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UPMC, et al. v. United States, ex rel. J. William Bookwalter, III, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 18-1693 · judgment December 20, 2019

Certiorari denied · April 27, 2020

Pre-decision estimate: 7% cert probability (95% interval 4%–11%)

Before the decision, about 1.6× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Third Circuit decision below, a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and a petition filed soon after the judgment below.

Question presented

The False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(A), imposes treble damages and a per-claim civil penalty on any person who “knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim” seeking payment from the United States. The question presented is: Whether a plaintiff plausibly alleges scienter—that a defendant knowingly submitted false claims—when the plaintiff does not allege any facts to suggest the defendant had knowledge that it was in violation of an ambiguous regulatory provision. (i)

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Jessica Lynn Ellsworth
Hogan Lovells US, LLP

For respondent
G, Mark Simpson
Simpson Law Firm, LLC

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Proceedings

Apr 27 2020
Petition DENIED.
Apr 13 2020
Brief amici curiae of American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Federation of American Hospitals, Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, and New Jersey Hospital Association filed. (Distributed)
Apr 08 2020
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/24/2020.
Apr 01 2020
Waiver of right of respondent United States, ex rel. J. William Bookwalter, III, M.D., et al. to respond filed.
Mar 19 2020
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 20, 2020)