On December 6, 2016, the Supreme Court upheld a decision by the Fifth Circuit turning a blind eye to plaintiffs’ repeated and flagrant violations of the False Claims Act’s (FCA) mandatory seal provision. Although it was undisputed that the relators here deliberately violated the FCA’s mandatory seal provision by informing news organizations and a Member of Congress about the existence and nature of their qui tam suit while it was still under seal, the Supreme Court nonetheless affirmed the lower court’s refusal to dismiss plaintiffs’ suit for those egregious violations. The decision marked a setback for WLF. In its brief WLF contended that the appeals court’s ruling contradicts the plain language and structure of the FCA, which makes the seal requirement a mandatory prerequisite to filing and maintaining the suit, and creates perverse incentives for other relators in other qui tam cases to disregard the seal. WLF’s amicus brief was joined by the Allied Educational Foundation.