The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama recently granted a motion to dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit against Williams & Connolly clients Patriarch Partners, MD Helicopters, and Lynn Tilton. The district court rejected the relators’ implied false certification arguments, finding that the provisions they cited – the Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct, and the Truth in Negotiations Act – were neither express prerequisites to payment nor material requirements under any of the five foreign military sales (FMS) contracts at issue, and thus could not support a cause of action under the False Claims Act. The court also rejected the government’s argument that it should reject the express condition approach adopted by the Second Circuit in the Mikes v. Straus line of cases.
Tilton, Patriarch Partners and MD Helicopters are represented by Williams & Connolly partners Chris Manning and Ed Reddington, and associates Alexis Lien, Kristin Shapiro and Tracey Fung.