In this blog post, we will explore the knowledge element. Despite being a fraud statute, the FCA does not require specific intent to defraud the government to impose liability. Instead, the FCA defines culpable “knowing,”...more
On August 22, 2024, Judge Harvey Bartle III of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied a motion to compel defendants to provide information concerning the “subjective beliefs” of their...more
Last summer, I wrote a blog about why just compensation—which is based on the ‘objective’ standard of what a property would sell for on the open market—shortchanges residential property owners subjected to eminent domain. In...more
When we take on an eminent domain case, our primary goal is to put our client in the best position possible. In some cases, that means fighting the taking itself, as my dad (and boss) did in the well-known Wayne County v....more
n June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously settled a long-standing dispute over a subjective versus objective standard for scienter under the False Claims Act (FCA), holding that a defendant’s own subjective belief is...more
The Federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) allows private parties to bring lawsuits in the name of the federal government against defendants who allegedly “knowingly” present a false claim to the government for payment. The...more
The Supreme Court issued a number of headline-grabbing decisions this term on topics like religious accommodation, LGBTQ protections, and consideration of race in college admissions. These decisions are wide-reaching and...more
The United States Supreme Court has ruled in an 8-1 decision that the U.S. government has broad authority to dismiss whistleblower actions over the individual whistleblower’s objections so long as the government intervenes...more
Liability in False Claims Act (FCA) suits depends on whether a defendant subjectively believed its claims were false, not on whether it can offer an objectively reasonable basis for its claims, the U.S. Supreme Court has held...more
In a unanimous opinion, the United States Supreme Court (“Court”) recently held that the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) scienter requirement refers to a defendant’s knowledge and subjective beliefs, rather than what a...more
On June 1, the Supreme Court ruled that entities that submit false claims to the government can be liable if they subjectively believed the claims were false at the time of submission. ...more
On June 1, 2023, in United States ex rel. Schutte, the United States Supreme Court held that, to impose liability on an employer for “knowingly” submitting a false claim to the government for payment, it is sufficient for the...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
In one of the most highly-anticipated decisions of this term, on Thursday, June 1, 2023, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a contractor’s liability in False Claims Act (FCA) cases hinges on subjective intent — i.e.,...more
The Supreme Court recently issued a significant decision clarifying what it means to “knowingly” submit a false claim under the False Claims Act. At issue in United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. were allegations...more
The United States Supreme Court held on June 1 that the False Claims Act’s (FCA) scienter element requires analysis of the defendant’s subjective intent at the time of the alleged false claim, and that a defendant can be...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
In a unanimous decision Thrsday, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Thomas, ruled that the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) scienter element refers to a defendant’s knowledge and subjective beliefs — not to...more
Whistleblower claims of all types generally require proof of three elements; a complaint of conduct believed to be unlawful (protected activity), some form of discipline (an adverse action), and proof that the adverse action...more
On April 18, 2023, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in two consolidated cases that have the potential to upend False Claims Act (FCA) litigation. Oral argument on both sides and questioning from the...more
In what may lead to the biggest FCA opinion in recent history, the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month agreed to consider two cases addressing the necessary state of mind (i.e., “scienter”) to violate the FCA....more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed that in prosecuting cases against physicians under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), if the alleged physician demonstrates that his or her conduct is authorized per the CSA, the...more
Last week the Supreme Court ("the Court") released a decision holding that the Federal Controlled Substance Act (the "Act") provision that criminalizes the dispensing of a controlled substance “except as authorized” includes...more
On April 24, 2020, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit published its opinion in Wells Fargo & Co. v. United States, No. 17-3578, affirming a district court’s holdings that the taxpayer was not entitled to certain...more
The idea of something being a “Legal Fiction” is that it is treated as true for the purposes of the law, but it is not literally true. “A corporation is a person” is perhaps one of the best known of these legal fictions, and...more