Plain answers
to serious questions.

Under 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d), a whistleblower receives between 15% and 30% of the government's total recovery. Where within that range depends primarily on whether the government intervenes in the case (lower share) or declines and the whistleblower proceeds alone (higher share), and on the quality and originality of the information the whistleblower provided. Louisiana MAPIL relator shares run parallel — 15–25% if the state intervenes, 25–30% if the relator litigates alone. Settlements are paid after the case resolves; the relator share is paid out of the recovery itself, not separately.

No. We handle qui tam matters on a contingency basis. You pay nothing out of pocket. If there is no recovery, there is no fee. If there is a recovery, our fee is a percentage of the relator share, defined in a written engagement agreement you review and sign before the case is filed. Costs of litigation — filing fees, expert witnesses, depositions — are typically advanced by the firm and reimbursed out of any recovery.

Not right away, and in many cases not for years. Qui tam complaints are filed under seal in federal court, meaning only the court and the Department of Justice see them. The defendant is not served and not notified. The initial seal runs 60 days but is routinely extended — most cases remain under seal for 1 to 3 years while the government investigates. At some point, if the case proceeds, the seal is lifted and the relator's identity becomes part of the public record. By that time the government has usually completed the bulk of its investigation.

Usually not — at least not without talking to a lawyer first. Current employees often have better access to information and stronger retaliation protections than former employees. Quitting before filing can also raise questions about why you waited. The right sequence depends on the specific case, which is why the first conversation is important.

Almost always yes. Internal reports do not trigger the FCA's public-disclosure bar. In fact, internal reporting is often helpful — it establishes that the company was on notice of the fraud and chose not to address it. The picture changes if the conduct has been publicly disclosed through a government investigation, a news report, or a court filing — but internal complaints to HR, compliance, or management do not count as public disclosures.

A long time. The average case, from filing under seal to final resolution, takes between 3 and 7 years. Some resolve faster. Some take a decade. The government typically investigates for 1 to 3 years under seal. If the government intervenes, settlement usually follows within a year or two. If the government declines and the relator proceeds, the timeline extends. The relator does not need to be actively involved every day — most of the early work is done by counsel and the government.

The FCA's first-to-file rule generally bars a later filer from recovering on the same underlying facts. This is why timing matters so much. If you know about ongoing fraud, the value of your case can evaporate the moment another insider files. That said, "same underlying facts" is often contested, and a later-filed complaint with materially different allegations may survive. The first conversation usually clarifies whether a first-to-file problem exists.

Tell us what you have and how you obtained it — but do not send documents through the website form, email attachments, or any unsecured channel. The law around whistleblower document collection is nuanced. Employees generally have a right to take documents that directly evidence the fraud and that they had lawful access to in the course of their work. They do not have a right to take documents outside that scope, and taking privileged documents can create independent exposure. We work through this under privilege on the first call.

You don't need to be. The anti-retaliation provision of § 3730(h) protects good-faith, reasonable reporting of conduct the employee believes may be fraudulent, whether or not it turns out to be. For a qui tam complaint to succeed on the merits, the evidence has to hold up — but the threshold for a first conversation is much lower. If you saw something that didn't make sense and the pattern kept repeating, that is often enough to evaluate.

Qui tam complaints are filed under seal, which provides a period of confidentiality, but the relator's name must be disclosed to the court and to the government at filing. The seal is not permanent. In most cases, the relator's identity eventually becomes public when the seal is lifted. There are mechanisms in certain other statutes — including the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs and the IRS whistleblower program — that allow for long-term anonymity. For False Claims Act cases, anonymity is a matter of timing, not permanence.

Federal qui tam cases can be filed in any district where the defendant resides, transacts business, or where the alleged conduct occurred. We are based in Louisiana and focus on matters with a Louisiana nexus, but federal cases frequently cross state lines. If the conduct involves federal dollars and reaches Louisiana, we can typically file in the Eastern, Middle, or Western District. For cases with no Louisiana nexus at all, we work with a network of co-counsel in other states. Tell us where the conduct happened and we'll sort out the right venue on the first call.

You have an independent cause of action under 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h) — reinstatement, double back pay, special damages, attorneys' fees. The retaliation case can be filed publicly and does not depend on whether the underlying qui tam succeeds. The statute of limitations is three years from the retaliatory act. See the protections page for detail.

Yes. Initial consultations are free and confidential. There is no obligation to retain counsel after the call. Attorney-client privilege attaches for purposes of the consultation whether or not we end up working together.