The United States Tax Court skillfully dodged answering the headline question with a holding on standing. The court decided, however, that IRS appeals officers and IRS appeals team managers are not officers of the United...more
The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act allow individuals to file suit on behalf of the United States and to receive a share of the resulting financial settlement or judgment. Filing a qui tam case is not just a formal...more
For over 160 years, the False Claims Act has let people bring claims on behalf of the U.S. government alleging fraud. In exchange, those individuals receive a portion of any recovery. In September, a federal district judge...more
A seismic shift in the world of False Claims Act (“FCA”) might have occurred recently in a Middle District of Florida courtroom. On September 30, 2024, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle issued her ruling in US ex rel Zafirov v....more
In a landmark decision, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, held that the False Claims Act’s (FCA) qui tam provision –...more
On Sept. 30, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida declared the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act unconstitutional. The Court, in United States Of America ex rel Clarissa Zafirov v....more
A tool long-favored by the plaintiffs' bar to extract big judgments and settlements from individuals and companies – the False Claims Act (FCA) – which allows individual whistleblowers to pursue alleged civil wrongdoers in...more
On September 30, 2024, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle held that the qui tam provision of the FCA violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution because False Claims Act (“FCA”) relators are acting as...more
In a first-of-its-kind ruling on 30 September 2024, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida held in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Med. Assocs., LLC that the qui tam...more
The federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) is the United States’ primary civil tool for prosecuting fraud against the government. It was enacted in 1863 during the Civil War and, from its inception, has included qui tam provisions...more
In an eye-opening decision, a judge in the Middle District of Florida held that the unique whistleblower, or “qui tam,” provision of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) violates the Appointments Clause of Article II of the...more
The Zafirov decision finds that the False Claims Act qui tam provision violates Article II of the US Constitution. On September 30, 2024, in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates LLC, Judge Kathryn...more
On September 30, 2024, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued an order in United States ex rel. Clarissa Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, holding that the...more
A federal court in Florida this week ruled that the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act (FCA) is unconstitutional under the Appointments Clause in Article II of the U.S. Constitution, creating an opportunity for a split...more
A valuable tool in filing whistleblower claims against companies related to government fraud took a potentially major hit this week when a federal judge in Florida ruled that a significant portion of the statutory scheme...more
On September 30, 2024, Judge Kathryn Mizelle of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed United States, ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC et al., a False Claims Act (FCA) case...more
On September 30, 2024, US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the Middle District of Florida held in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC that the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act...more
Last year, Justice Clarence Thomas’s dissent in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., 599 U.S. 419 (2023) (“Polansky”), resurrected an old debate about whether the False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam...more
In recent months, False Claims Act (FCA) defendants have increasingly sought to challenge the constitutionality of the statute’s qui tam provisions. This trend gained momentum following Justice Thomas’s dissent in United...more
This July, we detailed the Supreme Court’s surprising revival in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Exec. Health Resources, No. 21-1052 (S. Ct. June 16, 2023) of the question of whether the qui tam provisions of the False...more
A panel of the D.C. Circuit recently relied on Lucia and Cochran to enjoin a FINRA regulatory enforcement action pending appeal of an Appointments Clause challenge....more
Do the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA), see 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(1), violate the Executive Branch’s exclusive grant of authority under Article II of the United States Constitution? This long-dormant question...more
When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, it expanded the SEC’s power to use its in-house administrative forum to bring enforcement actions. Supporters said this change promoted investor protection by giving the SEC a more...more
Article II of the Constitution provides that the President “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and...more
Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., Appeal No. 2018-2140 (Fed. Cir., October 31, 2019) - Since the inception of inter partes review at the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB), there have been a number of...more