FCA Does Not Authorize In-House Counsel/Relator to Reveal Client Confidences
Client Alert | 1 min read | 11.18.13
In Fair Lab. Practices Assocs. v. Quest Diagnostics (Oct. 25, 2013), the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a qui tam suit that was brought by a general partnership formed for the purpose of bringing the suit because (1) the partnership included the defendant's former general counsel, and (2) the former general counsel violated his ethical obligations by divulging confidential client information in pursuit of the litigation, notwithstanding that a non-lawyer member of the partnership initiated the suit. While the Second Circuit did not create a bright-line rule barring all in-house lawyers from using client information in FCA cases, it did strike a balance between a lawyer's ethical obligations to the client and the government's competing interest in encouraging "whistleblowers" to report fraud, finding that the disclosure exceeded what was necessary to prevent the client from committing a crime.
Insights
Client Alert | 4 min read | 11.09.26
CMS Finalizes Its 2026 Organ Procurement Organization Rule
On November 3, 2026, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a follow-up to its 2020 final rule governing conditions of participation for organ procurement organizations (OPO). CMS’s final rule in 2020 set forth outcome measures for OPOs. The latest final rule further cements the new rating structure that will determine which of the 55 OPOs will be recertified at the end of the current cycle. The final rule largely tracks CMS’s proposed rule, which we discuss here, with the following notable exceptions:
Client Alert | 4 min read | 11.09.26
Pentagon Oversight: Defense Companies Should Prepare for the Next Congress
Client Alert | 7 min read | 11.05.26
2026 State Attorney General Elections: What Businesses Should Expect
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.05.26
Federal, State, and Local Regulators Sue Toast Over B2B Advertising and Subscriptions
