D.C. Circuit Issues Opinion on First-To-File Bar
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in United States ex rel. Batiste v. SLM Corporation, Civil Action No. 10-7140 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 4, 2011) affirmed the dismissal of a relator’s complaint based on an application of the first-to-file bar of the FCA. The first-to-file rule provides that “no person other than the Government may intervene or bring a related action based on the facts underlying the pending action.” In so holding, the court also ruled, as a matter of first impression in the D.C. Circuit, that first-filed qui tam complaints need not satisfy the heightened pleading requirements for fraud in order to bar subsequent qui tam complaints. The United States did not intervene but supported the relator’s position as amicus curiae.
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