Milwaukee False Claims Act Lawyer
Have you been retaliated against for reporting fraud committed against a U.S. governmental agency? Or do you have knowledge of such fraud, but you are afraid to report it? The federal False Claims Act (FCA) was enacted in 1985 to address such situations.
To learn how you, a private citizen, can go about filing a lawsuit on behalf of the government against the person or business that committed fraud against the U.S. government, contact the Wisconsin False Claims Act attorneys at the law offices of Alan C. Olson & Associates, s.c.
There are no statistics reported on the length of time the average qui tam case remains under seal. In this District, most intervened or settled cases are under seal for at least two years (with, of course, periodic reports to the supervising judge concerning the progress of the case, and the justification of the need for additional time).
Intervention by the Department of Justice in a qui tam case is not undertaken lightly. Intervention usually requires approval by the Department in Washington. As part of the decision process, the views of the investigative agency are solicited and considered, and a detailed memorandum discussing the relevant facts and law is prepared. This memorandum usually includes a discussion of efforts to advise the named defendant of the nature of the potential claims against it, any response provided by the defendant, and settlement efforts undertaken prior to intervention. This memorandum is considered to be attorney work product exempt from disclosure.
Upon intervention approval, the Department of Justice files:
- A notice of intervention, setting forth the specific claims as to which the United States is intervening;
- A motion to unseal the qui tam complaint filed by the relator (including any amended complaint) and the notice of intervention. All other documents filed by the Department of Justice up to that point remain under seal.
The decision by the Department of Justice to intervene in a case does not necessarily mean that it will endorse, adopt or agree with every factual allegation or legal conclusion in the relator’s complaint. It has been the usual practice of the Department to file its own complaint about 60 days after the intervention, setting forth its own statement of the facts that show the knowing submission of false claims, and the specific relief it seeks. In addition, the Department of Justice has the ability to, and often will, assert claims arising under other statutes (such as the Truth in Negotiation Act or the Public Contracts Anti-Kickback Act) or the common law, which the relators do not have the legal right to assert in their complaint, since only the False Claims Act has a qui tam provision.
After the relator’s complaint is unsealed, the relator has the obligation under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to serve its complaint upon each named defendant within 120 days.
Each named defendant has the duty to file an answer to the complaint or a motion within 20 days after service of the government’s complaints. Discovery under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure begins shortly thereafter.
Allow us to begin to explain in a free initial phone consultation how you can file a “qui tam lawsuit” on behalf of the U.S. government against entities such as the following that have been observed enacting fraud against the government:
- hospitals committing billing errors or blatant fraud through the Medicare system
- clinical laboratories billing for tests not performed, inserting false diagnosis codes to obtain reimbursement, double billing for laboratory tests for patients with fatal illnesses, paying kickbacks with federal funds, and billing for medically unnecessary tests
- home health care providers shifting unallowable costs to Medicare
- medical equipment suppliers falsifying billing to cover non-covered devices
- health care providers engaged in fraudulent HIPAA violations
This list is not intended to be exhaustive. It is merely an example of the types of circumstances that may enable you to file an anti-fraud lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. government. The whistleblower lawyers of Alan C. Olson & Associates, s.c., are available to help Wisconsinites file such lawsuits. Contact us to discuss possible contingency fee False Claims Acts lawsuit arrangements.
