False Claims / Whistleblower Law

CPM is one of the most successful and well-respected whistleblower law firms in the country. CPM represents individuals who have been retaliated against by their employers for raising ethical or legal concerns, and individuals who want to report corporate fraud that results in the waste of taxpayer money.

The primary law CPM uses to assist whistleblowers is the federal False Claims Act. Congress passed the False Claims Act during the Civil War, when scams against the Union Army ran rampant, including opportunists who sold sick mules and spoiled food to troops. Because of its origin, the False Claims Act is still often referred to today as “Lincoln’s Law.”

The False Claims Act cases CPM handles are as varied as the thousands of ways in which taxpayer dollars are spent. There is not a single industry in the United States in which the government does not pay money to private companies for goods or services. In healthcare, the Medicare and Medicaid programs make up almost half of all payments to doctors, hospitals, and other providers of medical services and goods. In the defense industry, hundreds of billions of dollars of government money are paid to private contractors every year, both domestically and overseas. But government spending spreads far beyond healthcare and defense.

The government spends billions of dollars every year on everything from toilet paper and hand soap, to computers, extension cords and software, and everything in between. The government also supports many industries through subsidies, loans (student loans, for example), and guarantees (of many home mortgages, for example).

Taxpayer money is, quite literally, everywhere. And anywhere there is government money, there are companies and individuals willing to cheat, lie, and cut corners to unfairly get a greater share of that money.

Through the False Claims Act and related laws, CPM has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for taxpayers, and significant rewards for its clients.

Noteworthy Cases

News

Events

Blog Posts

Our blog, Advocates for Justice, includes frequent entries related to the False Claims Act and other whistleblower-related topics.  

For information about protections for whistleblowers who have been wrongfully terminated or are being mistreated in the workplace for raising legal or ethical concerns, please review our Whistleblower Protection page.

The California Insurance Fraud Prevention Act (IFPA) is a unique law that allows individuals to blow the whistle on fraud being perpetrated against private insurance companies. For more information, visit our IFPA page here.

Disclaimer: These FAQs provide a general overview of the area for those who think they may have fraud to uncover. These areas of law are, of course, highly complicated, and this page is not designed to provide legal advice of any kind. If you have questions about your rights, obligations, or potential legal claims, you should contact an attorney as promptly as possible as there may be statutes of limitation or other deadlines that could impact your ability to bring a claim.

Am I a Whistleblower?

Generally speaking, a whistleblower is someone who reports or exposes fraud, corruption, or other illegal or unethical conduct. The term, however, has come to bear heavy connotations and controversy, and can mean many different things depending on the setting. In the setting of the American legal system, whistleblowing and whistleblowers come into play in two general ways:

1. Various laws protect whistleblowers from being retaliated against by their employers in certain circumstances. If you believe you have been retaliated against, or are at risk for retaliation, for raising ethical or legal concerns in the workplace, you may be entitled to whistleblower protections. 
2. Various laws provide rewards to whistleblowers for helping the government recover money when it has been defrauded. If you have non-public information regarding fraud or overcharges being perpetrated against the government, you may have a whistleblower case.

What is a "qui tam" case?

Unlike most laws, where only the party directly harmed can bring a lawsuit, a "qui tam" provision allows a whistleblower to bring a case on behalf of the government entity that has actually suffered the monetary loss. The whistleblower need not have suffered any harm at all; they only need non-public information regarding false or fraudulent conduct to bring a case—and potentially receive a share of the proceeds for doing so. 

Who qualifies to bring a qui tam case? And what is a "Relator"?

There is a common misperception that only current or former employees of a company engaged in fraud can serve as whistleblowers under the False Claims Act. To the contrary, virtually anyone with non-public information regarding a company or individual that is ripping off the government can bring a case as a whistleblower under the False Claims Act.

Under the False Claims Act, the whistleblower bringing the case is referred to as the “qui tam plaintiff,” or “relator” (relator, not realtor; if you speak to an attorney who claims to know about this area, and they say “realtor,” you should consult another attorney).

While certainly current and former employees are the most common type of relator, many False Claims Act cases are brought by competitors of a company that is breaking the law, private investigators, and in some cases, government employees themselves. (There are restrictions on certain types of government employees from serving as relators, and attorneys for a companies engaged in fraud are usually precluded from being relators due to the attorney-client privilege.)

How is a qui tam case commenced?

A case under the False Claims Act begins by working with an attorney (not a requirement, but a very good idea), who drafts a legal document (the “complaint”) that initiates the case. The complaint must describe the fraud in a fair amount of detail, and ideally contains specific examples of the fraud.

The complaint is then filed “under seal.” This means that, unlike normal lawsuits, which are publically available once filed, qui tam lawsuits are filed in a separate area of the courthouse, and neither the public, nor the defendants, are notified of the lawsuit or allowed to obtain a copy of it. Only the government attorneys are provided copies of the lawsuit.

On the same day the complaint is filed, the relator must provide the appropriate government attorneys a copy of the complaint, along with all pertinent information, documents, and other evidence that the relator has.

What happens after a qui tam case is filed?

Within two or three months of initiating the case, the government team will typically interview the whistleblower (the “relator interview”). The relator interview usually lasts a half or full day, and may involve multiple government attorneys, agency investigators, and law enforcement (FBI agents, for example). From the government’s perspective, the purposes of the relator interview are primarily to measure the credibility of the relator, hear about the fraud in the relator’s own words, and gather additional facts that may not have already been provided. From the perspective of the relator and the relator’s attorney, the goals of the relator interview should be to establish the credibility of the relator, demonstrate that the relator and relator’s counsel will be a helpful partner to the government in its investigation or litigation of the case, and generally continue to persuade the government that the case has merit, involves significant fraud (measured either by dollar amount or principle), and will be easy to prove.

After the relator interview, the government will continue its investigation. This may involve requesting documents from the company through a subpoena or “civil investigative demand.” The government may also interview former employees of the company who have knowledge of the fraud (including people identified by the relator). The government may then reach out to the company’s lawyers, present the government’s concerns, and ask for the defendant’s reaction.

How long does the government's investigation take?

Every case is different, but government investigations into qui tam cases generally last several years. During this investigative process, the case remains under seal, and the relator’s identity is protected from the public (though once under investigation, companies often guess that there is a qui tam lawsuit involved). The government may or may not seek significant input from the relator and relator’s attorneys during the investigation. In some cases, relator’s counsel is involved heavily, for example, in reviewing documents produced by the company to the government (which can number in the hundreds of thousands). Generally speaking, however, the role of relators during the investigative period is limited, and because the investigations can drag out, this period requires a tremendous amount of patience.

What happens when the government is finished with its investigation?

Once the government has completed its investigation—or the judge cuts the government investigation off—typically one of three things happens:

1. The government decides not to get involved in the case. This is known as a “declination.” The reasons for declination can vary, but typically it is because the case is too small for the government, or there is some aspect of the case that the government thinks will be difficult to prove. The government has limited resources to pursue these cases, so a declination does not mean that a case does not have merit. If the government declines, the relator can continue to pursue the case on behalf of the government. The case is unsealed, and litigation proceeds.
2. The government decides to pursue the case. This is known as “intervention.” When the government intervenes, the case is then unsealed, and the government takes the lead role in prosecuting the case. The relator remains a party to the lawsuit, and can participate in the litigation, but the government attorneys call the shots. A good relator’s attorney will have developed relationships with the government attorneys. Good relationships allow the relator and relator’s counsel to better influence the course of the litigation, and ensure the best outcome possible.
3. The government enters settlement discussions with the defendant. Often, settlement agreements are entered into while the case remains under seal. Many companies do not want the negative publicity associated with a False Claims Act case, and therefore are motivated to pay money to settle the case before it comes out from under seal. When such settlements are reached, the case is only unsealed after the settlement is announced. All settlements with the government under the FCA—and the identity of the whistleblower(s)—eventually become public.