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What is "Qui Tam?" | Overview | Representative Matters
What is "Qui Tam?"
The term "qui tam" comes from the Latin phrase which, when translated, means "he who brings an action for the king as well as for himself" and is used to describe an action brought under the federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. '' 3729-3733) that allows private citizens to sue, on the government’s behalf, people or companies that are allegedly defrauding the government. The False Claims Act, originally dubbed the "Lincoln Law," was passed during the U.S. Civil War to combat profiteering by Union Army suppliers. For most of its 136-year history, the act was used to fight fraud in the defense industry. In recent years, the law has been used in "whistleblower lawsuits" and in the health care industry to recover for false or fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare, Medicaid or Champus. With qui tam, the government has the right to join the action, or the government may decline intervention, in which case the plaintiff may proceed on his own.
Overview
V&E; for many years has represented clients in the area of False Claims Act/qui tam litigation. Lawyers practicing in this area have extensive experience in assisting clients with internal investigations of possible violations, defense of grand jury subpoenas and proceedings, defense of search warrants, and negotiations with prosecutors, as well as in dealing with criminal pleas, trials and sentencing. The firm has also assisted clients in establishing proactive compliance and auditing programs designed to assist in preventing and deterring violations of law. Having such programs can potentially mitigate the consequences of a violation under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. We also assist our clients in defending against civil or administrative litigation that may be filed by the government or private parties, and we provide assistance in connection with congressional and agency inquiries into regulatory compliance and other matters.
Representative Matters
The following is illustrative of our experience. Results of course depend upon the facts of each matter.
Our Lawyers have...
- Represented various academic medical centers before the Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Office of Inspector General ("OIG") on issues related to the OIG's Physician Audit at Teaching Hospitals ("PATH") recovery project, including PATH-related qui tam lawsuits.
- Represented groups of hospitals before the DOJ and OIG on issues related to the DOJ's DRG Window and Outpatient Lab Unbundling False Claims Act recovery projects
- Represented various academic medical centers on issues related to a federal False Claims Act investigation concerning Medicare billing for certain investigational cardiac medical devices.
- Represented officials of a major pharmaceutical company in an investigation of the company's compliance with environmental laws at a major facility.
- Represented a major academic medical center in a False Claims Act suit alleging that defendants improperly billed Medicare for the services of an unlicensed physician.
- Represented various health care provider entities in developing and implementing corporate compliance plans, including plan design, risk assessments, internal reviews, self-audits, voluntary disclosures and repayments to governmental and private health programs.
- Represented a large west coast agricultural company and a large southeastern company under investigation for price fixing.
- Represented a large energy company under investigation for alleged Clean Water Act and other violations at a refinery.
- Represented an international industrial and chemical company in an investigation into alleged Clean Water Act and other violations of several of its plants.
- Represented officials of a major west coast scientific firm in an investigation of environmental testing done by the company.
- Represented a large energy company in an investigation of the company's exports of certain equipment.
- Represented a large multinational company in connection with the "ill wind" federal grand jury investigation of defense procurement practices.
- Represented a senior official of a major defense contractor in connection with an investigation of the company's pricing practices.
- Represented senior officials of a major aerospace company in an investigation of the company's pricing practices.
- Represented individuals in the Iran-Contra investigation.
- Represented a large energy company in an investigation of foreign payments and matters.
- Defended an energy corporation in a False Claims Act case brought on behalf of the United States against various pipelines and their affiliates involving alleged underpayment of federal royalties on natural gas produced from federal and Indian leases.
- Defended an oil and gas company in a qui tam action alleging underpayment of royalties as a result of mismeasurement of gas volumes and/or heating values.
- Represented an energy company in a qui tam action relating to the invalidity of oil and gas leases and the underpayment of gas royalties, as well as ngl and crude royalties.
- Defended a major energy corporation in a qui tam action over gas pricing.
- Defended a company in cost disallowance and fraud proceedings.
- Represented a major health care provider in a case where a doctor claimed wrongful termination from emergency room practice group and threatened whistleblower action.
- Defended a major gas and electric company in a Kansas class action asserting gas mismeasurement claims, as well as claims of fraud and negligent misrepresentation.
- Defended an energy corporation in a Department of Justice investigation involving federal royalty matters and alleging violations of the False Claims Act.
- Represented a group of defendants in pending federal False Claims Act qui tam litigation involving alleged upcoding for emergency department physician services.
- Represented an ophthalmologic group practice in a False Claims Act qui tam matter involving the billing practices and procedures implemented by its billing agent.
- Represented a major laboratory services provider in an investigation of alleged fraudulent billing practices.
- Represented a partial hospitalization provider in connection with possible civil, administrative, or other proceedings or investigations that have been or may be initiated by the OIG or the DOJ with regard to billing for partial hospitalization and related services by the provider.
- Represented various health care providers under subpoena investigation by the OIG regarding upcoding of pneumonia DRGs.
- Represented a major company in an industry-wide federal grand jury matter investigating price-fixing.
- Represented certain officials of Washington, D.C. area banks and savings and loans and federal investigations of banking practices
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