On March 30, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that opened the door for abusive lawsuits by plaintiffs’ attorneys under the federal False Claims Act (FCA). The Court held that when an individual takes it upon himself to file a suit alleging fraud against the federal government, the suit is barred under most circumstances if the facts underlying the alleged fraud have already been publicly disclosed–unless the individual was an “original source” of those facts. The decision was a victory for WLF, which filed two briefs with the Court–one urging that it agree to hear the case and the second urging that the appeals court decision be reversed. WLF’s victory may be short-lived, however, in light of amendments to the FCA recently adopted by Congress in connection with health care reform. While the Court’s decision will apply to all pending FCA cases, the FCA amendments have cut back considerably on the FCA’s “public disclosure” bar as applied to future cases.