Key takeaways

• The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently released a memorandum outlining the circumstances under which DOJ may petition the court for early dismissal of actions brought by private relators under the False Claims Act.
• The circumstances outlined in the memorandum include cases that are meritless, interfere with other governmental interests or unnecessarily burden governmental resources.
• In appropriate cases, defense counsel may be able to use the memorandum as a basis for a submission to DOJ explaining why DOJ should end a case brought by a relator against their clients or to convince DOJ to enter into a favorable settlement.