A whistleblower is a person who discovers fraud against the government and files a lawsuit on behalf of the government.

For example, if you work for a health care provider and notice that employees exaggerate claims about time spent serving Medicare patients, you may have a potential complaint action because the government is being defrauded.

However, if employees were exaggerating claims about time spent caring for privately insured patients, it would still be unethical but not a whistleblower case because the government is not being shortchanged in that scenario.

Another example of a whistleblower case would be when you work for a manufacturer that knowingly supplies defective equipment to the military.

Whistleblower cases, also called by the Latin derivative “qui tam” cases, are filed under the federal False Claims Act (where the federal government is being defrauded) or, in Illinois, under the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act ( designed to protect the state government from being defrauded).

These laws allow the whistleblower to receive a share of any penalty the wrongdoer ultimately has to pay to the government. This is typically around 15-25% under the Federal False Claims Act. Depending on state statute, it can range from 10 to 30%.

These laws also contain provisions to protect the whistleblower in the event of retaliation by their employer. For example, if the employee is fired, demoted, suspended, threatened, or harassed for exposing the situation, the whistleblower may be able to obtain redress under the law.

Under the False Claims Act, you cannot bring an action under the statute without being represented by an attorney. Qui Tam cases can be extremely complex and it is important to retain an attorney who handles these types of actions.

Under state and federal statutes, the government, not the defendant, is the first to receive the complaint and has the option to decide whether or not to take up the case. If he chooses not to, the whistleblower can proceed on behalf of the government. An experienced qui tam attorney will be aware of such procedural nuances in these types of actions.

Unlike many attorneys who charge their clients on an hourly rate, most qui tam attorneys work on a contingency basis. So if you “win,” your lawyer gets a percentage of the recovery. Otherwise, he gets nothing back. Also, while you litigate the case, your lawyer must pay all fees and costs associated with the litigation.