Sometimes a client will learn that it is a named defendant in an unsealed qui tam complaint with which it has not yet been served. A court may have ordered the complaint unsealed months ago after a government declination. The client may wonder how long the relator has to serve the complaint before the case is dismissible.
The takeaway from Siemens is that Rule 4(m)’s 90-day service period applies if the court directs service of the complaint, but may not otherwise. Of course, FCA defendants have little control over the terms of unsealing orders as they usually will not be aware of a complaint until after unsealing. But if service is ordered as part of the unsealing, defendants served after the 90-day period could have viable dismissal motions.
Source:
