No Relator’s Share, No Relator’s Fee

In Conyers v. Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., the Fifth Circuit addressed whether a qui tam relator may recover attorneys’ fees under the False Claims Act when the Government intervenes, drops the relator’s original claims, and the relator receives no share of the settlement proceeds.

Applying the “rule of the last antecedent” to 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(1), the court affirmed the denial of the relator’s fee motion, holding that the statute’s reference, to “such person” who “shall also receive” reasonable expenses and attorney fees, refers to the person who received payment from the proceeds. The court thus condluded that “a relator may only recover attorney fees and costs if he received a relator’s share of the proceeds of the action or settlement.” This decision aligns the Fifth with similar holdings in the Sixth and First Circuits on this point. No. 25-20194 (May 7, 2026)