By Douglas Baruch, John Boese and Jennifer Wollenberg ( April 25, 2018, 9:56 AM EDT) -- In the majority of False Claims Act cases, the statute of limitations is clear: Suit must be brought within six years of the FCA violation pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b)(1). In a minority of cases, however, the alternative limitations period of 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b)(2) — which can extend the limitations period to as long as 10 years from the violation — is invoked. Until now, two of the three circuit courts to have reached the issue, along with the majority of lower courts, have held that the extended limitations period in Section 3731(b)(2) is available only where the government is a direct party to the FCA suit. With its decision in United States ex rel. Hunt v. Cochise Consultancy Inc.,[1] the Eleventh Circuit has balanced the circuit court split by finding that relators can take advantage of the limitations period in Section 3731(b)(2), even in qui tam cases in which the government declines to intervene. We discuss the case and its implications below....