Attys Dish On Escobar's FCA Impact One Year Later

Peter Hutt II is quoted in a Law360 article evaluating how the Supreme Court's decision in Escobar has been applied over the last year. According to Hutt, "Escobar is such a powerful case because it establishes rules that align with common sense. As to 'implied certification,' courts are instructed to determine if defendants were lying to the government by telling half-truths. As to 'materiality,' courts are told to look to what happens in the real world and determine what obligations the government has actually treated as material to payment — not what it may have artificially labeled as material. Seizing these common-sense rules, numerous courts have dismissed FCA claims for lack of materiality based on evidence that the government knew of the alleged violations and nevertheless continued to make payments. Perhaps most importantly, many courts have dismissed cases on materiality grounds at the pleading stage, obviating the need for protracted discovery."