HCBA Lawyer Magazine Vol. 29, No. 1 | Seite 40

fAlse ClAiMs And reAl deAdlines construction law section Chairs: J. Derek Kantaskas – Cotney Construction Law, LLP & Gregg E. Hutt – Trenam Law for the time being, the Hunt opinion will have a profound effect on future qui tam actions and a A private citizen’s ability to bring such lawsuits under recent case out of the Eleventh Circuit, US ex rel Hunt v. Cochise Consultancy, Inc., 887 F.3d 1081 (11th Cir. 2018), highlights a decades-long jurisdictional conflict surrounding the False Claims Act, while at the same time providing a great primer on the Act. The “False Claims Act,” 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-33, authorizes prosecution of individuals and companies who conspire to or commit fraud to receive federal funding. Section 3730 of the False Claims Act provides three distinct procedural mechanisms through which suit may be brought against an alleged violator: (1) the Attorney General may personally file the suit, (2) a private plaintiff (the “relator”) may bring a qui tam action in the name of the United States, also known as the “whistle - blower” provision, or (3) an individual suit may be brought by an employee whose employer has the false Claims Act. © Can Stock Photo / djedzura retaliated against him or her for helping the government in a False Claims Act investigation. Under the second scenario, the relator files a sealed lawsuit with the Attorney General, outlining the basis for the alleged violation. The Attorney General decides whether to “intervene” in the suit (and thus become the primary litigator) or to not intervene, which allows the relator to continue litigation as a “self- appointed private attorney general” without the resources of the Attorney General’s office. An action under the False Claims Act must be brought within the later of either six years after the date on which the violation was committed, or within three years after the date when facts arose such that the government official should have known about the violator, but in no event more than ten years after the date on which the violation was committed (“statute of repose”). In Hunt, the relator filed his claim more than six years after the alleged violations, but within three years of when he first informed the government of the facts giving rise to the claim. Thus, the issue was whether the three-year extension in § 3731(b)(2) applied to cases where the government has declined to intervene. Hunt, the former employee, brought the action seven years after discovering the scheme while working for the defense contractor in Iraq. After the Attorney General declined to intervene, Hunt continued litigation. The contractor moved to dismiss, arguing that the three-year statute of repose only applied where the Government intervened, Continued on page 39 2018-19 Construction section event dates: • september 20 ................ Cle luncheon • october 18 ...................... Cle luncheon • november 15 .................. Cle luncheon • december 13 .................... Holiday party 38 • January 24 ...................... Cle luncheon • february 27 ...................... Half-day Cle • March 21 ........................ Cle luncheon • April 18............................ Cle luncheon • May 16 ............................ Cle luncheon SEPT - OCT 2018 | HCBA LAWYER