Fifth Circuit Gives Relator A Crash Course In Issue Preclusion

The Fifth Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a qui tam action accusing Rolls-Royce of submitting false claims to the U.S. Air Force for defective aviation equipment because the relator had previously participated in not one, but two prior lawsuits involving the same facts. The only difference in the third case was that the relator switched out the defendants. The court held that the case, United States ex rel. Gage v. Rolls Royce North America, Inc., was "the perfect candidate for issue preclusion"—a doctrine that prevents a plaintiff from taking multiple bites at the judicial apple by re-litigating the same factual assertions against different defendants "in a piecemeal fashion."