SIMMS SHOWERS LLP Home Lawyers and Staff Offices
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False Claims Act ("Qui Tam")
and Whistleblower Litigation
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Contact:
410.783.5795 410.365.6131 (m) 410.560.9889 (h)
W. Charles Bailey, Jr., Partner 410.783.5795 |
Congress enacted the False Claims Act, also sometimes referred to as the "Lincoln Law," the "Informer's Act" or the "Qui Tam" Statute, during the Civil War. Congress wanted to stop dishonest suppliers to the Union military at a time when the war effort kept the government from investigating and prosecuting fraud. So, Congress empowered private citizens with knowledge of fraudulent claims being made against the Federal government to file suit on behalf of the government to recover compensatory damages, stiff civil penalties and treble damages.
Simms Showers is recognized as one of the nation's leading law firms working in the area of civil False Claims Act litigation. In May, 1995, the Firm assisted the United States Government to conclude a Medicare fraud case with an U.S. $8.6 million settlement paid by a national medical testing laboratory, which was the nation's third largest False Claims Act recovery. Simms Showers currently represents clients in over 50 ongoing False Claims Act cases pending across the United States, including cases involving:
- Fraud by defense contractors who conspired with suppliers to set artificially low prices on cost-plus contracts;
- Fraud by building contractors on HUD projects, billing for substandard work and work not performed;
- Fraud by medical testing labs who billed the U.S. for tests that they never performed;
- Fraud by durable medical equipment suppliers selling inferior equipment as superior equipment;
- Fraud by mental health providers which billed the U.S. for services by unqualified personnel, and services which never were performed;
- Fraud by pharmaceutical companies billing the U.S. for excessive amounts of drugs never used or usable by patients;
- Time sheet fraud by defense contractors, billing commercial work to government jobs;
- Fraud by companies which claimed government approvals, which they in fact never had; and
- Fraud by a manufacturer which knowingly made defective products, but sold them to the U.S. certifying that they met specifications.
The Firm has published a number of papers in the area and given seminars including Identifying, Bringing, and Winning a False Claims Act Case, 1997 ABA Annual Meeting and Using the False Claims Act for Competitive Advantage, Maryland Bar Journal 28 (Jan.-Feb. 1997).
Simms Showers brings together a depth of knowledge about working with government prosecutors in False Claims Act cases, as well as significant experience by its attorneys, who include former United States Department of Justice prosecutors. It works regularly with False Claims Act investigators to develop and evaluate False Claims Act cases.
Many of its cases are originated by lawyers from other firms, who have not worked in the False Claims Act area but who have clients they believe may have a False Claims Act case. Simms Showers works regularly with these lawyers through co-counsel arrangements.