implied Certification Theory ,
False-Certification of Conformance ,
Materiality ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physician Medicare Reimbursements ,
Relators ,
Summary Judgment ,
Universal Health Services Inc v United States ex rel Escobar
The Situation: The Interagency Suspension and Debarment Committee ("ISDC") recently issued its annual report on government suspension and debarment activity to Congress for fiscal year 2018.
The Result: The report shows a...more
The Situation: The U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") recently released its annual Bid Protest Report.
The Result: The report contains a wealth of information about bid protests, including statistics and...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") launched the Procurement Collusion Strike Force ("PCSF") to detect, investigate, and prosecute antitrust crimes in government procurement, grant, and program funding, at all...more
The Situation: The U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") dismissed a protest challenging a contractor's exclusion from the competitive range based upon the contractor's failure to diligently pursue a debriefing....more
The Situation: In U.S. ex rel. Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP v. BASF Corporation, the relator alleged reverse false claims liability under the False Claims Act ("FCA") for the defendants' purported failure to comply with...more
The U.S. Department of Justice seeks to use the potential for a reduced penalty amount and damages to encourage self-disclosure of misconduct and cooperation during FCA investigations.
On May 7, 2019, the U.S. Department...more
5/15/2019
/ Compliance ,
Cooperation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Investigations ,
New Guidance ,
Qui Tam ,
Remedial Actions ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Voluntary Disclosure
The Situation: False Claims Act ("FCA") cases are high-risk matters, given their potential to result in "company-busting judgments."
The Strategy: The high stakes require defendants and their counsel to treat the budget...more