The U.S. Supreme Court recently resolved a circuit split by holding that, in a False Claims Act action, (1) the government may seek dismissal of a qui tam case in which the government initially declined to intervene over the relator’s objection so long as it later intervened in the litigation, and (2) district courts should apply Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a), which says the government has broad latitude to seek dismissal.
Read on for details about this decision, which questions the constitutionality of the FCA’s qui tam provision permitting a private citizen to litigate a case on behalf of the United States.