Kingsfield · Research · Government Contracts

What is the liability standard for submitting a false claim to the government under the False Claims Act?

Published 2026-06-23 · U.S. federal law

The False Claims Act imposes civil liability on a person who knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment to the Government.

The answer

The liability standard

31 U.S.C. § 3729 makes a person who knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval liable for a civil penalty plus treble damages. "Knowingly" reaches actual knowledge, deliberate ignorance, and reckless disregard.

Damages and penalties

Liability under the statute is the sum of a civil penalty for each false claim plus three times the amount of damages the Government sustains. The penalty amounts are adjusted for inflation by regulation.

The judged input

What the AI drafted

Submitted to the judge

This is an excerpt from a draft FAR compliance advisory memo — the kind of work product a lawyer generates with a legal-AI drafting tool, then has to stand behind. Kingsfield does not write it; it rules on the citations the model put in it. This draft cites two authorities; one of them is wrong.

AI draft excerpt — FAR compliance advisory memo

We advise that the Company's progress-payment invoices for unperformed work create exposure under the civil false-claims regime. Under 31 U.S.C. § 3729, a person who knowingly presents a false or fraudulent claim for payment is liable for a civil penalty plus three times the Government's damages, where "knowingly" includes reckless disregard. The Company should also note that the substantive standard for what makes a person liable for presenting a false claim is set out in 31 U.S.C. § 3730.

The judge ruled on every citation as the draft used it — it accepted 31 U.S.C. § 3729 and rejected 31 U.S.C. § 3730. Here is why.

The verdict

How Kingsfield ruled

Ruled 2026-06-23

Each citation in the draft above was submitted to the Kingsfield judge and ruled against the primary-law corpus — Accept, Reject, or Inconclusive, per citation. These are live verdicts, not editorial. Each card shows the claim the draft made and the verbatim authority the verdict was rendered against.

Accept31 U.S.C. § 3729

The draft claimed: A person who knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval is liable to the Government for a civil penalty plus treble damages.

“§ 3729 Subject to paragraph (2), any person who—”

Cite found; proposition supported by the cited text.

Reject31 U.S.C. § 3730

The draft claimed: Section 3730 sets out the substantive standard for when a person is liable for knowingly presenting a false or fraudulent claim to the Government.

Cite found, but the cited text does not support the claim. 31 U.S.C. 3730 governs civil enforcement actions, including the procedure for qui tam suits brought by private relators and the Government's role; the substantive liability standard is at 31 U.S.C. 3729. Regenerate with the correct authority.

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This page is legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The draft shown is an illustration of a typical AI answer; verdicts reflect the cited authority in the Kingsfield corpus as of the ruling date shown above.