Fixing The False Claims Act - The Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms

Originally published by The US Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform, October 2013

The US Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform yesterday released "Fixing the False Claims Act: The Case for Compliance-Focused Reforms," a white paper co-authored by WilmerHale Partners The full report can be found here.

The authors propose reforms that would encourage companies to establish rigorous compliance programs, certified by third-party auditors. Companies that maintain these "gold standard" compliance programs would be afforded the benefit of several FCA reforms:

1. establishing a graduated scale of damages depending on a company's degree of intent;
2. barring qui tam actions, with limited exceptions, in cases where the company previously disclosed substantially the same allegations to an appropriate governmental entity;