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Scott Roybal

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Scott Roybal is a partner in the Governmental Practice. He served as the group leader for more than 13 years.

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Contrary to some expectations, the Trump Administration Department of Justice imposed record penalties under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act from 2017 through 2020. But in each of those years, fewer and fewer new FCPA investigations were initiated. We expect the Biden Administration to continue the trend of increasing FCPA enforcement settlement values, while also increasing the pace of initiating new FCPA investigations. Anticorruption matters present some of the most severe threats to a company’s organizational integrity. Understanding the changing enforcement culture is an important component to addressing those threats.
Continue Reading The Next Four Years of FCPA Enforcement: What to Expect From the Biden Administration

On remand from the Supreme Court’s Escobar decision, the First Circuit holds that Universal Health Services’ (UHS) alleged failure to adequately staff its facilities in compliance with Massachusetts health care regulations is sufficiently material to survive UHS’s motion to dismiss.  The decision is not a complete surprise, but is nevertheless noteworthy because it reflects the First Circuit’s treatment of the matter following one of the most important Supreme Court FCA decisions in recent history.
Continue Reading First Circuit on Escobar Remand: Relators’ Allegations of Regulatory Violations Sufficiently Material to State a Claim Under the FCA

We previously reported on the viability of the “implied certification” theory of FCA liability based on oral argument before the Supreme Court in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Escobar.  We concluded that the theory—under which a claim for payment can be false without an express certification, but because the government contractor has not complied with an applicable statute, regulation, or contractual provision—did not appear to be headed for extinction.  It turns out we were right.
Continue Reading FCA’s “Implied Certification” Theory Survives

Yesterday’s argument before the Supreme Court in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Escobar had the potential to put false claims based on an “implied certification” in the crosshairs. Instead, based on the weight of questioning by a plurality of justices, it appears that some form of implied certification theory may survive. (We previously reported on this case, here.)
Continue Reading Did the FCA’s “Implied Certification” Theory Dodge a Bullet?