Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout Outs

Runners-up honors also go to a separate Golden Flag team representing Honeywell International Inc. in a long-running False Claims Act case where the company had been facing about $35 million in potential damages stemming from allegedly faulty bulletproof vests supplied to government agencies. The D.C. Circuit this week agreed that any damages Honeywell owes if found liable should be reduced by the tally from settlements the government previously reached with other companies, adopting the so-called pro tanto rule for the apportionment of settlement offsets under the FCA. “We recognize that in cases such as this where the government has already recouped its full damages from settling parties, a non-settling party like Honeywell will escape paying damages under the pro tanto rule,” wrote Judge Naomi Rao. “Nevertheless, consistent with the FCA, the pro tanto rule leaves the government in the driver’s seat to pursue and punish false claims according to its priorities.” The Golden Flag team was led by Craig Primis, who argued the appeal for Honeywell, and partners Katherine Katz and Holly Trogdon, and included litigation associate Kate Epstein. Former Golden Flag associate James Xi, who is now at Clement & Murphy, was on the briefs for Honeywell alongside Primis.