Qui Tam

GMU Law School Sponsors Lecture on the False Claims Act

Posted on November 12, 2009
I am honored to be joining Alan S. Goldberg, Peter B. Hutt II, and Victor Kubli in presenting a lecture on the federal False Claims Act at the George Mason University School of Law today.  The lecture is sponsored by GMU's Journal of Law, Economics, and Policy, and it may well be available soon as a podcast...

Virginia's Award-Winning Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Issues its FY 2008-2009 Annual Report

Posted on November 07, 2009
I have just finished reading the new Annual Report for Virginia's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and it makes an impressive read.  Virginia has an award-winning MFCU, and the work and tenacity of the lawyers, investigators, and others in the Unit is just incredible...

News from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia: United States Intervenes in False Claims Act Suit Against Virginia Medicaid Providers

Posted on November 05, 2009
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ ? The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia have intervened in a False Claims Act suit in the Western District of Virginia against the Medicaid providers Universal Health Services Inc., Keystone Marion LLC and Keystone Education and Youth Services LLC, the Justice Department announced today...

California Files Suit Against State Street--Claims Bankers Engaged in Massive Fraud

Posted on October 20, 2009
October 20, 2009--California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced his intervention in a California state qui tam lawsuit against State Street Bank today.  The original complaint was filed under seal by a qui tam relator and his counsel roughly one year ago in the Superior Court for the City of Sacramento...

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Everyone seems to focus on the treble damages, civil penalties, and attorney's fees...

Posted on October 08, 2009
For understandable reasons, people tend to focus on the treble damages, civil penalties, and attorney's fees provided for in the federal False Claims Act and in the 26 states with false claims acts.  Today, I want to talk about one of the least emphasized--but most important--benefits that accrues to the public fisc as a result of increased false claims prosecutions...

In Pursuit of a Maryland False Claims Act

Posted on September 15, 2009
The current edition of the Maryland Bar Bulletin sports an article by yours truly on the topic of a Maryland False Claims Act.  I strongly believe that 2010 will be the year--so stay tuned...

North Carolina Joins the Deficit Reduction Club With a Bang

Posted on September 05, 2009
 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...

Announcing the Largest Federal Qui Tam/False Claims Act Settlement in History--and Virginia's Share

Posted on September 02, 2009
Today, the United States Department of Justice announced the largest qui tam/False Claims Act settlement in history--all totaled, Phizer will pay $2.3 billion to settle civil and criminal allegations that it committed a wide variety of fraud with regard to a number of its drugs...

Fighting fraud should be bipartisan in California

Posted on August 27, 2009
Just in from California is this article from Capitol Weekly: the Newspaper of California Government and Politics in which California state Rep. Bob Blumenfield opines on  California's struggle to update its state false claims act.  As has been discussed on this blog many times, on May 20th of this year the federal False Claims Act was amended and, as a result, became a much more formidable tool in the fight against fraud waste and abuse of federal money...

The ACLU's Ill-Advised Publicity Stunt Comes to an End

Posted on August 21, 2009
Today, Judge O'Grady issued his opinion in ACLU et al., v. Eric Holder, et al. 1:09cv042 (E.D.Va.) thus ending an ill-advised publicity stunt by the ACLU, some entity calling itself "Government Accountability Project" and another called "OMB Watch...

Oregon Joins the Deficit Reduction Club

Posted on August 19, 2009
Congratulations to Oregon for becoming the 25th state to join the Deficit Reduction Club by passing a state false claims act.There is no need to speculate about the benefits Oregon will receive from this common-sense legislation--we have the examples of Virginia and 24 other states to guide us...

The First Shots in the Battle Over the Retroactivity Provisions of the New False Claims Act

Posted on August 12, 2009
As previously discussed on this blog, revamped federal False Claims Act became law on May 21, 2009.  While the changes made by the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 do not go as far those in the still-pending FCA Corrections Act, the changes represent a significant increase in the fraud-fighting power of the government and private qui tam relators...

This sure explains a few things....

Posted on July 13, 2009
Having followed Maryland's battle to enact a Maryland False Claims Act, I can't help but point out this article from the Washington Post. It seems former Maryland Republican Party Chairman John Kane has been nailed under the federal False Claims Act.  The allegations are that Kane's company, and its subsidiaries (including Office Movers, Inc...

New SCOTUS Opinion on the Federal False Claims Act

Posted on June 08, 2009
Today SCOTUS issued its opinion in United States ex rel Eisenstein v. City of New York, et al., holding that if the United States declines to intervene in a False Claims Act case initiated by a qui tam relator, the United States is not considered a "party" to the litigation for purposes of determining when a party must file its notice of appeal...

Introducing the New and Improved Federal False Claims Act!

Posted on June 02, 2009
As I mentioned a week or two ago, the Federal False Claims Act has been updated and improved by the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009.  While the amendments to the FCA fall short of those proposed in the still-pending False Claims Correction Act of 2009, the amendments are important and were needed...

JOHN BROWNLEE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA IN 2009

Posted on May 19, 2009
With a little under two weeks remaining in the Republican primary for Attorney General of Virginia, Republican convention-goers are faced with a choice between John Brownlee, Ken Cuccinelli, and Dave Foster.  This blog has covered the Virginia AG's race in some detail, despite the fact that this is a legal and not a political blog...

THE FEDERAL FALSE CLAIMS ACT IS REVAMPED FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY!!!!

Posted on May 19, 2009
In 1986, with the budgetary strains caused by the cold-war, and with fraudsters draining the U.S. Treasury with impunity, Congress acted by revitalizing the False Claims Act. Today, Congress once again strengthened the False Claims Act, and brought that Act into the twenty-first century with passage of the Fraud Enforcement & Recovery Act of 2009...

THE MINNESOTA FALSE CLAIMS ACT IS SIGNED INTO LAW

Posted on May 16, 2009
We began the 2009 state legislative season with a list of states paying a federally mandated penalty for not having a false claims act.  Today, I am happy to report that the Minnesota False Claims Act has been signed into law.  Minnesota appears to be the only state passing a state-FCA this session, but that whittles the list of non-complying states down to 27...

State Qui Tam Legislative Updates

Posted on May 10, 2009
 Sadly, as the last of the state legislative sessions wind down this month, it appears that we do have a single new state False Claims Act to report.  Kansas appears to have passed a non-qui tam state statute, which can only be enforced by that state's OAG...

Important New Opinion from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Addresses the Seal Requirements of the Federal False Claims Act

Posted on May 05, 2009
An important new opinion issued today by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria Division) discusses the mandatory disclosure and seal requirements of the Federal False Claims Act.  The opinion can be found on Westlaw as United States ex rel...

Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund files Amicus Curiae Memorandum in Support of the Department of Justice's Motion to Dismiss in ACLU, et al. v. Eric Holder, et al., 1:09cv042

Posted on April 24, 2009
Today the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund filed its motion and memorandum in support of the motion to dismiss filed by the United States Department of Justice.   While I acted as local counsel in filing the brief, the real work of drafting TAFEF's position was handled by Cleveland Lawrence, Jeb White, and Marc Vezina...

Fools--or in this case, the Government Accountability Project, OMB Watch, and the ACLU--Rush In Where Angels Fear to Tread

Posted on April 17, 2009
A lawsuit currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia seeks to have most the Federal False Claims Act declared unconstitutional.  The complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, OMB Watch, and the Government Accountability Project on January 15, 2009...

News from the Virginia Attorney General Race--Former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore Endorses John Brownlee for Attorney General in 2009

Posted on April 15, 2009
Former Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore announced this morning that he has endorsed John Brownlee's bid to secure the Republican nomination for that post.  Kilgore also announced that he has agreed to serve as General Chairman of Brownlee's campaign...

An Important and Groundbreaking New Fourth Circuit Opinion is Issued today in United States ex rel DRC v. Custer Battles, LLC, et al.

Posted on April 10, 2009
Today, the Fourth Circuit issued its opinion in the highly-publicized case U.S. ex rel. DRC, Inc., et al. v. Custer Battles, LLC, et al.  The opinion is noteworthy for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it provides the first Fourth Circuit interpretation of last year's Allison Engine opinion by SCOTUS...

On the Topic of Transportation Fraud....

Posted on April 04, 2009
Recently I mentioned state Sen. Obenschain's website addressing fraud, waste and abuse in the Virginia Department of Transportation.  I wanted also to point out some excellent federal resources on the topic. For a number of years, the OIG (that is, the Office of the Inspector General) of the U...

Congressional Testimony in Support of the False Claims Correction Act of 2009

Posted on April 02, 2009
In the past two months, two House bills and two Senate bills have been introduced in an effort to strengthen the Federal False Claims Act.  These bills respectively are: S. 386, "Fraud Enforcement and recovery Act of 2009," (Feb. 5, 2009); H.R...

A New Defense for Fraudfeasors Emerges from the Maryland Legislature: "Your Honor, I was just trying to create jobs."

Posted on March 30, 2009
As readers of this blog know, I have pushed heavily for a Maryland False Claims Act for the last two years.  Both years, after much debate, a Maryland state FCA failed by a single vote in the state Senate.  This year, however, the Senate chamber reached an all-new level of stupidity...

New Virginia Website Attempts to Expose VDOT Waste

Posted on March 25, 2009
An interesting new website by state Sen. Mark Obenshain has the goal of exposing waste, fraud and abuse in the Virginia Department of Transportation.  No question about it, government spending always results in a certain level of fraud, waste, and abuse...

Qui Tam Practice Example: Use of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act to Combat Fraud in State Grants

Posted on March 20, 2009
An article in yesterday's Lynchburg News and Advance provides a great chance to look at some potential uses of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act by the Virginia Attorney General's Office.  We will also examine how a qui tam relator could have come forward if the VFATA had existed at that time...

Yet Another Reminder About Attorney Fees Petitions

Posted on March 18, 2009
The Virginia Lawyer's Weekly blog has a post today relating to the use of the Laffey-Matrix in fee shifting cases.  It is not clear whether the Laffey Matrix at issue is the real Laffey Matrix (that is, the one prepared by the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Division) or the Laffey Matrix prepared by a private-sector expert economist...

Special Report on last week's "IRS Whistleblower Bootcamp"

Posted on March 11, 2009
I attended the first seminar on the new IRS Whistleblower statute last week, and found it very interesting indeed.  The seminar was organized by Taxpayers Against Fraud, and featured presentations from the top officials from the newly-created IRS Whistleblower Office, along with top attorneys and accountants from the private sector...

William C. "Bill" Mims Formally Becomes Virginia's 45th Attorney General

Posted on February 27, 2009

News from the Race for Virginia Attorney General

Posted on February 18, 2009
Last night the three Republican candidates for Attorney General met in Roanoke for the second debate of this primary season.  I followed the live blog feed, and even from the vantage point of someone reading the debates as blogged by someone else, it was apparent to me that all three candidates have honed their presentations and have focused on the best arguments for their candidacies such that all three are now stronger candidates than they were two months ago at the first debates...

Maryland False Claims Act Alert: Maryland Needs a Real False Claims Act!

Posted on February 09, 2009
With so many developments in the Virginia Office of the Attorney General and in the Attorney General race, I let some Maryland developments slip by the goalie.      Specifically, Maryland Senate Bill 272, which is styled as the "Maryland False Health Claims Act of 2009" was introduced...

Breaking News: Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonell resigns to focus on his gubernatorial race

Posted on February 03, 2009
Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced his resignation this morning in an email to OAG staffers.  No big surprise there--for the last thirty years, no Virginia Attorney General has served more than three years in office.  Julian Walker at the PilotOnline  has the story...

Eli Lilly May Spent $2 Billion More for Fraud on State Governments--But Again, Where is Virginia's Share?

Posted on January 30, 2009
Eli Lilly & Co., after agreeing to pay more than $2.6 billion to settle claims by the federal government and an assortment of state governments over the marketing of its anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa, still faces lawsuits that might cost the company an additional $2 billion...

Just One Example of Why the Office of the Attorney General is so Important

Posted on January 30, 2009
Given that the last few posts have concerned the OxyContin prosecutions led by Attorney General Bob McDonnell and former U.S. Attorney John Brownlee, today's OAG press release was perfect timing.Today, Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell awarded a small slice of the money Virginia recovered from Purdue Pharma...

How The Mighty Have Fallen: Restrictions Are Upheld for Executives in Purdue Pharma OxyContin Case

Posted on January 27, 2009
An administrative law judge has upheld a decision barring three former Purdue Pharma executives from participating in federal healthcare programs for 15 years, the Department of Health and Human Services announced last Friday, according to the New York Times...

Eli Lilly Agrees to Pay $1.4 Billion to Settle Qui Tam Claims Brought by the United States and 26 States--Unfortunately, Virginia is Not Among Them

Posted on January 27, 2009
For the first time, a qui tam settlement has topped the $1 billion mark.  Late last week, Eli Lilly announced that it had agreed to pay a total of $1.4 billion to the United States and to a collection of participating state governments for off-label marketing violations and other violations related to the drug Zyprexa...

Review of the Legal Experience of the 2009 Republican Candidates for Attorney General

Posted on January 13, 2009
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           The 2009 Virginia statewide elections are now in full swing...

SCOTUS Blog Selects Several False Claims Act Cases in "Petitions to Watch"

Posted on January 07, 2009
This week the renowned SCOTUS blog highlighted Petitions for Certiorari filed in several False Claims Act cases.  This is important for many reasons, not the least of which is that the folks at the SCOTUS blog have an uncanny ability to predict which petitions will be granted by the United States Supreme Court...

A New Year, A New President, and Lots of New Money--How We Can Prevent the Same Old Fraud?

Posted on January 05, 2009
The year 2009 will bring a new President to the White House who has promised lots and lots of new federal money to fund various state and federal projects.  Some have gone so far as to say that President-elect Obama will supervise the largest spending program since the Eisenhower Administration built the federal interstate system...

Ohio Auditor Misses the Mark: Ohio's Plan to Reduce Medicaid Fraud Includes Everything BUT a State False Claims Act

Posted on December 30, 2008
The state of Ohio--which, like every other state, is facing a record budget deficit--is searching for ways to cut costs and stretch its budget a little.  Amazingly, in a new report released this week by Mary Taylor (who currently serves as the state's Auditor), the passage of a state false claims act is not one of the suggestions made to stretch the state's dollars further and eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse from the program...

Breaking News: Amendments to the Michigan False Claims Act

Posted on December 19, 2008
Yesterday, the Michigan False Claims Act was amended to add two important--but optional--elements of a state false claims act.  Previously, this blog has not addressed elements of a state false claims act over and above compliance with Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, so this seems like as good a time as any...

Starting today, Federal Contractors Must Focus on Ethics and Disclose "Credible Evidence" of False Claims Act Violations

Posted on December 19, 2008
PIMG src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/116785-109034/VirginiaFlag.jpg"BRBRFONT size=3Effective today, federal contractors are required by the Federal Acquisition Regulations ("FAR") to take certain proactive steps regarding the Federal False Claims Act...

The Final Countdown: How Long will these 28 States Continue to Pay the Penalty for Not Having a State False Claims Act?

Posted on December 06, 2008
We begin our countdown with a list:  Maryland, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, West Virginia, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island...

Q & A: Is It Necessary for the Virginia Attorney General to File A Complaint Under Seal?

Posted on November 28, 2008
Q:  Is It Necessary for the Virginia Attorney General to File A Complaint Under Seal when the Office initiates a case on its own, without a relator? A:  In a word, no.  The answer to this question raises a larger issue, however--namely,  why is a seal provision included in the statute for a private relator and his or her counsel?  The sound reasons behind this statutory requirement is the topic of today's post...

Senator Grassley Urges Federal Government to Utilize ?Lincoln?s Law? to Help Protect and Recover Taxpayer Dollars Lost to Fraud in Economic Stabilization Programs

Posted on November 20, 2008
In the midst of the current financial crisis, which has seen the Federal Government committing the taxpayers to hundreds of millions of dollars in obligations to bail out an ever-larger sector of the economy, we have seen comparatively little talk about protecting this enormous expenditure of taxpayer funds...

The Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act Finally Makes the Front Page of Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Posted on November 20, 2008
At long last, the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act has finally made the pages of Virginia Lawyers Weekly.  Special thanks for Peter Vieth for this excellent article, and to all of the others who worked on the Siddiqui case, especially Special Assistant Attorney General Guy Horsley and Senior Assistant Attorney General Ellen Coates...

Qui Tam Champion Rep. Dan Lungren Challenges John Boehner for Post of House Minority Leader

Posted on November 14, 2008
House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio will face a challenge from his leadership position from California Republican Dan Lungren, according to the official blog of the Wall Street Journal.  It seems unlikely that Lungren will be able to unseat Boehner in the Republican House leadership elections, which are currently set to take place next Wednesday...

UPDATE: Settlement Announced in the first Non-Intervened case under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act in Commonwealth of Virginia ex rel. Nisar A. Siddiqui v. Navy Federal Credit Union, et al.

Posted on November 05, 2008
Fairfax, Virginia, November 5, 2008--Navy Federal Credit Union will pay $640,000 dollars to settle allegations that it failed to deliver unclaimed property to the Commonwealth of Virginia as part of a settlement under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act...

October 27, 2008 Marks the Anniversary of the Rebirth of the Federal False Claims Act

Posted on October 28, 2008
    It was 22 years ago today that President Reagan signed into law the 1986 Amendments to the Federal False Claims Act.  For all intents and purposes, the 1986 amendments breathed new life into what had otherwise become a stale and lifeless statute...

New Opinion from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia interprets the public disclosure bar and release agreements

Posted on October 28, 2008
    In the ongoing saga of Purdue Pharma, an opinion published today by Judge Jones in the Western District of Virginia addresses whether a relator's signature on a general release precludes that relator from bringing a qui tam suit at a later date...

New Opinion from the Eastern District of Virginia regarding the False Claims Act's anti-retaliation provisions

Posted on October 10, 2008
The U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a ruling this week interpreting the anti-retaliation provisions of 3730(h).  The case is  Mann v. Heckler & Koch Defense, Inc., 1:08cv0611 (Cacheris, J.)  You can read the opinion here...

First Annual Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act CLE is a success!

Posted on October 07, 2008
First Annual Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act CLE is a success!I am pleased to report that the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act CLE seminar at the Office of the Attorney General was an overwhelming success, with more than 78 attendees coming from virtually every agency of Virginia state government, from the OAG, and from the private bar as well...

AN EMPIRICAL LOOK AT THE ARGUMENTS THAT KILLED THE MARYLAND FALSE CLAIMS ACT

Posted on October 07, 2008
AN EMPIRICAL LOOK AT THE ARGUMENTS THAT KILLED THE Maryland FALSE CLAIMS ACT As regular readers of this blog will recall, in the 2008 legislative session, the Maryland False Claims Act failed by a single vote in the full Senate, after having been passed by the Maryland House of Delegates...

The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of Virginia's Office of the Attorney General produces a new brochure

Posted on October 07, 2008
Virginia's award-winning Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) today published a new brochure designed to inform the public about its mission and goals.  Click here to view the brochure. I strongly believe that taxpayers in the Commonwealth will reap great benefits from increased efforts to educate and inform the public about the causes of action available under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act...

New Opinion from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia interprets Virginia's Nonsuit Statute in the qui tam context

Posted on September 30, 2008
A new opinion by Chief Judge Jones in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia interprets Virginia's nonsuit statute as tolling the statute of limitations on a retaliation claim under 31 U.S.C. 3730(h).  To my knowledge, this is the first time a federal court has interpreted Virginia's unique nonsuit statute in the context of a 3730(h) claim...

Law Professor Pamela H. Bucy's Pioneering Efforts to Collect and Analyze State False Claims Information

Posted on August 30, 2008
As I said when I started this blog, state qui tam statutes represent a new frontier.  If state qui tam statutes are ever going to bear the same kind of fruit as the federal false claims act, at some point it will be necessary to collect and analyze the experiences of the various states to pass FCA-style statutes, as well as create a mechanism for the exchange of ideas and information among states with FCA statutes...

Taxpayers Against Fraud Announces the Agenda for its Eighth Annual Conference in September

Posted on August 16, 2008
This week Taxpayers Against Fraud announced the agenda for their Eighth Annual Conference, set to take place from September 7-10 at the Marriott at Metro Center here in Washington, D.C.Among the many highlights, Michael T. Judge, the Deputy Director of Virginia's award-winning Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, will speak on the morning of September 9th...

Four New States Join the "Deficit Reduction Club"

Posted on August 11, 2008
This week, the Office of the Inspector General issued 10 new state false claims act review letters.  Of the 10 reviews, four new states joined the DRA club--California, Indiana, Rhode Island, and Georgia--and the remaining six were denied entry. There are now twelve states with qualifying state qui tam/ state false claims statutes:  Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, New York, Nevada, Massachusetts, Illinois, Hawaii, California, Indiana, Rhode Island, and Georgia...

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Ranks in Top Five District Courts for Qui Tam Filings

Posted on August 11, 2008
I had heard it said before that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ranked in the top five districts for qui tam filings, but I now have located the proof. The statistic comes from this 2006 report to Senator Grassley from the U...

Brief History of Qui Tam Litigation in Virginia Part Two

Posted on August 09, 2008
  As the second entry in our series on the history of qui tam litigation in Virginia, I did a little historical research. The first published qui tam opinion in Virginia legal history occurred under the Colonial Courts, in the 1730 in the case of Churchill v...

The Marine Habitat and Waterways Improvement Fund and the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act

Posted on July 19, 2008
One loyal reader recently pointed out that this blog might have unintentionally drifted from one of its stated goals--namely, to give practice examples of the myriad situations in which Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act might be useful. Today's example concerns the Marine Habitat and Waterways Improvement Fund, which was established in the year 2000 by an act of the General Assembly...

Breaking News: Virginia Office of the Attorney General to host Continuing Legal Education Seminar on the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act

Posted on July 19, 2008
Virginia Qui Tam Law.com is pleased to announce that the Virginia Office of the Attorney General will be sponsoring a Continuing Legal Education Seminar on the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act on October 3, 2008, from 2:00 to 5:00 PM...

An Introduction to Qui Tam Litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia--also known as the "Rocket Docket"

Posted on June 28, 2008
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is known as the "Rocket Docket," a title that Court has worn with pride for more than 40 years.  The name originated with Albert V. Bryan, the Judge for whom the Alexandria Courthouse is now named...

Considerations for Settlement in Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act cases

Posted on June 25, 2008
The issue of settling claims in a non-intervened qui tam case under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayer's Act presents the same sort of thorny issues as settlement in a Federal False Claims Act case.  Most of the differences between settling a false claims case and a typical civil case arise out of the fact that the Commonwealth (or the Department of Justice in a federal case) must approve the settlement in all respects...

A look at the standing of qui tam relators under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act

Posted on June 14, 2008
    In the course of blogging, from time to time people call or email me about various aspects of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act as well as the Federal False Claims Act.  When I do receive such questions, along with the permission of the person asking the question, I sometimes use such topics for a post...

Proof that one Medicare provider with a laptop can steal more than ten men with guns

Posted on June 13, 2008
In Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, Don Corleone says something along the lines of, "One lawyer with his brief case can steal more than ten men with guns."  Today the Washington Post has an excellent front page story by Carrie Johnson proving that one crooked Medicare provider with a laptop can steal even more than that--to be specific, one single South Florida Medicare/Medicaid provider bilked the United States out of $105 million...

Breaking News: U.S. Supreme Court announces its decision in Allison Engine case

Posted on June 09, 2008
    The Supreme Court today announced its opinion in Allison Engine Co., Inc., et al. v. United States ex rel Sanders, et al. Case No. 07-214.  To read the opinion, click here.    As a recap, Allison Engine is important because it resolves a Circuit split on the issue of presentment--i...

Recovering Mandatory Attorney's Fees under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act

Posted on June 07, 2008
The topic of today's post is the recovery of mandatory attorney's fees under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act in Virginia state court.  I find it interesting how many attorneys simply do not pay attention to maximizing the fee recovery under fee shifting statutes generally, although federal court practitioners tend to be a little more experienced in this area...

Its Official--John Brownlee for Attorney General in 2009

Posted on June 07, 2008
Several previous entries have discussed Mr. Brownlee's campaign for Virginia Attorney General, but it is now official.  To visit his official campaign website, click here. No word yet on an official "John Brownlee for Attorney General" blog; it is probably too early for the official blog at this point, with a little less than a year to go until the primary and roughly 16 months until the General Election...

National City Mortgage to Pay $4.6 Million to Settle False Claims Allegations Involving Federally Insured Mortgages

Posted on May 23, 2008
National City Mortgage to Pay $4.6 Million to Settle False Claims Allegations Involving Federally Insured Mortgages     WASHINGTON, May 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National City MortgageInc. has agreed to pay the United States $4.6 million to settle allegationsarising under the False Claims Act concerning 58 federally insured loansfor mortgages submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD), the Justice Department announced today...

Trouble on the Horizon: Fourth Circuit Affirms Judge Lee's Dismissal of FCA case in United States ex rel. Godfrey v. KBR, Holds that Wrongful Terminations Claims under the FCA are Subject to Arbitration Clauses in Employment Contracts.

Posted on May 23, 2008
    On Friday, May 17th, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia's dismissal of FCA claims brought by two relators against their former employers -- Kellogg, Brown & Root Services, Inc...

Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act case filings: The first "Notice of Declination" ever filed under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act

Posted on May 23, 2008
This will mark the third blog post in our occasional series dealing with filings under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act from across the Commonwealth.  In previous posts, I shared the first complaint filed under the VFATA, along with the first "Notice of Intervention" ever filed by the Office of the Attorney General in Commonwealth of Virginia ex rel...

Breaking News: John Brownlee Announces Press Conference for May 20, 2008 to Announce Plans to Run for Virginia Attorney General

Posted on May 19, 2008
    Roanoke-area station WDBJ-7 has just announced that former federal prosecutor John Brownlee has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow, May 20, 2008 at 11:00 AM.Brownlee, whose last day as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia was Friday, is expected to announce his candidacy for Virginia Attorney General in the upcoming 2009 election...

Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Recieves National Award; more than $650 million dollars recovered in FY 2007.

Posted on May 13, 2008
Yesterday, the Virginia Office of the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) received the "Office of the Inspector General's State Fraud Award."  To view the press release, click here.  On a related note, the Virginia Office of the Attorney General announced recently its plans to continue cutting its reliance on General Fund revenues...

And Then There Were Two: Paul Harris Decides Not to Run for Attorney General of Virginia in 2009

Posted on May 10, 2008
This recent post from Charlottesville, Virginia's Daily Progress announces Paul Harris' decision not to run for Virginia Attorney General in 2009, clearing the way for a clean, straightforward contest between soon-to-be-former U.S. Attorney John Brownlee and Fairfax Sen...

Rebuttal to D.C. Examiner's so-called "Editorial" of May 6, 2008

Posted on May 07, 2008
While I am as big a fan of the D.C. Examiner as anyone--and I especially enjoy the work of William Flook, one of their staff writers--I cannot let the blather that was passed off as an editorial yesterday stand without comment. Of course, I realize that editorials are specifically intended to take controversial positions on pressing issues of the day...

DRAFT VIRGINIA QUI TAM HERO JOHN BROWNLEE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA!!!

Posted on April 26, 2008
Okay, maybe the headline is a little premature.  Still, the single most exciting development in the 2009 Virginia Attorney General race since my Open Letter has been John Brownlee's resignation from his position as United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia...

Assessment of penalties against parties liable under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act and Federal False Claims Act

Posted on April 26, 2008
It is well known that the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act--like its counterpart the Federal False Claims Act--provides for treble damages against anyone submitting false claims to a government entity for payment.  Both the VFATA and the Federal False Claims Act also create civil penalties for each violation of the law--that is, for each false claim submitted for payment...

The Utility of Private Law Enforcement: Academic Support from the University of Chicago

Posted on April 22, 2008
An article published by two professors at the University of Chicago should be of some interest to readers of this blog.  See, Blowing the Whistle: Which External Controls Best Reveal Corporate Fraud? The link is to a newsletter distributed by the University of Chicago and not to the paper itself...

A Breif History of Qui Tam Litigation Under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act

Posted on April 21, 2008
One of my stated purposes in starting this blog was to create interest in the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act and in qui tam practice in general.  In order for statutes such as the Federal False Claims Act and the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act to achieve their goals, it is necessary to build a public-private partnership between qui tam attorneys in private practice and our counterparts in the Virginia Office of the Attorney General and the United States Department of Justice...

Blog Review and Comments: Lean and Mean Litigation Blog

Posted on April 19, 2008
I recommend everyone interested in this blog check out Stewart Weltman's Lean and Mean Litigation blog.  While it does not address qui tam or false claims practice in particular, its focus on efficient litigation practices is invaluable to those interested in qui tam practice...

False Claims Corrections Act of 2007 sent to the full Senate

Posted on April 18, 2008
 Senate Bill 2041, also known as the False Claims Act Corrections Act of 2007, has received overwhelming bipartisan support from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has reported it out to the full Senate for consideration.          "This is common sense legislation that we expect to sail through the House and Senate," said Jeb White, President of Taxpayers Against Fraud...

An Open Letter to Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli (as well as all other Potential 2009 Candidates for Attorney General of Virginia)

Posted on April 15, 2008
Now that Senator Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax) has announced his intentions to run for Attorney General of the Commonwealth next year, I figured the time was right for this open letter.   Sen. Cuccinelli has a sterling opportunity before him to embrace the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act and make it part of his campaign...

Qui Tam Practice in Virginia: Filing Under Seal in Virginia Circuit Courts

Posted on March 22, 2008
    One issue specific to qui tam practice in Virginia state courts is the structure of the Circuit Courts and the implications of that structure for filing the complaint under seal.  Unlike in states such as Maryland, Virginia has no uniform case management system in use in every Circuit Court...

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act: One Year Anniversary

Posted on March 21, 2008
March 13, 2008 marked the one year anniversary of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act's certification under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.  In a nutshell, the Commonwealth now gets an extra 10% of all monies received in false claims cases brought under the Virginia statute...

Qui Tam Practice Example: Documentation of a Qui Tam Claim is not to be taken lightly by potential relators

Posted on March 15, 2008
One does not have to in employment law or qui tam practice very long before being confronted with a situation along the following lines:   An employee comes to the lawyer for representation in a whistleblower situation.  The employee provides the attorney with documents from the employer that the employee considers to be confidential...

LexisNexis and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) to publish new practice commentaries on the Federal False Claims Act

Posted on March 08, 2008
LexisNexis  will soon be publishing updated Practice Commentaries for the Federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C.S 3729 et seq).  The Practice Commentaries are published as part of a joint project with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy(NITA), and are designed to assist practitioners without prior experience in technical areas of practice...

Virginia Achieves A-minus Rating for Good Government

Posted on March 06, 2008
The Pew Center on the States announced this week that Virginia received an A-rating overall for the performance of our state government.  See, http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/ Virginia is one of only three states to receive an A- rating, with the other two being Utah and Washington...

Qui Tam Resource Tip: the Project on Government Oversight

Posted on February 29, 2008
The Project on Government Oversight http://www.pogo.org maintains an excellent on-line database at http://www.contractormisconduct.org  which lists companies responsible for misconduct on federal contracts.  Some might find it incredible that the feds do not maintain a centralized federal database of contractor misconduct; the POGO database is an effort to meet the definite need for centralized, publicly available information on how hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money is spent...

Practice Examples: Fairfax County Budget Woes and the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act

Posted on February 27, 2008
Fairfax County is now proposing to use millions of dollars in "new money" (i.e., money raised with the power granted to Northern Virginia localities last year to increase certain taxes and fees to pay for back-logged road construction and maintenance) to pay for old problems...

The Blog of Legal Times on argument in Allison Engine Company v. United States ex rel Thacker

Posted on February 27, 2008
The Blog of the Legal Times has an excellent post on today's arguments before the United States Supreme Court in the pivotal case of Allison Engine Company v. United States ex rel Thacker.  The article can be found at: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/895477/26549968 Why is Allison Engine a pivotal case?  A fundamental element of a false claims case is the "call on the public fisc...

Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act Case Filings: Commonwealth of Virginia ex rel Virginia Turf Management Associates v. Mary Susan Resolute, et. al. Case No. 2003-998

Posted on February 25, 2008
Today is the first entry in our occasional series "Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act Filings," in which we will post and discuss unsealed VFATA filings from across the Commonwealth. The VFATA was passed in 2002 and became law on January 1, 2003...

Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity pushes for transparency in county spending

Posted on February 18, 2008
The Examiner reported in its weekend edition that newly elected Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity is pushing for greater transparency in county spending.  His proposal would create a county equivalent to sites such as www.usaspending.gov, which allow citizens to research and track information on federal spending...

Maryland False Claims Act Update

Posted on February 15, 2008
Maryland appears to be making progress on passing its own false claims act.  Senate Bill 0845--which is cross-filed with House Bill 292--had its first reading this week. Fortunately, the current version of the legislation is a true false claims act, in that it creates liability for any false call on the public fisc...

Practice Example: The Utility of Qui Tam and Private Law Enforcement in Virginia

Posted on February 11, 2008
Chief among my stated goals in starting this blog was to provide practical examples of how the VFATA can and should be used to protect the public fisc and improve public services in the Commonwealth.  I will title these entries "practice examples" and I hope they will be useful to my fellow Virginia practitioners and to the public at large...

Starting Next Week

Posted on February 08, 2008
Starting next week, we will begin the first of themed blogs, entitled "Practice Examples."  Others, such as "VFATA Filings" will follow, and each theme will focus on a different aspect of qui tam practice.   ZAK zkitts@cookkitts.com

Fairfax Bar Association CLE on the VFATA is a success

Posted on February 07, 2008
I am pleased to announce that the VFATA CLE last night was a success--we had a small but insightful group of nine lawyers turnout to learn more about the VFATA and how it is relevant to the practice of law in Virginia.I usually find that discussion-style CLE seminars get higher evaluations, and last night was no exception...

In other breaking news, Taxpayers Against Fraud Launches taflegalzone.com

Posted on February 07, 2008
Today Taxpayers Against Fraud launched taflegalzone.org a resource that is certain to become a crucial part of every qui tam attorney's toolbox. The site is available only to dues paying TAF Education Fund members and consists of collected appellate and trial briefs, settlement agreements, complaints, and other materials from the front lines of FCA litigation...

Today marks the first Continuing Legal Education Seminar on the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act

Posted on February 06, 2008
Today marks the first Continuing Legal Education Seminar on the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers ActToday the Fairfax Bar Association will host the first-ever CLE seminar dealing specifically with the VFATA.  The speakers will be myself, Guy Horlsey from the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, and Jeb White from Taxpayers Against Fraud...

Welcome to Virginia Qui Tam Law

Posted on February 05, 2008
Welcome to Vaquitamlaw.com.Vaquitamlaw.com is brought to you by the law firm of Cook & Kitts, PLLC, and will deal with qui tam litigation under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (VFATA) specifically as well as developments and litigation under the Federal False Claims Act and other state False Claims Acts...