Kevin McCarthy
Former House Speaker
Lynette Byrd
Former Assistant
U.S. Attorney
John Sellers
Former DOJ
U.S. Attorney
Michele A. Ratcliffe
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney
Dr. Nick Oberheiden
Attorney & Founder
IRS Whistleblower Office Highlights Importance of Whistleblowing & Efforts to Improve Whistleblower Program
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Office recently released its first-ever multi-year operating plan. While the IRS Whistleblower Office (the “Office”) began operating in 2007, it remained relatively unknown—and thus relatively inactive—until its current Director, John Hinman, took over in 2022. In the fiscal year 2024, the IRS Whistleblower Office...
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10 Important Insights for Procurement Fraud Whistleblowers in 2026Â
If you have information about procurement fraud, providing this information to the federal government could lead to the recovery of taxpayer funds and put a stop to any ongoing fraud. It could also entitle you to a financial reward. In addition to providing strong protections to procurement fraud whistleblowers, the...
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DOJ Announces Whistleblower Non-Prosecution Pilot Program for the Southern District of Florida
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a special Whistleblower Non-Prosecution Pilot Program for the Southern District of Florida. Created by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the whistleblower pilot program is intended to encourage disclosure by individuals who participated in qualifying non-violent criminal activity....
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10 Tips for Protecting Your Identity as a Federal Whistleblower
Whistleblowers are entitled to strong confidentiality protections under federal law. But, to protect your identity as a whistleblower, it is critical that you leverage these protections effectively. While the government will help with federal whistleblower identity protection, you will play an important role in protecting your identity, too. An experienced...
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How Does the Federal Government Calculate Whistleblower Rewards?
Several federal whistleblower statutes include provisions for whistleblower rewards. Each year, federal agencies pay hundreds of millions of dollars to federal whistleblowers who come forward with information about and report fraud, waste, abuse, and other forms of misconduct. Federal agencies calculate these rewards on a case-by-case basis, taking into account...
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Overview of the Federal Whistleblower Process
As a prospective federal whistleblower, it is important to know what you can expect if you decide to move forward. There are several steps in the process of working with the government to uncover fraud, waste, abuse, or other misconduct—each of which requires thorough planning and informed decision-making. 10 Steps...
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DOJ To Launch New Whistleblower Reward Program in 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that it plans to launch a new whistleblower reward program in 2024. The pilot program, which does not yet have a definitive start date, is intended to supplement the DOJ’s existing whistleblower reward program under the False Claims Act (FCA), while placing...
Read moreTo Speak or Not to Speak: Employee Perspectives on Whistleblowing [2024 Survey]
We recently surveyed 3,000 employees to ask a hypothetical question: "Would you put your career on the line, facing possible legal consequences, to call out malpractice in your organization?" The state by state breakdown is illustrated below: Created by Federal-Lawyer • Viewlarger version Key Findings: Split Opinion on Whistleblowing: 50% of employees...
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Whistleblower Movies
Whistleblower movies have been popular for decades. While not all whistleblower cases have the level of intrigue required to underlie a Hollywood script—and while most whistleblower cases are confidential—some truly are stranger than fiction. Of course, Hollywood screenwriters take liberties as well; and, when you add big-name actors like Julia...
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Theranos Whistleblowers
The story of Theranos and its once-billionaire founder, Elizabeth Holmes, is well-known. Holmes rose to fame seemingly overnight as the enigmatic CEO of Theranos, a company that claimed to have developed a breakthrough medical technology (called "Edison") that allowed for comprehensive blood testing with a single finger prick. Holmes' trial...
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