How to Choose the Best Whistleblower Attorney

The final outcome of your qui tam case will depend largely on the kind of law firm you choose. Before you choose a whistleblower attorney to represent you in a whistleblower lawsuit, it is important to consider a few important issues. You can easily locate whistleblower attorneys on the Internet these days but there is no dearth of websites that do not present the correct information about the overall experience, success and expertise of a law firm in dealing with whistleblower lawsuits. The most important issues concerning the selection of a whistleblower lawyer are described below:

Always choose a law firm that has been successful with quit tam cases in the past.

There is no point of choosing a law firm that has no specific experience in handling qui tam (the False Claims Act) cases. A large number of websites go on promising great outcomes for would-be whistleblowers based on their past record without mentioning that their attorneys have won civil lawsuits and not qui tam cases. Before you make a final decision, ask the law firm to provide you with specific federal False Claims Act (qui tam) cases won by it in the past.

Learn about the experience of an attorney under consideration with other qui tam cases.

Make sure you choose a whistleblower law firm that has the required staff of specialized lawyers to represent whistleblowers in a lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act qui tam. Never bank upon a firm that cannot mention some of their lawyers who have the experience needed to handle qui tam lawsuits.

Consider the prime area of expertise when choosing a law firm.

Many law firms have websites that represent them as someone highly specialized in handling qui tam lawsuits. Their prime area of expertise can be quite different. The False Claims Act is no simple matter for an ordinary lawyer to handle. Your case can turn weak very quickly if your lawyer misinterprets some complicated provisions of the False Claims Act.

Get the list of False Claims act lawsuits filed by a law firm.

Ask the attorney what types of qui tam cases they have handled in the past. Although many cases are confidential, they should be able to give you an idea of the types of frauds that were committed in each case. And of course find out if they have been successful with their cases and how big the rewards were.

Are you dealing with a referral marketing service?

Many referral marketing websites act as if they are law firms themselves! These companies are not even law firms- they are just marketing companies. You will never see or talk to them again, and they will just refer your case to any old law firm in return for a fee. Make sure you are dealing with an actual employment or whistleblower attorney who will actually handle and be involved in your lawsuit under the False Claims Act.

A whistleblower lawyer should bear the expenses.

You should not have to pay out of pocket for your qui tam case. Instead, the firm you hire should be paying for the expenses related to the lawsuit. Qui tam and whistleblower cases can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, so make sure you know that the attorney will be paying for this and not you.

Choose someone who has worked with the United States Department of Justice in the past.

Your chances of winning the lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act qui tam are higher if the government decides to step in. If that happens, then your case becomes very strong. You can find out if a law firm under consideration has done something in the past to make the government step into a qui tam lawsuit.

Cases filed under the False Claims Act can prove quite expensive in the long run. Therefore, you should always consider various resources of the whistleblower attorney for such lawsuits. In most cases, a law firm assigns the task to a team of lawyers. It can be pretty hard for just one attorney to look over the entire case. Proceed carefully and make sure you rely on whistleblower attorneys with proven track records.