First to File Bar

Under the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) first-to-file bar, “no person other than the Government may intervene or bring a related action based on the facts underlying the pending action.”  But can a relator amend her complaint to add, remove, or substitute relators without violating the first-to-file bar?  Recently, the Third Circuit in In re Plavix

Two years ago, in Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter, the Supreme Court interpreted the “first-to-file” bar of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) in a manner that seemingly authorizes relators to pursue qui tam suits based upon the same allegations made in previously dismissed FCA actions.  On remand from the Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit recently issued an opinion in Carter in which it took a similarly text-based approach, but reached a different conclusion, holding that the FCA’s first-to-file bar should be interpreted in a manner that promotes finality and prevents copycat lawsuits.  These opinions demonstrate the importance of carefully assessing the FCA’s statutory text in litigation.
Continue Reading The FCA’s First-to-File Bar and The Enduring Importance of Textualism

United States ex rel. Hartpence v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc., No. 12-55396 (9th Cir. July 2015) is one of many recent decisions limiting a contractor’s ability to dismiss False Claims Act (“FCA”) lawsuits at an early stage of the litigation.  In Hartpence, the Ninth Circuit resurrected two FCA cases in one sweeping decision by interpreting the public disclosure and first-to-file bars in a relator-friendly manner that further erodes the protections contractors have against potentially parasitic FCA lawsuits filed after the government is aware of the alleged fraud.
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Narrows Application of the False Claims Act’s Public Disclosure and First to File Bars