This article addresses selecting the right whistle blower attorney to file your whistleblower reward application under the False Claims Act’s whistle blower reward program.

The Department of Justice has a whistle blower reward program that pays a whistle blower reward of between 15-25% of the amount the government recovers for you hiring a whistle blower attorney and filing a qui tam whistle blower lawsuit under the False Claims Act. There are a few reasons why it is so important to select an experienced whistle blower attorney.

The first reason to carefully select your whistle blower attorney is that the average reward paid to whistle blowers is $1 million. Therefore, there is a lot at stake.

The second important reason for selecting your whistle blower attorney is that the whistle blower reward program is complex and the government turns away 80% of whistle blower reward applications. Therefore, selecting your whistle blower attorney can be one of the most important decisions you must make.

In addition, there are many critical roles played by your whistle blower attorney. First your whistle blower attorney must know how to properly assess and develop your whistle blower reward application. Your whistle blower attorney must be very familiar with the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act because the qui tam reward statute is very complicated and there are many landmines to avoid. At a minimum, you should select a whistle blower attorney that has handled many qui tam False Claims Act cases.

Second, your whistle blower attorney needs to understand the informal processes used by the Department of Justice in paying whistle blower rewards, and your whistle blower attorney needs to carefully follow all of the government practices and procedures for claiming a whistle blower reward. A single mistake could render you ineligible for a whistle blower reward.

Ideally, your whistle blower attorney should have experience working for the Civil Fraud Section of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, D.C. which is the nationwide government office overseeing the qui tam whistleblower reward program. Even if your whistle blower attorney did not work for the Civil Fraud Section of DOJ or a local U.S. Attorney’s Office that often handles these cases jointly with DOJ, your whistle blower attorney must have a good relationship with the attorneys from these government offices that will be handling your case. Your whistle blower attorney not only needs to file a complex qui tam lawsuit, but must convince DOJ to intervene or take the case. Later, your whistle blower attorney will also need to negotiate with the DOJ attorneys the amount of any qui tam award.

Third, selecting your whistle blower attorney involves a matter of personal preference. Because the average qui tam case lasts 3 years, you should be communicating a lot with your whistle blower attorney. Certainly you want to have confidence in your whistle blower attorney when they make assessments of your case. But you also should respect and even like your whistle blower attorney. For instance, you should not feel bad about contacting them with questions.

Your whistle blower attorney’s role should not simply be providing legal advice, but should also be caring and mindful of the human aspects of representing a whistleblower. Therefore, do your homework when determining how to find and select the right whistle blower attorney for your whistleblower reward case under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.

Mr. Hesch would be pleased to review your potential qui tam case to see if he should become your whistle blower attorney. This website contains his extensive experience as an attorney working for the Civil Fraud Section of DOJ in the qui tam reward office and more recently acting as a whistle blower attorney helping whistle blowers collect rewards.

See the link at the top of the page “About Us” to learn more about Mr. Hesch and his firm.

Find out if Mr. Hesch is the right whistle blower attorney for you.

See the link below “Do I have a case” to have Mr. Hesch review your potential whistle blower reward case.

See the link below “Report Fraud” to learn more about the government’s whistle blower reward program.