by Ben Vernia | August 26th, 2013
In an apparent first use of the Department of Justice’s new authority to veto motions to dismiss qui tam cases under the False Claims Act’s public disclosure bar, the government filed its notice of opposition in U.S. ex rel. Mazza v. Miami Dade County on June 6.
In a brief opinion on August 12 denying the defendants’ motions to dismiss on particularity, state immunity from suit, and public disclosure grounds, Senior District Judge William Hoeveler of the Southern District of Florida cited the government’s opposition as the basis for his ruling on the public disclosure motion.