What A Justice Gorsuch Might Portend For FCA Enforcement

On Jan. 31, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Judge Gorsuch has been described as an originalist with a judicial philosophy similar to that of Justice Antonin Scalia, whose vacancy in the court he has been nominated to fill. While Judge Gorsuch has participated in only a few appeals of False Claims Act cases, his views regarding the appropriateness of deference to agency interpretations (or lack thereof) suggest that companies and individuals subjected to False Claims Act litigation based on disputed interpretations of agency regulations may find a sympathetic ear.