Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Matt Curley provided insight for a Law360 article outlining the oral arguments in U.S. ex rel. Michaels v. Agape Senior Community Inc. The case has been closely watched by False Claims Act practitioners after the Fourth Circuit agreed to consider an interlocutory appeal of the district court’s rulings on both the use of statistical sampling and the reviewability of the government’s consent to the settlement of FCA claims after the government declined to intervene in a qui tam action.
Based on his review of the oral arguments, Matt told Law360 that “[i]t seems unlikely that the Fourth Circuit will reach the issue of statistical sampling, which will be disappointing for defense counsel who have been looking for an appellate court to rein in relators and the government on that issue.”
The full article, “Big FCA Sampling Case Looks Like A Dud At 4th Circ.,” was published by Law360 on October 27, 2016, and is available online.