Phillips & Cohen whistleblower attorney Stephen Hasegawa discusses the impact of what has become known as “the Granston memo” on qui tam whistleblower cases. The Department of Justice memo directs the government to more actively dismiss meritless claims by whistleblowers to conserve resources and avoid bad legal precedent.
The memorandum might also help plaintiffs given how defendants often try to use the government’s decision against intervening in false claims cases to suggest that the government thinks those cases are invalid, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Stephen Hasegawa of Phillips & Cohen LLP.
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So far, however, the Granston memorandum hasn’t made a noticeable difference in false claims litigation, Hasegawa said. ‘‘The memorandum is really the formalization of a practice that DOJ has always followed and that we have taken into account for a long time. If the department says a case is wrong on the merits and facts, and the agency hates the case and will give you bad testimony, you have to factor that into whether to pursue a case,’’ he said.
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