What are the legal standards and other requirements for winning a False Claims Act case? How can I be sure that the “public disclosure and original source” laws do not bar my case?
The answer to this is be very careful and obtain qualified legal counsel early on in your process of determining whether to bring a qui tam action. Knowledgeable lawyers must carefully analyze the public disclosure law applicable in the federal courts in which a case is to be filed should there be any possibility that this jurisdictional bar could be later raised effectively. (See “What steps should be taken to prevent the “public disclosure” rules from thwarting a valid claim under the False Claims Act”) The public disclosure and original source bar has been interpreted by the courts to prohibit cases never intended by Congress to be affected by these “anti-parasite” provisions. Until the Congress amends the statute or the United State Supreme Court better interprets this area of the law, the public disclosure/original source rules will continue to cause good cases to be thrown out of court. In these circumstances, while the Government can prosecute the wrongdoers, if the Department o
