Qui tam cases up the ante for employment lawyers

Under the Federal False Claims Act, private individuals can sue over federal contractors' false claims for payment. The law encourages these fraud-combatting qui tam cases by giving whistleblowers a shot at recovering up to three times the government’s damages, not to mention civil penalties. "[B]y labor and employment law standards, the [whistleblowers’s] fee and statutory attorneys’ fees are usually at the upper-end of recoveries," writes Ronald B. Schwartz in the latest ISBA Labor and Employment Law newsletter. Thus, "[l]abor and employment law lawyers who represent employees should have sufficient knowledge of the Act to be able to spot" qui tam cases. Read his quick look at qui tam basics.