Partner Douglas Baruch is quoted in a Law360 article on the potential effects of an inquiry by a US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit judge about whether district courts can hear False Claims Act (FCA) cases dealing with allegations of customs fraud. Douglas said larger plaintiffs that have more resources could try to establish jurisdiction in a district court outside the Ninth Circuit, even if the relevant imports came through a West Coast port.
"A lot of times, what we see in these customs-related FCA cases is the relators are competitors, domestic manufacturers of the same type of product," Douglas said.
"They can be anywhere in the country. I don't think there's any particular reason why this [case] wouldn't have nationwide impact."