Qui Tam

SCOTUS Blog Selects Several False Claims Act Cases in "Petitions to Watch"

By Zachary A. Kitts

This week the renowned SCOTUS blog highlighted Petitions for Certiorari filed in several False Claims Act cases.  This is important for many reasons, not the least of which is that the folks at the SCOTUS blog have an uncanny ability to predict which petitions will be granted by the United States Supreme Court.  

SCOTUS, for those of you who may be wondering, is an acronym for Supreme Court of the United States.  I confess to having no idea where this acronym comes from, but I assume it comes from the same source as the acronym "POTUS" for President of the United States.  The SCOTUS blog was started by Supreme Court practitioner Tom Goldstein. 

In federal courts, certiorari is the writ that an appellate court issues to a lower court in order to review its judgment when there is no right to an appeal.  Any given petition faces incredible odds--of the more than 7,000 petitions that are filed in an average year, the Supreme Court will generally grant somewhere between 75 and 150.     

The SCOTUS blog has correctly predicted certiorari grants in the last three FCA-related Supreme Court cases.

The two cases highlighted this week are: 

Docket: 08-511
Title: U.S., ex rel. Feingold v. Palmetto Gov?t Benefits Adm?rs
Issue: Whether the Eleventh Circuit correctly decided that a provision granting immunity to Medicare carriers for any payment that is processed on behalf of the government barred a qui tam suit.

Full post as published by Virginia Qui Tam Law on January 07, 2009 (boomark / email).