The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 19, 2025, that it would use the False Claims Act (FCA) against institutions and contractors receiving federal funding that "knowingly" violate federal civil rights laws...more
A significant number of government contracts and grants have been terminated recently by federal agencies pursuant to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) "cost efficiency initiative" and review of "covered...more
5/8/2025
/ Contract Disputes ,
Contract Termination ,
Corporate Liability ,
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Grants ,
Fraud ,
Risk Management ,
Settlement ,
Trump Administration ,
Whistleblowers
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ or the Department) has published statistics on False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments for fiscal year (FY) 2024, a year in which the Department saw the highest number of qui tam...more
2/5/2025
/ Cybersecurity ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
PHI ,
Qui Tam ,
Whistleblowers
Whistleblower programs are the gifts that keep giving to enforcement agencies, driving a record number of cases, sanctions and awards across multiple agencies. In this ninth installment of Season's Readings, we revisit some...more
12/20/2024
/ Appointments Clause ,
Article II ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
FinCEN ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
Late last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its complaint-in-intervention in a qui tam lawsuit against the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), alleging that the university failed to meet certain...more
8/28/2024
/ Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DFARS ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Statements ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Implied Certification ,
Internal Controls ,
Invoices ,
NIST ,
Qui Tam ,
Security and Privacy Controls ,
Universities ,
US Air Force ,
Whistleblowers
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ or Department) has published statistics on False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments for fiscal year (FY) 2023, noting that this was the highest number of settlements and judgments...more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. ex rel. Polansky that the federal government has the authority to dismiss a False Claims Act (FCA) suit at any stage of litigation, even over a relator's objections, so long as the...more
6/26/2023
/ Article II ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Judicial Intervention ,
Lack of Authority ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Qui Tam ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Relators ,
SCOTUS ,
United States ex rel Polansky v Executive Health Resources Inc ,
Whistleblowers
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 1, 2023, unanimously settled a pivotal dispute over the subjective versus objective standard for scienter under the False Claims Act (FCA). In this case, U.S. ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc.,...more
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 18, 2023, heard oral arguments on a critical issue in False Claims Act (FCA) cases – the defendant's state of mind (i.e., scienter). The statute ascribes liability to anyone who "knowingly"...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Feb. 7, 2023, released its annual statistics for its civil False Claims Act (FCA) and fraud cases from the 2022 fiscal year (FY). Up front, we see the following key takeaways ...more
False Claims Act (FCA) cases, particularly in the government contracts space, often have several defendants; prime contractors, subcontractors, vendors and individuals are all common targets. In healthcare FCA cases, with...more
New Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco on October 28, 2021, previewed the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) enhanced stance on corporate crime. Monaco announced the formation of a Corporate Crime Advisory Group, which will...more
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) provides for billions of dollars in relief funds to healthcare providers responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In April 2020, the U.S. Department...more
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued a supplemental interim final rule regarding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to buttress its supplemental guidance issued on April 23, 2020. In these, SBA warned...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has a renewed focus on government contracting and, more specifically, anti-competitive behavior in federal procurement. As mentioned in a prior blog post, the DOJ's Antitrust Division...more
3/18/2020
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Authority ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Procurement Systems ,
Market Allocation Scheme ,
Price-Fixing ,
RICO ,
The Clayton Act
• The U.S. Supreme Court's much-anticipated decision in Cochise Consultancy, Inc. et al. v. United States ex rel. Hunt, issued on May 13, 2019, holds that whistleblowers have more time to bring their qui tam suits.
• The...more
5/14/2019
/ Appeals ,
Cochise Consultancy Inc v United States ex rel Hunt ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
First-to-File ,
Government Officials ,
Intervenors ,
Oral Argument ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Statute of Limitations
DOJ Releases Guidance on Cooperation Credit in False Claims Act Cases -
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released guidelines for evaluating self-disclosures and awarding cooperation credit in False Claims Act (FCA)...more
Companies facing liability under the False Claims Act (FCA) often desire early resolution with the Department of Justice (DOJ) through settlement. Hand in hand with the decision to settle comes the decision of whether or not...more
4/26/2019
/ Cooperation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Sentencing Guidelines ,
Fraud ,
Qui Tam ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Remedial Actions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Self-Policing ,
Self-Reporting
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case mentioned in our prior blog post, Cochise Consultancy v. United States, ex rel. Hunt, 887 F. 3d 1081 (11th Cir. 2018). The main question before the Supreme...more
3/28/2019
/ Appeals ,
Cochise Consultancy Inc v United States ex rel Hunt ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
First-to-File ,
Government Officials ,
Intervenors ,
Oral Argument ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Statute of Limitations
In December 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual statistics for its civil False Claims Act (FCA) and fraud cases from the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2018 (fiscal year 2018). The DOJ reports it...more
A recent dismissal of a qui tam action demonstrates there exists an affirmative approach for disposing of wasteful and meritless non-intervened qui tam claims without the time and expense of protracted litigation with...more
10/17/2018
/ Cooperative Agreements ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dismissals ,
Energy Sector ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Nuclear Power ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Research and Development
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced the creation of a Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud. Relevant to the contracting and healthcare community, the task force is designed to strengthen the...more
7/19/2018
/ Antitrust Division ,
Civil Liability ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Fraud ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Elder Abuse ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FBI ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Fraud ,
Fraudulent Procurement ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
HEAT ,
Investigations ,
Medicare Fraud Strike Force ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Tax Division ,
Tax Fraud ,
Trump Administration ,
Veterans
Most practitioners are aware that the statute of limitations under the False Claims Act (FCA) is six years after the date on which the violation is committed. 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b)(1). That is, unless the FCA’s tolling...more
5/2/2018
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dismissals ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
First-to-File ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Government Officials ,
OIG ,
Qui Tam ,
Real Party in Interest ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Tolling Provisions
• A key ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will block qui tam relators from bringing copycat False Claims Act suits.
• In United States ex rel. Max Bennett v. Biotronik, Inc., the Ninth Circuit held...more
There is a renewed focus on the government’s activities for purposes of the False Claims Act (FCA) materiality analysis and as demonstrated by a number of recently issued decisions, the roster of relevant government actors is...more