Chamber Litigation Blog

Jeffrey S. Bucholtz, Maggie Thomas, Jacqueline Van De Velde, King & Spalding LLP

This week’s top False Claims Act (FCA) developments include:  the first court of appeals decision squarely holding that monetary awards in declined qui tam cases qualify as fines imposed by the United States for purposes of the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause; DOJ’s dual criminal and civil pursuit of companies that allegedly defrauded American servicemembers; and a settlement highlighting DOJ’s broad net with respect to opioid-related enforcement efforts. 

Ethan P. Davis, William S. McClintock, and Mark J. Villapando, King & Spalding LLP

This week’s top False Claims Act (FCA) developments include: a Second Circuit decision holding that the FCA’s materiality requirement applies to expressly false and factually false claims; an FCA settlement resolving allegations that a construction contractor caused Vermont to submit false claims to the Federal Highway Administration; an FCA settlement related to home health services and alleged improper claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid; a resolution demonstrating the willingness of DOJ to take a “double-barreled” approach and pursue civil and criminal penalties against individuals for Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and Stark Law violations; and a district court decision dismissing an FCA case filed by DOJ after finding state medical drug coverage restrictions improper.

Jeffrey S. Bucholtz, Ethan P. Davis, Amy B. Boring, and Hamilton Craig, King & Spalding LLP

This week’s top False Claims Act (FCA) developments include:  another example of opioid-related FCA enforcement; continued FCA settlement activity involving allegations of kickbacks; the Department of Justice’s intervention in an FCA case alleging fraudulent price reporting against a company that supplies ingredients to compounding pharmacies; and a settlement of FCA allegations against the Archdiocese of New Orleans relating to alleged fraud against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Jason A. Levine, Gillian H. Clow, and Giles Judd

The top COVID-19 litigation developments since our last post are: lawsuits challenging the validity of President Biden’s new private-sector “vaccinate-or-test” mandate; a Texas court’s ruling overturning the Governor’s Executive Order that prohibited schools from enforcing mask mandates; a Texas court’s denial of a preliminary injunction against United Airlines’ vaccination mandate for employees; and the FTC’s contention, in a California case, that private companies cannot force the Commission to regulate Apple’s alleged efforts to keep a COVID-19 tracking app out of the App Store. 

Jason A. Levine, Ryan Martin-Patterson, & Stephen Tagert

The top COVID-19 litigation developments since our last post include: new EEOC guidance on religious exemptions to workplace vaccination requirements; OSHA citations against an employer for alleged workplace safety and reporting violations after an employee’s death from COVID-19; Second Circuit’s affirmance of a trial court’s refusal to enjoin New York City’s vaccination mandate for teachers; and a new lawsuit asserting that the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) prohibits collection of student loan debts that were temporarily suspended by the CARES Act.

Jason A. Levine, Gillian H. Clow, and Giles Judd, Alston & Bird LLP

The top COVID-19 litigation developments since our last post are: the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to enjoin New York City’s vaccine mandate for teachers; Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s ban on enforcement of vaccine mandates in the State of Texas; a Texas court’s temporary restraining order against United Airlines’ placing unvaccinated employees on unpaid medical leave; and the voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit against Target over allegedly misleading claims made in its advertising for hand sanitizer. 

By Stephanie Maloney

Earlier this year, the Federal Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules announced that it is considering a proposal that would require amicus briefs filed by trade associations to disclose all donors who contribute 10% or more of their annual revenues. 

To push back on this effort, the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center submitted  a letter to the Federal Advisory Committee discussing the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent Americans for Prosperity decision on the disclosure requirements and then responding to some of the arguments for why change is needed.   

Ethan P. Davis, Yelena Kotlarsky, and Evan Ennis, King & Spalding LLP

This week’s top False Claims Act developments include: DOJ’s continued emphasis on FCA cases involving Medicare Part C, DOJ’s expanding focus on telemedicine fraud, and a petition to the Seventh Circuit in an FCA case for rehearing en banc.

Paul B. Murphy, Amy Boring, and William S. McClintock, King & Spalding LLP

This week’s top False Claims Act (FCA) developments include: another FCA settlement involving Medicare Part C; entry of consent judgments over $15 million to resolve FCA and Controlled Substances Act (CSA) allegations; continued FCA enforcement against alleged CARES Act related fraud; and a Delaware court opinion requiring an insurer to advance costs for a FCA civil investigative demand (CID) defense.