Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Qui Tam Blogs -> Virginia Qui Tam Law

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Qui Tam

: Virginia Qui Tam Law

North Carolina Joins the Deficit Reduction Club With a Bang

By Zachary A. Kitts

ADVERTISEMENTS

My apologies for missing this last week, but on August 28, 2009, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue signed the North Carolina False Claims Act into law, making North Carolina, by my count, the 26th state to pass a state false claims act. Congratulations to all those who worked so hard to pass this legislation.

But that is not all--North Carolina added her own twist to this historical occasion. Namley, to the best of my knowledge,  North Carolina is the first state to pass a state false claims act which includes the new liability provisions of the federal False Claims Act. I invite anyone to correct me if I am wrong.

The North Carolina Department of Justice, of course, immediately faces the same difficult situation faced by many states to enact a false claims act. Starting December 1, 2009, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will have this fantastic new weapon in his arsenal, but he will have no one in his office with experience using the statute in contexts other than health care. Even worse, given the current economic climate, General Cooper will probably not have the funds necessary to hire new staff to get the North Carolina False Claims Act off the ground.

If I may offer a little unsolicited advice to General Cooper, it would be this: please do not view the North Carolina False Claims Act as a whistleblower statute; rather, see it for what it is--the single most important affirmative civil enforcement tool any Attorney General anywhere has. General Cooper, this is a means to protect the public fisc.

To that end, I would suggest that you not sit back and wait for the whistleblowers to come to you. You should bring in outside counsel to represent the state in identifying claims the state has and in prosecuting those claims.  Such representation could be done on a contingency-fee basis, and thus would not cost North Carolina anything at all--it would literally be found money.

And by the way, some of that found money could be set aside to hire permanent staff once the ball gets rolling.

It is important to bring in outside counsel, because attorneys with experience in state false claims act prosecutions know where the holes are, and we know where the taxpayer's hard earned dollars are being lost. Outside counsel could use out experience in cases from our own states to identify claims that North Carolina is more or less certain to have.

In addition to generating money, the attorneys in the North Carolina Department of Justice would get a first-hand chance to work with experienced FCA lawyers, and to see how state prosecutions work.

There are many types of false claims act claims that are specific to states, and there is no reason to delay--North Carolina should retain outside counsel and start recovering its money on December 1, 2009; there is simply no reason to wait.

Full post as published by Virginia Qui Tam Law on September 05, 2009 (boomark / email).