The U.S. Justice Department has encouraged prosecutors to dismiss more lawsuits against companies brought by whistleblowers, and the former top deputy for the agency’s civil division expects the trend to continue.
The approach would follow recent revisions to the Justice Department’s guidelines related to the False Claims Act. Under the FCA, a person can file what’s known as a qui tam lawsuit alleging someone defrauded the government.
The department’s authority to dismiss whistleblower lawsuits “will be utilized more aggressively,” said Paul Perkins, formerly an associate deputy attorney general at the Justice Department’s civil division who helped oversee the recent revisions to the policy.
If a qui tam suit is successful, the individual who brought it can be awarded a share of the recovered amount. The government has the authority to intervene in the case, allow the person to pursue it alone with government oversight, or shut it down altogether.
“The government will be looking at a number of factors, including whether the underlying allegations have merit,” said Perkins, who left the government for private practice, in an interview with Bloomberg News.
Perkins is joining the Morrison Foerster law firm in Washington as a partner in its investigations and white collar defense group. He will also chair the firm’s FCA practice.
Corporate Enforcement
The Justice Department has taken a softer touch on some corporate enforcement actions. While the Trump administration has...
The U.S. Justice Department has encouraged prosecutors to dismiss more lawsuits against companies brought by whistleblowers, and the former top deputy for the agency’s civil division expects the tr...