New SCOTUS Opinion on the Federal False Claims Act
Today SCOTUS issued its opinion in United States ex rel Eisenstein v. City of New York, et al., holding that if the United States declines to intervene in a False Claims Act case initiated by a qui tam relator, the United States is not considered a "party" to the litigation for purposes of determining when a party must file its notice of appeal.
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4 and 28 U.S.C. § 2107 both provide that parties generally have 30 days in which to appeal lower court decisions. However, when the United States or a U.S. officer or agency is a party to the litigation, all parties have 60 days in which to appeal. Thus, the question arose whether a party had 30 or 60 days in which to note an appeal in a non-intervened qui tam case.
As readers of this blog are aware, questions regarding the government's status and role in non-intervened qui tam cases often become complex. There is no question that the United States remains the real party in interest in non-intervened cases. For example, the United States always has notice of every FCA case filed by a qui tam relator, and is always at least minimally involved in every such case. The United States will also receive at least 70% of the total recovery in any non-intervened FCA case.
Today's opinion confirms what FCA practitioners have known all along—the question of whether the government is a party to non-intervened FCA litigation has to be answered on a case-by-case basis.
Posted by Zachary Kitts at 6/8/2009 4:38 PM 
Categories: legal blogs, Litigation, Qui Tam practice in Virginia, False Claims Act
Tags: Qui Tam Litigation in Virginia Federal False Claims Act
Categories: legal blogs, Litigation, Qui Tam practice in Virginia, False Claims Act
Tags: Qui Tam Litigation in Virginia Federal False Claims Act
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