On June 21, 2022, the Supreme Court agreed to review a US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decision holding that the federal government’s ability to dismiss False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuits is controlled by Federal Rule...more
On February 1, 2022, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had recovered $5.6 billion from False Claims Act (FCA) Cases during fiscal year 2021. Each year, the DOJ publishes statistics about its...more
Earlier this summer, Ethan P. Davis, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) delivered remarks addressing DOJ’s top priorities for enforcement actions related...more
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided a case that created a new standard to assess requests by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss declined qui tam (whistleblower) suits under the False Claims Act...more
As has been emphasized with the disclosure of the “Granston Memo” in January 2018 and several cases since, the government may request dismissal of a qui tam action filed under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et...more
As previously discussed in a Law360 article by Jeffrey Belkin and Michael Mortorano, the DOJ’s Granston memo, dated January 10, 2018, “advised DOJ attorneys that, in tandem with their decisions to decline intervention in qui...more
As I wrote two weeks ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released its annual fiscal year statistics on False Claims Act (FCA) and fraud matters. The report shows Fiscal Year 2019 was another big year for the FCA, as...more
The False Claims Act (FCA) includes a provision that allows the government to file a motion to dismiss a whistleblower's qui tam lawsuit over the whistleblower's objection if the whistleblower "has been notified by the...more
Earlier this month, the United States Department of Justice issued a press release to announce recoveries of over $3 billion from False Claims Act cases in FY2019. In making the announcement, Assistant Attorney General Jody...more
The “Granston Memo” has proven to be a boon again in 2019 for False Claims Act (“FCA”) defendants. In a January 15, 2019 Sheppard Mullin FCA Defense Blog article, we highlighted a growing movement by the Department of Justice...more
The Department of Justice can move to dismiss a whistleblower’s claim under the False Claims Act without first holding an in-person hearing, the Third Circuit recently ruled in Chang v. Children’s Advocacy Center of Delaware,...more
The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently weighed in on a relator’s right to a hearing where the government moves to dismiss a declined qui tam case, holding that the False Claims Act (FCA) does not guarantee a...more
Just days after the twelfth anniversary of the Minnesota 35W bridge collapse, the Eighth Circuit summarily affirmed the dismissal of a False Claims Act case alleging that Minnesota government officials conspired to submit...more
On August 20, 2019, the United States exercised its authority under the False Claims Act (FCA) to seek dismissal of a relator’s qui tam suit because of the defendant’s burdensome discovery demands, in Polansky v. Executive...more
• Escobar doctrinally and conceptually transformed the FCA. • Relators and the government have developed strategies to neutralize Escobar. • Defendants must avoid certain new traps that could enhance their exposure to...more
In two recent decisions, federal district courts in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Southern District of Illinois, respectively, considered the Government’s motions to dismiss False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuits...more
Introduction - In this first installment of the Health Care Enforcement Quarterly Roundup for 2019, we continue to monitor trends we identified in 2018 and introduce new enforcement efforts that are expected to persist in...more
Since the beginning of the Trump administration, and particularly in the last six months, the U.S. Department of Justice has been exercising its authority to dismiss qui tam False Claims Act cases with increasing frequency....more
The Director of the Civil Fraud Section of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Michael Granston, issued a memo in January 2018 noting the recent increase in qui tam lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act (FCA). The Granston...more