In Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 136 S. Ct. 1989 (2016), the Supreme Court changed the landscape for False Claims Act litigation. The Court endorsed implied certification liability, but set a high bar for demonstrating the materiality of a violation of law, regulation, or contract to the government’s payment decision.
More than a year after the Escobar decision, lower courts continue to grapple with the case’s key holdings. It is essential that government contractors, practitioners, and other stakeholders keep abreast of how the courts are interpreting Escobar.
Starting today, Inside Government Contracts will be hosting Covington’s Escobar tracker, a listing of district and circuit court cases applying the Court’s implied certification and materiality rulings. Our tracker provides a brief summary of each case and its Escobar-related holding.
The Escobar tracker can be accessed here and will be hosted in the “Resources” section of the blog. We will be periodically updating the list with new cases. We hope you find the tracker useful.