The Supreme Court’s decision in Wisconsin Bell v. United States ex rel. Todd Heath clarifies what constitutes a “claim” under the federal False Claims Act (FCA). ...more
A government contractor challenged a U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ("OFCCP") enforcement scheme in federal court as violating the United States Constitution. The contractor...more
In an eye-opening decision, a judge in the Middle District of Florida held that the unique whistleblower, or “qui tam,” provision of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) violates the Appointments Clause of Article II of the...more
In recent months, False Claims Act (FCA) defendants have increasingly sought to challenge the constitutionality of the statute’s qui tam provisions. This trend gained momentum following Justice Thomas’s dissent in United...more
At the end of its 2024 term, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down four decisions limiting the power of federal agencies. While none of those decisions involved a labor and employment agency, all of them could transform labor...more
In a much-watched case concerning the administrative state, on June 27, the Supreme Court decided in SEC v. Jarkesy that defendants facing a fraud suit by the SEC have a Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial in an Article...more
The Fifth Circuit's opinion creates a circuit split that raises the possibility of a Supreme Court review. On December 13, 2021, the Fifth Circuit issued an en banc opinion in Cochran v. U.S. Securities & Exchange...more
On November 29, the SEC did an about-face and admitted its ALJs are “inferior officers” (not merely employees) subject to the Constitution’s Article II appointment provisions. The Solicitor General’s brief on behalf of the...more
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Bandimere v. SEC, recently held that the SEC’s administrative law judges (ALJs) are “inferior officers” whose appointments violate the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution...more