False Claims/Qui Tam
Crowell & Moring LLP has earned a national reputation in the False Claims Act and qui tam litigation arena, having defended more than eighty such cases since the False Claims Act was substantially amended and expanded in 1986. This is in addition to our extensive experience in representing corporations and individuals in criminal procurement fraud investigations.
Companies in a wide variety of industries—whether they think of themselves as traditional government contractors or not—can find themselves facing allegations that they submitted false claims or made false statements to the United States government. Given statutory penalties of up to $11,000 for each false claim and treble damages, the consequences can be ruinous. And the whistleblower (or qui tam) provisions of the False Claims Act give individuals—including current and past employees—a powerful financial incentive to bring these lawsuits.
Few firms in the country have more experience in handling false claims matters than Crowell & Moring. We have frequently headed off government involvement in such cases through representation during the investigation phase and have successfully litigated other cases, obtaining victories for clients on summary judgment or other motions and at trial. Where settlement is the best option, we deal frequently and have useful working relationships with many of the attorneys and senior Department of Justice officials responsible for prosecuting the government’s False Claims Act cases and formulating policy. We also lobby Congress on behalf of those industries affected by the Act. We have also established compliance programs that seek to avoid false claims cases in the first place.
The civil False Claims Act cases we have handled, initiated both by the Department of Justice and qui tam whistleblowers, run the full gamut of potential bases for False Claims Act liability, including:
- Defective pricing or other irregularities in the formation of government contracts
- Mischarging or overcharging on government programs
- Product substitution and quality assurance issues
- Environmental non-compliance
- Medicare/Medicaid overcharging
- Improper royalty payments for government-owned natural resources
- Labor and employment aspects of whistleblower litigation