U.S. Supreme Court Finds Local Governmental Entities to be Persons Subject to Qui Tam Actions Under the False Claims Act

On March 10, 2003, in Cook County v. United States ex rel. Chandler, the United States Supreme Court found, for the first time, that local governmental entities are subject to qui tam actions under the Federal False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733. Prior to this decision, the courts had been split as to whether local governmental entities were covered under this part of the FCA.