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Ninth Circuit Narrows Qualifications for Being Qui Tam "Original Source"

Client Alert | 1 min read | 11.04.14

The Ninth Circuit, in Malhotra v. Steinberg (Oct. 29, 2014), held that, despite tipping off the government as to one kind of wrongdoing by the defendant, the FCA relators were not the "original source" of a different alleged act of wrongdoing perpetrated by the same defendant, a bankruptcy trustee. The relators independently discovered and alerted federal authorities to defendant trustee's scheme to sell property at a price lower than fair market value, but because that federal investigation led to the public disclosure of the defendant's receipt of kickbacks from those sales, the court held that the relators were not the original source of the kickback allegation which formed the basis of their qui tam action.


Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 05.01.26

Federal Court Blocks Trump Administration Policies Restricting Wind and Solar Permitting

A coalition of regional clean energy trade associations — including RENEW Northeast, Alliance for Clean Energy New York, Southern Renewable Energy Association, and Interwest Energy Alliance — along with the Green Energy Consumers Alliance (GECA), filed suit in December 2025 against the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Army Corps of Engineers. The complaint alleged that five agency actions, issued in response to a series of executive orders and presidential memoranda beginning on January 20, 2025, violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by arbitrarily halting or restricting federal permitting for wind and solar energy projects. Plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction to halt enforcement of these policies while the litigation proceeds. See Renew Northeast, et al. v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, et al., No. 25-cv-13961-DJC,  (D. Mass. Apr. 21, 2026) ECF Dkt. 89....