The Three “C’s” to a Successful Qui Tam under the False Claims Act

As one of the premiere whistleblower law firms in the country, we are often asked what makes a qui tam successful under the False Claims Act.  Whistleblower actions are unique and not just about the ABC’s, but here we’ll start with the C’s and the next blog will go into the challenging Q’s of Qui Tam.

COUNSEL – Qui Tam Counsel

One of the most critical decisions you as a whistleblower need to make early on is who you want to represent you in assisting you in blowing the whistle.   Here is some critical advice:

Cases – What types of Cases does this form handle – Is Qui Tam a focus of their practice?

Competence – Has the Qui Tam Counsel handled cases like yours before successfully.

Clarity – Can the whistleblower law firm give you clarity about what the roadmap to success may be?  Or give you guidance regarding what made other cases like yours fail in the past.

CORRUPTION – What is it that you’re exactly blowing the whistle on?

            Causes of Actions – People view the term whistleblower quite liberally, when in fact, under the False Claims Act, a successfully whistleblower must be blowing the whistle on fraudulent conduct that costs the taxpayers considerable amounts of money.  It is generally a systemic commission of Medicare Fraud or Medicaid Fraud in which a health care provider is upcoding, billing for services not rendered, falsely billing, offering kickbacks, or self-dealing or one of a hundred other ways they enact the scheme to enrich their pockets and burden the healthcare system and the taxpayers with the fraud.  Sometimes the wrongdoers are entrenched with enablers that lead them to believe their conduct might be ok – or on first blush looks legal, but when you dig into the surface you find out its just a big scam.  You need an experienced whistleblower lawyer to dig into to find this out.  Better, you need a whistleblower law firm, not just an individual who can guide you and provide proper counsel.

COMMUNICATION – Efficacy of your whistleblower team depends on Communication

            The keys to the success of most things in life depend on communication.   Homer Simpson when discussing the success of his marriage quipped, “The problem with most relationships? Communication. Too much communication.”  It’s entertaining because the key to a well-done whistleblower case is communication between counsel and client and the sense of teamwork that’s fostered.  Proper preparation for the relator interview with the government rather than letting an unprepared person go in cold.  Talking through the process and the implications of the process from start to finish. Knowing what you need to prove – and proving it!

            This is just a glance at some of the facets that can make the difference in an important life decision if you have the courage to potentially blow the whistle. We strongly encourage you to speak promptly with a whistleblower law firm with a qui tam team with a track record of success like Brown, LLC, led by a former FBI Special Agent and Legal Advisor, or another accomplished whistleblower law firm that focuses its practice on qui tam actions to maximize the chance for your cases to succeed.