Partner Matthew Benedetto and Associate Josh Schapiro, together with firm alumnus Sam McHale, authored “Escobar at Ten: A Decade of False Claims Act Confusion,” published in the September–October 2026 issue of The Journal of Federal Agency Action. The article examines how the US Supreme Court’s decision in Universal Health Services v. Escobar has reshaped False Claims Act litigation over the past decade and explores the continuing uncertainty surrounding the doctrines of falsity, materiality and scienter.
Excerpt: Ten years after Universal Health Services v. Escobar was decided, one of the Supreme Court’s most important recent False Claims Act (FCA) decisions continues to baffle litigants and courts alike. What was billed as a case that could have killed the implied false-certification theory of FCA liability did no such thing. Instead, the Supreme Court breathed a new but confounding life into the theory.
Partner Matthew Benedetto and Associate Josh Schapiro, together with firm alumnus Sam McHale, authored “Escobar at Ten: A Decade of False Claims Act Confusion,” published in the September–October 2...