False Claims Act cases focus on situations where the government has been victimized by fraud. A whistleblower who invokes the act first presents the case to government enforcement authorities who decide either to intervene and take up the case, or decline and allow the whistleblower to proceed on the government’s behalf. With the growing number of False Claims Act filings and the scarce resources of the government, there is a premium on presenting whistleblower cases effectively so government attorneys can quickly recognize the strength of the case and pursue it promptly.
By offering incentives to report on fraud, the False Claims Act creates a public-private partnership. The whistleblower, as the private partner, can and should carefully select and vet the claims and file the good ones. This article addresses how whistleblowers’ counsel can make their cases more attractive to the government thereby increasing the likelihood of intervention.
