By Mana Elihu Lombardo on Posted in Events,False Claims,Legal DevelopmentsAre we experiencing a shift towards a higher bar for pursuing False Claims Act Cases? Department of Justice guidelines may signal a new direction from the last two decades of DOJ FCA enforcement history through policies that reign in relators and articulate some boundaries for cases pursued by DOJ. Meanwhile, Escobar progeny continues to develop… Continue Reading
By Mana Elihu Lombardo, Brian Tully McLaughlin, Laura Cordova and Jason M. Crawford on Posted in False ClaimsOn December 21, 2017, the Department of Justice announced that it recovered more than $3.7 billion in settlements and judgments from civil False Claims Act (FCA) cases in Fiscal Year 2017. The FY 2017 figures reflect the government’s continued trend of annually amassing multi-billion dollar recoveries under the FCA. This recovery is the fourth largest… Continue Reading
By David B. Robbins on Posted in Legal DevelopmentsCrowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without. This latest edition is hosted by partner David Robbins and includes updates on GAO’s Whistleblower Protections Pilot Program, the latest from the… Continue Reading
By Peter J. Eyre and David B. Robbins on Posted in Legal DevelopmentsCrowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without, with the latest edition hosted by partners David Robbins and Peter Eyre and including updates on DOJ Fraud Section guidance, GSA OIG’s… Continue Reading
By Lorraine M. Campos and Sarah Bartle on Posted in Ethics & ComplianceOn February 8, 2017, the Department of Justice Fraud Section posted a new guidance document on its website entitled, “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” (“Compliance Guidance”). This Compliance Guidance, comprised of a number of topics and questions, comes a little over a year after the Fraud Section hired Hui Chen as its resident compliance expert. … Continue Reading
By Gail D. Zirkelbach, Jason M. Crawford, Mary Kate Healy and Stephanie Willis on Posted in False ClaimsOn February 14, the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion in United States ex rel. Michaels v. Agape Senior Cmty. Inc. addressing only the first of the two issues that the district court had certified for interlocutory appeal: (1) whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) possesses an unreviewable veto authority over proposed settlements and (2) whether… Continue Reading
By Mana Elihu Lombardo and Brian Tully McLaughlin on Posted in False ClaimsEffective August 1, the penalty range for violations under the civil False Claims Act nearly doubled, pursuant to a Department of Justice interim final rule published on June 30th. In a “Feature Comment” published in The Government Contractor, C&M attorneys analyze how the dramatic increase in FCA penalties impacts the landscape of litigation. The article… Continue Reading
By Steve McBrady, Peter J. Eyre, Alan W. H. Gourley, Shawn R. Johnson and Ryan C. Tisch on Posted in Legal DevelopmentsOn April 12, the DOJ and FTC issued a joint statement titled “Preserving Competition in the Defense Industry,” which reiterates the analytical framework for reviewing defense industry mergers and acquisitions set forth in the DOJ/FTC 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines, and emphasizes that the antitrust agencies will continue to give substantial weight to the DOD’s own internal assessment of such… Continue Reading
By Crowell & Moring on Posted in False ClaimsIn a series of posts (Part 1), I’m examining the Department of Justice’s annual Summary of False Claims Act cases and recoveries to see what these statistics might reveal about FCA enforcement trends. In the first post, we looked at the rising number of new FCA matters that were filed last year. But who gets… Continue Reading
By Crowell & Moring on Posted in False ClaimsLess than a week before most people departed for December holidays, the Department of Justice posted to its website its annual summary of False Claims Act matters and recoveries. Among other data points, the FY 2012 summary reports the number of new FCA “matters” that were filed or opened, both by qui tam relators and… Continue Reading
By Crowell & Moring on Posted in Suspension & DebarmentIn a June 2012 audit report, the Department of Justice Inspector General notes widespread problems with DOJ’s administration of two types of statutory debarments. The lengthy report, along with the responses from various DOJ divisions, highlight the continued attention being paid to suspension and debarment by federal agencies and the significant efforts being made to… Continue Reading
By Crowell & Moring on Posted in False ClaimsU.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently issued a DOJ-wide memorandum urging federal government attorneys to coordinate when conducting parallel civil, criminal, regulatory and administrative proceedings. Holder wrote that parallel criminal and civil investigations would deter future offenses and maintain program integrity, while also acting to “secure the full range of the government’s remedies (including incarceration,… Continue Reading
