By: Jeffrey M. Haber On December 6, 2016, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a violation of the seal provisions of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) does not mandate dismissal of a relator’s complaint. In doing so, the Court affirmed the judgment of the Fifth Circuit, which, in turn, affirmed the judgment of the district court. In State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby (which this Blog wrote about here and here), whistleblowers, Cori and Kerri Rigsb

By Jeffrey M. Haber What are the seal provisions in a complaint? The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the conditions under which a federal court should dismiss lawsuits brought by whistleblowers who violate the law's non-disclosure requirements. In short, a complaint must be filed and remain under seal for sixty days. During this period, the government investigates the allegations and decides whether to intervene while the plaintiff is barred from publicly disclosing the suit.

By: Jeffrey M. Haber Catastrophic events often bring out the best in people. Sometimes, however, such events bring out the worst in people. The events that followed Hurricane Katrina stand as reminders of the latter, at least according to Cori and Kerri Rigsby, two sisters who filed a False Claims Act ("FCA") complaint against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. ("State Farm"), among others. The Rigsby sisters, two experienced claims adjusters, alleged that State Farm and other