Practice Areas - Governmental Abuse

Qui Tam or Whistleblower Actions

“Qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se imposo sequitur” means “who brings the action as well for the king as for himself”. Qui tam cases derive from the false claims act found at 31 USC § 3729 for federal claims and Florida Statutes § 68.082 for Florida claims, attached hereto. Simply stated when a defendant makes a false claim for payment or approval to the United States and/or Florida governments, the false claims act is triggered. Qui Tam defendants are typically large corporations with deep pockets and the frauds committed are generally in the form of complicated transactions related to various government contracts, such as in the Medicare/Medicaid Programs, government purchasing, construction, disaster relief funding, federal housing, research grants and many other federal and state funded programs. There is even a growing number of cases related to corporations that sell warranted products to the government that contain known defects.

A private Plaintiff or Relator who discovers facts constituting the fraud, may bring these facts to an attorney who can the file a Qui Tam Complaint for the government and the Relator. In some factual scenarios there may be a federal case, a state case and a class action suit based upon the same set of facts. Once the Qui Tamp complaint is filed under seal, the government is given a reasonable time to investigate the allegations and thereafter, chooses to intervene in the case, thereby taking it over to hand the case back to the filing attorney to prosecute or move to dismiss the complaint, which rarely happens. If the claim is ultimately successful in some fashion, the Plaintiff shares a percentage of the recovery commensurate with their participation and commitment in the case and other variables. This percentage is normally between 15% and 30% of the recovery or settlement. The statutes provide for treble damages, plus attorney’s fees and costs which are all viable contingent fee considerations.

Historically, the government has only intervened in approximately 22% of all filed Qui Tam cases. However, 96% of all Qui Tam recoveries are made in cases where the government intervenes. Simply put, you want the government to intervene in your case! The government pays all costs of prosecution in cases that they take over. In all other cases the Relator is responsible for funding costs of prosecution, which means sudden death to the vast majority of Qui Tam cases filed. Don’t give up!

Costs aside, there is little risk associated with false claims act litigation, with the exception of wasting one’s time with the initial investigation attorney’s hours expended drafting the complaint and disclosure materials. Once the case is filed, much of the work is finished until the government makes it’s initial decision whether or not to intervene in the case. If the decision is “no” the Relator can then reassess the case at that point and decide whether to proceed, settle the case, or file a voluntary dismissal subject to approval by the government. If the government objected at that point it would likely be forced to intervene to stop dismissal. The key is to only file good cases, but you need to find them first!

A typical false claims act case may appear as though it is an employment action case. For instance, a fact pattern such that an employer or management is coercing an employing to do some act that the employee knows is unethical, wrong, fraudulent or a crime, may come to light that relates to some claim made to a government agency for money. In many instances that person is ultimately labeled as a trouble maker, black-balled, demoted and fired for some contrived reason.

Sheldon J. Schlesinger, P.A. represents clients throughout the state of Florida including the cities of Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Carol City, Cooper City, Coral Gables, Coral Springs, Davie, Deerfield Beach, Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah, Hollywood, Jupiter, Lake Worth, Miramar, Miami, Oakland Park, Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Springs, Pompano Beach, and Rivera Beach

Broward County • Miami-Dade County • Palm Beach County