Global supplier of power coverage and storage technology—Successful defense on appeal following favorable settlement in qui tam related litigation

Successfully defended a favorable ruling on appeal before the Third Circuit on behalf of a global supplier of power coverage and storage technology. The underlying dispute derived from a qui tam suit filed under the False Claims Act claiming defective manufacturing of the backup power supply units to the United States ICBM Missile System. Initially, we conducted an internal investigation and, after a number of proffers to the government, successfully convinced the Department of Justice to close its criminal investigation of our client. The related civil qui tam action settled on the eve of trial for a small fraction of the $33 million demanded by the Relator. Under the False Claims Act, the settlement technically entitled the Relator to an award of “reasonable” attorneys’ fees. McCarter, however, challenged the amount claimed as excessive, and secured an order that nearly cut the requested fees in half.