On August 9, 2024, Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald of the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action against a producer of plant-based meat...more
On July 29, 2024, Judge Trina L. Thompson of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action brought by investors against a financial...more
The Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, abolishing the Chevron doctrine, provides the False Act Claims defense bar with a potent new weapon. Two critical elements of any FCA claim are...more
On June 17, 2024, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversing the dismissal of a putative class action asserting claims under the Securities...more
On May 31, 2024, Judge Julie S. Sneed of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action against an autonomous vehicle technology company (the...more
On May 16, 2024, Judge James L. Robart of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington granted a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action against a manufacturer of pop culture...more
On March 30, 2024, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California granted a motion to dismiss a putative class action against a biotechnology company that develops and sells skin treatment drugs and...more
On March 30, 2024, Judge Victoria Marie Calvert of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action against an optical retail company and...more
The False Claims Act (FCA) permits private individuals to bring lawsuits in the name of the United States—called qui tam—against those they believe have defrauded the federal government: 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b). The FCA thereby...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
On January 30, 2024, Judge Susan Illston of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted with leave to amend a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action against a battery company...more
On February 1, 2024, Judge Gerald J. Pappert of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action against an IT solutions company that...more
On July 21, 2023, Judge Lewis J. Liman of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a putative securities class action alleging that an...more
On July 10, 2023, Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota granted a motion to dismiss a putative securities fraud class action against a mattress and bedding company...more
On June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. reversing a pair of False Claims Act (FCA) cases on review from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In...more
On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court decided a pair of closely watched False Claims Act (FCA) cases, U.S. ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., No. 21-1326, and U.S. ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc., No. 22-111....more
On April 18, the Supreme Court heard oral argument and what has been billed as the most important False Claims Act (FCA) case in a decade. Since the FCA was enacted in the Civil War era, it has been the primary tool for the...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
Oral arguments are scheduled for April 18, 2023, in the Supreme Court case combining two Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals cases U.S. ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu, Inc. (“SuperValu”) and U.S. ex rel. Thomas Proctor v. Safeway,...more
On January 13, 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in a pair of consolidated cases from the Seventh Circuit that could result in one of the most consequential False Claims Act (FCA) decisions since the FCA was amended...more
The False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq. is the federal government’s primary and most effective tool for fighting fraud. This post provides an overview of the elements that plaintiffs must satisfy to establish...more
A California federal judge rejected Zoom Video Communications, Inc.’s motion to dismiss securities fraud claims against it, and its CEO and CFO, for misrepresenting Zoom’s privacy protections....more
On January 25, in United States ex rel. Sheldon v. Allergan, No. 20-2330 (4th Cir., Jan. 25, 2022), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a lower-court dismissal of a False Claims Act (FCA) case...more
Last week, the Third Circuit joined several other appellate courts in finding that medical opinions related to medical necessity of hospice services can be subject to scrutiny and found to be “false” for purposes of proving a...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled last week that whistleblower relators need not show “objective falsity” to prove their claims, and that a dispute among physician experts about a clinical...more