Judge Kenney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in Jonathan Meyer v ADS Clinics, LLC, No. 21-cv-5303, on February 10, 2026, rejected a most recent attempt to gut the qui tam provisions from the federal False Claims Act (FCA) based on the Appointments, Vesting and Take Care Clauses of Article II of the United States Constitution.
All of us were treated recently to the latest statistics from the Department of Justice for 2025. By all accounts it was a record year for both the Department of Justice and relators, over $6.8 billion in total recoveries, including some impressive resolutions obtained in non-intervened cases. By my count,
Takeaway: The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) continues to take customs fraud seriously. With the Department of Justice’s newly launched Trade Fraud Task Force, the government has signaled a zero-tolerance policy for customs evasion—particularly regarding Chinese goods. DOJ’s recent $54.4 million settlement with Ceratizit, the largest customs fraud settlement in False Claims Act history,
Late last month, the federal government announced a False Claims Act settlement with Summit BHC New Jersey, LLC, d/b/a Seabrook (“Seabrook”), a prominent New Jersey Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation facility. The joint settlement with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, in the amount of $19,751,762.69, covered claims submitted by Seabrook under the Medicaid program and Department of Veterans Affairs benefit programs.
On February 14, 2025, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) signaled some “love” for whistleblowers and the future of the CFTC’s whistleblower program when announcing that Brian Young had been appointed as a new enforcement director. Young, whose career included a stint as a federal prosecutor, had most recently been the CFTC’s whistleblower chief.
When I litigated False Claims Act (FCA) cases at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), it was common practice for settlements to require Corporate Integrity Agreements (CIAs) setting forth ongoing duties and responsibilities for corporate defendants entering a settlement with the DOJ. Sometimes, those CIAs included stipulated penalty provisions, which establish set penalty amounts for violations of the terms of the CIA.
Without Congressional action, the authority of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) will sunset on March 27, 2025. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When I investigated and litigated False Claims Act (FCA) cases at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over the last 10 years, I was often surprised by just how little I knew about the broad array of government agencies and the intricacies of how those agencies’ various programs work. Sometimes,
Years ago, few lawyers thought a False Claims Act Case was appropriate to be resolved by mediation. It was Attorney General Janet Reno who introduced mediation to this practice area in the late 1990’s. She was optimistic the mediation process could be adapted to this and other types of Federal government-initiated litigation.
Takeaways:
If you are aware of any person, corporation or entity that you think may be violating the Federal False Claims Act or a State False Claims Act, contact us today.