ABOUT:

About Dorsey’s FCA Now

The False Claims Act is the government’s principal tool for addressing fraud in contracting, healthcare, mortgage lending, and grant administration. FCA Now provides timely developments about the law, enforcement trends, and other insights from Dorsey’s proven FCA litigators.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Disclaimer

By accessing the FCA Now blog, you are requesting information. The information you are requesting is not legal advice, advertising or solicitation. Transmission and receipt of the materials on the blog do not constitute legal advice, establish an attorney-client relationship, or create any duty of Dorsey to any reader. An attorney-client relationship with Dorsey may be established only by an engagement letter signed by a Dorsey lawyer. Information sent to Dorsey by persons who are not clients of the firm is not subject to any duty of confidentiality on the part of the firm.

The information on the blog may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct or up-to-date, and may not reflect the most current legal developments. The opinions expressed on the blog are the opinions of the authors only and not those of Dorsey.

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.
Some of the content on this blog is considered Attorney Advertising under the applicable rules of certain states. Results depend on a number of factors unique to each matter. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

PRIVACY POLICY STATEMENT
The privacy policy statement is set out at Data Privacy | Dorsey.

Tagged: USSC

False Statement / Implied Certification

24 Feb, 2017

Supreme Court Applies Escobar to Reinstate Implied Certification Suit Against Bank Based on Compliance With Fed Rules

On Tuesday, February 21, 2017, the Supreme Court summarily vacated the judgment in Bishop v. Wells Fargo & Co. and remanded the case to the Second Circuit in light of the Court’s recent decision in Universal Health Servs. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, which recognized the implied certification liability theory in FCA suits. In Bishop, the plaintiffs originally brought FCA claims against Wells Fargo,...

Procedure / Seal

7 Dec, 2016

Supreme Court Concludes that Violation of FCA Seal Provision Does Not Necessarily Mandate Dismissal of Qui Tam Suits

The Supreme Court held yesterday that a violation of the False Claims Act’s seal provision does not mandate dismissal of a relator’s complaint.  Justice Kennedy authored the Court’s opinion in the unanimous 8-0 decision.  State Farm was accused of defrauding the government by falsely classifying wind damage caused by Hurricane Katrina as flood damage, which would allow State Farm’s costs to be covered by the...

Seal

23 Nov, 2016

Supreme Court Hears Argument About Violation of FCA Seal Provision

This month the Supreme Court heard oral argument in State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby, a case centered on allegations dating back to Hurricane Katrina.  The Fifth Circuit had previously upheld a jury verdict finding State Farm liable for $758,000 in damages based on a claim that State Farm defrauded the government.  Whistleblowers, including respondent Cori Rigsby, alleged that...

Healthcare / Implied Certification

30 Jun, 2016

Implied Certification, Escobar, and the Impact on Healthcare Providers

On June 16, 2016, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar upholding the “implied certification” theory of liability under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) but adopting a rigorous materiality standard for determining liability in such cases.  This case is a game changer.  For years, the government and plaintiffs have argued that the federal FCA...

Implied Certification

16 Jun, 2016

Supreme Court Upholds Implied Certification Theory of Liability; Imposes Limitations on its Reach

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court today charted a middle course between competing interpretations of the scope of False Claims Act.  Universal Health Servs., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, Case No. 15-7 (June 16, 2016).  The Court upheld the viability of the so-called “implied-certification” theory under the FCA, but simultaneously clarified the contours of the theory and imposed significant limitations on its...

False Statement / Procedure

9 Oct, 2015

Supreme Court Asked To Clarify Application of Rule 9(b) in FCA Cases

On September 21, 2015, counsel for AT&T, Inc., and other telecommunications providers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split over what relators asserting FCA claims must do to meet Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b)’s requirement of particularity. Pet. for a Writ of Cert., AT&T, Inc. v. United States of America ex rel. Heath, No. 15-363 (Sept. 21, 2015). Under the Universal...