New York-based litigation powerhouse Kasowitz Benson Torres can’t revive a whistleblower lawsuit that alleged a quartet of chemical manufacturers cheated the Environmental Protection Agency out of billions in fines, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit suggested that the firm had thrown a Hail Mary with its qui tam complaint against Dow Chemical Co., Bayer MaterialScience, BASF Corp. and Huntsman International, motivated by the prospect of multibillion-dollar whistleblower award.