On July 16, 2026, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the New Jersey False Claims Act’s (NJFCA) 2023 “Opposition Amendment”—which streamlined the state attorney general’s ability to oppose dismissal of NJFCA lawsuits otherwise precludable for being based on publicly disclosed “allegations or transactions”—applied retroactively to pending false claims suits since the amendment was a procedural change of immediate effect.

Quick Hits

• The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the 2023 Opposition Amendment, which permitted the state attorney general to more easily effectuate NJFCA lawsuits based on public disclosures, applied retroactively to pending cases.
• The court held that the Opposition Amendment was a procedural change that applied retroactively because it altered only how the state attorney general could overcome the NJFCA’s “public disclosure bar” (a doctrine that precludes actions by private persons based on publicly disclosed “allegations or transactions”) without affecting the defendants’ conduct.
• The decision revived a qui tam relator’s lawsuit regarding interest rates set by financial firms, highlighting an expanded capability for relators to bring claims even with secondhand information.

In a precedential ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the Opposition Amendment applied retroactively to a pending NJFCA case because it “did not alter any vested rights of the parties or the substance or scope of the NJFCA.” The amendment altered only the procedure...

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