Whistleblower

Expose Wrongdoing with Legal Protection on Your Side

Whistleblower

People who blow the whistle on fraud usually aren’t trying to be heroes. They’re trying to figure out what to do with something they know — something that’s been bothering them, sometimes for a long time — and they want to understand their options before deciding anything.

Federal law gives whistleblowers powerful tools, real financial rewards, and meaningful protections against retaliation. In fiscal year 2025, the Department of Justice recovered $6.8 billion under the False Claims Act — a single-year record. Of that, $5.3 billion came directly from whistleblower-initiated qui tam cases. A record 1,297 qui tam complaints were filed that year. The SEC received approximately 27,000 whistleblower tips and paid out more than $60 million in awards to 48 individuals.

The government depends on whistleblowers. It can’t investigate every healthcare provider, contractor, and financial firm that submits claims or reports to the federal government. When insiders come forward with evidence of fraud, they provide something investigators can’t get any other way.

Whistleblower

The major programs each work differently. The False Claims Act allows private individuals to file sealed qui tam lawsuits on behalf of the United States. The case is investigated before anything becomes public, and if the government recovers money, the relator — the person who filed — receives between 15 and 30 percent of the proceeds. Since 1986, qui tam relators have shared in more than $60 billion in FCA recoveries.

The SEC’s whistleblower program pays 10 to 30 percent of sanctions over $1 million when original information leads to a successful enforcement action — and you can report anonymously through an attorney. The IRS and CFTC programs offer similar protections and rewards in their respective areas. The AI Whistleblower Protection Act, introduced by Senator Grassley in May 2025, would add explicit protections for employees who report AI-related misconduct.

Every major whistleblower statute includes anti-retaliation provisions. But these protections have strict deadlines: FCA retaliation claims, three years; Sarbanes-Oxley, 180 days to file with OSHA; Dodd-Frank, six years. Missing these windows forfeits your rights regardless of how strong the underlying facts are.

Let’s Protect Your Innovation Together

We represent qui tam relators, SEC and CFTC whistleblowers, and employees facing retaliation in cases across Texas, DC, Colorado, and California. The first conversation is protected by attorney-client privilege. If you’re thinking about coming forward, talk to a lawyer before you do anything else — before you copy documents, before you complain internally, before you send anything to anyone. The sequence matters, and getting it wrong can affect both your protection and your recovery.