Whistleblower Lawyer Blog
This past week our firm’s Larry D. Thompson, the former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, joined me for a panel discussion that I moderated on “The False Claims Act at 30,” at the annual Taxpayers Against Fraud Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.
Joining us on the panel were the Department of Justice’s Renee Brooker, an Assistant Director in the Civil Division with 25 years of DOJ experience; James J. (Jim) Breen, an accomplished qui tam lawyer whose cases have recovered almost $4 billion for federal and state taxpayers; and Neil Getnick, Chairman of TAF and an accomplished FCA lawyer in his own right.
Larry provided his observations about the importance of meaningful compliance programs to prevent and detect fraud within organizations. He continues to share his perspective gained from years of government service, private practice, and as general counsel to a major corporation, with in-house counsel who contact him for advice.
Renee discussed how DOJ evaluates companies’ exposure based on factors that include the effectiveness of their compliance efforts, as well as DOJ’s expected priorities in the next few years (which include health care fraud, financial fraud, and oil and gas royalty cases).
Neil and Jim added their observations about what is needed to ensure the continued effectiveness of the FCA to deter and redress False Claims Act violations. We discussed real life examples of strategies to protect the public’s funds through effective enforcement of the False Claims Act.
It was honor to moderate the discussion among these distinguished panelists for our 400+ attendees.
Other highlights of the conference included discussing cutting edge legal theories with other DOJ officials, and hearing the insights of the Directors of the SEC, CFTC, and IRS Whistleblower Offices.
ABOUT OUR FIRM: Finch McCranie, LLP is a firm of former federal prosecutors who now represent clients worldwide in qui tam cases under the False Claims Act, and in claims in the SEC Whistleblower Program, the CFTC Whistleblower Program, and IRS Whistleblower Program, among other areas. For a free consultation, please call us at 800–228-9159, or by email here.