“He who brings a case on behalf of our Lord the King as well as for himself,” or in Latin, “qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur” — qui tam, for short — is the most single important fraud-fighting mechanism the United States government has in place today. Recent amendments to the False Claims Act (FCA) expand the ability of a qui tam relator to bring an action on behalf of the United States in important ways that must be understood by both government contractors and their attorneys.
In this regard, on May 6, 2009, President Obama signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (FERA) into law, bringing far-reaching changes to the False Claims Act.
