U.S. ex rel. Bishop v. Wells Fargo & Company

Case Updates

The Second Circuit in a per curiam opinion vacated the district court’s decision in favor of Wells Fargo and remanded for further proceedings. The Court concluded that the Second Circuit’s previous Mikes decision on certification theories of liability was no longer good law in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Escobar, and remanded for the district court to apply Escobar’s“rigorous” materiality standard in the first instance.

The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief urging the Second Circuit to reject relators’ invitation to overrule its precedent prohibiting False Claims Act (“FCA”) claims based on broad express certifications, which would allow relators to second-guess Federal Reserve regulatory decisions and would jeopardize the Federal Reserve’s ability to administer monetary and financial stability policy.

John P. Elwood and Ralph C. Mayrell of Vinson & Elkins LLP served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.