The Court will decide whether the government can dismiss qui tam actions after initially declining to intervene and what standard courts should apply to the government’s dismissal request.

• The Supreme Court agreed to consider both issues when it granted certiorari in United States, ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc.

• The Supreme Court’s answers to those questions may have far reaching consequences for: 1) how the government investigates relator’s claims; 2) how relators prosecute their claims; and 3) the settlement considerations for qui tam defendants.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari to hear a case that will determine if and when the U.S. government can dismiss qui tam suits under the False Claims Act (FCA) after initially declining to take over the action. The FCA has long been a significant revenue generator for the government, in part due to claims filed by whistleblowers, referred to as relators. Most of these cases involve government contractors. See, e.g., July 7, 2022, Client Alert discussing $9 million FCA settlement by Aerojet Rocketdyne. In fiscal year 2021, the Department of Justice reported settlements and judgments from FCA cases totaling more than $5.6 billion, of which $1.6 billion was from qui tam actions. Of that $1.6 billion, relators were entitled to between 15% and 30%, totaling approximately $237 million.

Given the financial stakes, it is no surprise that the issue of which party is authorized to control these...

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