Representing Whistleblowers Nationwide and Abroad
Our whistleblower attorneys represent individuals in pursuing claims under the federal and state False Claims Acts, the IRS Whistleblower Program, and the newer SEC Whistleblower and CFTC Whistleblower Programs. We have been at the forefront of each of these major whistleblower programs.
The False Claims Act became meaningful only when Congress amended it in 1986. In 1988, only two years later, our lawyers began handling False Claims Act cases. The False Claims Act (FCA) is our country’s major “whistleblower” law to battle fraud. It allows private citizens to expose fraud against taxpayers by bringing “qui tam” cases, and to share in the government’s recovery of money damages.
Our whistleblower lawyers are experienced both in prosecuting and defending False Claims Act cases. We now focus on representing whistleblowers (“relators”) across the United States in cases under the FCA and the various state False Claims Acts. Our cases are filed in courts from coast to coast.
We have also helped legislators draft state versions of the False Claims Act, such as Georgia’s 2012 Taxpayer Protection False Claims Act.
In the new IRS Whistleblower Program for tax whistleblowers, we were one of the earliest law firms to pursue claims for clients who exposed tax fraud, tax evasion, and other tax violations. We have submitted for our clients IRS whistleblower claims totaling many billions of dollars. The IRS Whistleblower Office staff has commented that, if our firm submits a claim, it must be substantial.
Many of our tax whistleblower cases concern extremely complex offshore and other international transactions. We present these cases with a team of experienced former IRS criminal and civil agents, forensic accountants, and tax lawyers with international and U.S. tax expertise.
Our clients benefit from our experience as former federal prosecutors who have also defended criminal tax cases. We develop fully for the IRS the factual and legal basis supporting our client’s claims. We also suggest to the IRS a unique investigative plan for each of our claims.
We also work closely with the IRS Whistleblower Office in planning and speaking at conferences to educate other attorneys about the best practices in pursuing these tax informant claims. For example, we joined members of the IRS Whistleblower Office staff to explain various issues that arise in representing tax whistleblowers at the prestigious Heckerling Institute in 2012.
We are committed to expanding the number and variety of significant tax whistleblower cases presented, because we believe that helping close the “tax gap” by collecting taxes already owed is essential.
Congress consulted us as it wrote the law creating the new SEC and CFTC Whistleblower Programs, the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Based on our background in representing whistleblowers, the Senate Banking Committee staff sought our input after reading about problems we saw in the original version of Dodd-Frank.
We pointed out that the original Dodd-Frank bill failed to include essential elements of any whistleblower program, including an enforceable right to a whistleblower reward, and a meaningful percentage of the funds recovered. The final Dodd-Frank law incorporated the changes we suggested, which will benefit not only our clients but others under these programs.
In 2011, as the SEC debated its draft rules, we met with the SEC Commissioners and senior SEC enforcement staff to discuss important problems in the rules. Likewise, in 2011 we sat down with the Chair of the CFTC and senior CFTC staff to advocate important changes needed in he CFTC rules. The final version of the SEC and CFTC rules are consistent with the principles we urged.
We now represent clients in the SEC and CFTC Whistleblower Programs. These SEC cases include bribery of foreign government officials and related violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which is an increasingly important area in federal enforcement.
Our whistleblower attorneys have experience found in few law firms. We are a firm of lawyers who, as federal prosecutors, prosecuted fraud and other sophisticated crimes. We also have defended complex criminal cases. In an era when there are so many lawyers who do not try cases, our attorneys have significant trial experience in complex civil and criminal cases.
In addition to substantial experience in preparing and prosecuting whistleblower claims, we have also presented programs on protecting whistleblowers from civil and criminal liability. We are regularly consulted by major publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Bureau of National Affairs, and the foreign press on these developing areas of the law.
Our clients include physicians and other health care professionals, accountants, business executives, financial professionals, and many other persons in the United States and abroad who wish to participate in these whistleblower programs. Their actions help expose and stop fraud and other financial violations.
We are available to provide a free consultation about your potential case. Please feel free call us at 800-228-9159, or click here to send us an email.