The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overturned its previous precedent regarding the False Claims Act's first-to-file rule. This decision comes amid criticism from Judge Danielle Forrest, who described the Ninth Circuit's practice of treating dicta as binding as 'a flamingo in a flock of finches.' The Ninth Circuit is the only federal appellate court in the U.S. that considers extraneous pronouncements in judicial opinions as binding precedent in subsequent cases. This en banc decision, issued yesterday, marks a significant shift in how the Ninth Circuit will handle such pronouncements moving forward. Alison Frankel reported on this development.