Phillips & Cohen’s attorneys have unmatched success representing qui tam lawsuits brought under the False Claims Act
For more than 30 years, Phillips & Cohen’s qui tam cases have had a major impact in stopping fraud and abuse in a number of industries, including healthcare, pharma, and defense. We know how to protect our False Claims Act whistleblower clients and how to deal with the many challenges whistleblowers may face.
Representing qui tam whistleblowers isn’t just one aspect of our practice – it is all we do. Whether it’s a ground-breaking False Claims Act case or a straightforward one, we have the skills, experience, and resources to pursue the best possible outcome for our whistleblower clients.
We have been praised for our decades of success on behalf of whistleblowers with awards such as “Plaintiffs’ Hot List,” “500 Leading Lawyers in America” and “Attorneys Who Matter.”
Understanding the False Claims Act & qui tam
The False Claims Act (FCA) is a federal law that empowers individuals, known as whistleblowers, to expose and take action against fraudulent activities committed against the government. The Qui Tam provision within the FCA allows these whistleblowers (also known as “qui tam relators”) to file lawsuits on behalf of the government and potentially receive a portion of the recovered funds as a reward.
False Claims Act / qui tam whistleblowers play a vital role in safeguarding public resources by bringing hidden fraud to light. Under the False Claims Act, they are protected from retaliation and can significantly contribute to maintaining integrity and accountability in government programs and contracts. By leveraging the FCA and Qui Tam provisions, our firm is dedicated to supporting whistleblowers in their courageous efforts to report and combat fraud, ultimately promoting justice and transparency.
Successful False Claims Act / qui tam cases Phillips & Cohen has settled
Our cases span from Medicare and healthcare frauds to defense contracting frauds and cybersecurity frauds. Some examples of our landmark qui tam whistleblower cases include:
- The largest healthcare fraud settlements in US history (GlaxoSmithKline, $3 billion and Pfizer, $2.3 billion).
- The largest civil settlement of a healthcare fraud case involving solely kickback allegations ($400 million – DaVita Healthcare Partners)
- The largest amount ever paid by a defense contractor in a qui tam case ($325 million – Northrop Grumman).
- Largest settlement ever paid by a medical lab company for a faulty product ($302 million – Quest Diagnostics).
- The first qui tam case to use the False Claims Act to stop alleged fraud in the FCC’s auction of cellphone licenses. (Mario Gabelli and affiliated companies paid $130 million to settle the case.)
Phillips & Cohen is one of the nation’s most prominent law firms specializing in whistleblower cases.
For more examples of how we’ve helped our whistleblower clients expose and stop fraud, see our Successful Cases.
Why choose Phillips & Cohen as your False Claims Act attorney?
When you choose Phillips & Cohen, you get the knowledge and experience of a team of attorneys with decades of experience working on False Claims Act cases. Among our whistleblower lawyers are:
- Erika Kelton, who represented the leading whistleblowers in the Glaxo and Pfizer cases, settled for the largest amounts ever for qui tam cases.
- Peter Chatfield, whose significant healthcare fraud cases included one against Adventist Health System that was the largest settlement of a whistleblower case alleging payment for physician referrals.
- Colette Matzzie and Stephen Hasegawa, whose state and federal whistleblower cases involving healthcare fraud and government contract fraud have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Peter Budetti, the former “anti-fraud czar” for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- Jeffrey Dickstein, a former assistant US Attorney, and Amy Easton, a former senior trial lawyer for the Justice Department, led the groundbreaking investigation of a qui tam case that resulted in settlements with more than 500 hospitals.
- Claire M. Sylvia, a Phillips & Cohen partner whose treatise on the False Claims Act is often cited by judges and other attorneys in their own qui tam cases.