NATIONAL RESULTS

WARREN | BENSON LAW GROUP has been lead counsel and co-counsel in hundreds of qui tam action lawsuits nationwide targeting virtually every type of government contractor fraud.

The cases of WARREN | BENSON LAW GROUP, many of which have expanded the envelope in False Claims Act litigation, have been regularly featured in national media, including 60 Minutes, 20/20, ABC Primetime, NBC Nightly News, Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.  In addition to repeatedly breaking new ground in qui tam litigation, the firm has scored numerous qui tam settlements and victories for its clients.

Our results include:

• $103 million whistleblower recovery and retaliation jury verdict against two defense contractors for fraud in falsifying tests and falsifying specifications on military equipment.
  
• $100 million aerospace labor fraud verdict.
• $51 million in Medicare fraud whistleblower recoveries against thirty three research hospitals for upcoding and mischarging Medicare and Tricare for the cost of experimental devices.
• $44 million whistleblower recovery against telecommunications companies for falsifying surcharges under federal long distance telephone service contracts.
• $36 million whistleblower recovery against a major research university for medical research grant fraud.
• $32 million whistleblower recovery against a defense contractor for padding estimates on sole source contracts, in violation of the Truth In Negotiations Act.
• $16.6 million qui tam recovery against a nursing home chain for fraud in recording Medicare nursing hours.
• $15.3 million Medicare fraud whistleblower recovery against a county hospital for upcoding and falsely certifying mental health medical necessity determinations and for misusing physician identifier numbers to bill Medicare.
• $10.5 million defense contractor fraud recovery against an electronics manufacturer for falsifying tests on aircraft interrogator systems.
• $9.5 million Medicare fraud recovery against Blue Cross of California for fraud in falsifying health care audits.
• $7 million fraud recovery against a defense contractor for labor mis-charging on a military computer system.
• $6.5 million recovery against Mayo Clinic for mis-charging costs on federal NIH research grants.
• $4.5 million whistleblower recovery for defense contractor fraud from proposal padding on a development contract for missile guidance system, in violation of the Truth In Negotiations Act.
• $4 million whistleblower recovery against a construction contractor for fraud from inflating indirect labor costs, in violation of the Truth In Negotiations Act.
• $3.4 million defense contractor fraud whistleblower recovery against an aircraft manufacturer for substandard quality assurance practices, among others.
• $3 million fraud recovery against airport contractors for padding bills and bid rigging.
• $2 million defense contractor fraud whistleblower recovery for falsifying test data on aviation instruments.
• $2 million whistleblower recovery against a postal equipment contractor for fraud in supplying defective products and falsifying quality inspections.

Single handedly stopping a medical industry amendment to the Medicare Act which would create a loophole for past improper billing practices. When Don Warren and Phil Benson became aware of these legislative bills, medical industry lobbyists had secured 32 Senate and 137 Congressional co-sponsors for the legislation. Without help from anyone or any group, Mr. Warren and Mr. Benson convinced the United States Senate to kill the bills. The Justice Department called their efforts and success at the national level “unprecedented” in the more than 130 year history of the False Claims Act.

The firm's published articles about qui tam and whistleblower litigation have appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the Journal of the Litigation Section of the California Bar Association. The firm’s attorneys are featured speakers on the subject of qui tam litigation in Continuing Legal Education courses sponsored by various bar associations on both the East Coast and West Coast, including the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, California Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, and the California Association for Nursing Home Reform, as well as seminars sponsored by the Department of Justice. The firm has also represented qui tam clients in hearings before various committees of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives and in briefings in the Office of the Vice President of the United States and with the Solicitor General of the United States.

CASE LAW VICTORIES

WARREN | BENSON is the national leader in precedent setting False Claims Act qui tam cases, including cases before Appellate Courts and the Supreme Court of the United States.

They also have greater trial and appellate experience, separating the firm from all other qui tam attorneys in the nation. Over the course of the past twenty years, the firm’s attorneys have been providing leading edge court representation and advocacy on issues shaping qui tam whistleblower rights.

The firm’s published cases and precedents include:

• United States ex rel. Kelly v. Boeing Co., 9 F.3d 743 (9th Cir.1993), cert. den. at 510 U.S. 1140, 114 S.Ct. 1125.
  
  First appellate case in the nation to uphold the constitutionality of the qui tam law.
  
  
• United States ex rel. Madden v. General Dynamics Corporation, 4 F.3d 527 (9th Cir. 1993)
  
  First case in the nation to hold a defendant is barred from filing counter-claims against a qui tam plaintiff. Second appellate case in the nation to uphold constitutionality of the qui tam law.
  
  
• United States ex rel Barajas v. Northrop Corporation, 5 F.3d 407 (9th Cir. 1993), on remand 897 F. Supp. 1274 (C.D. Cal. 1995)
  
  First case in the nation to determine that a qui tam relator is entitled to a reward as to additional fraud discovered by the government during the course of investigating the qui tam relator’s case. Definition of “original source.”
  
  
• United States ex rel. Gibeault, et al. v. Texas Instruments Corp., 25 F.3d 725 (9th Cir. 1994)
  
  First case in the nation to limit the government’s right to object to a qui tam plaintiff’s settlement.
  
  
• United States ex rel. Schumer v. Hughes Aircraft Co., 63 F.3d 1512 (9th Cir. 1995)
  
  First case in the nation to hold that a violation of Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) is a basis for a False Claims Act case. First case in the nation to hold that a defendant’s internal disclosures do not constitute a public disclosure for the purpose of the qui tam jurisdictional bar. First modern qui tam case to be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court.
  
  
• United States ex. rel Hyatt v. Northrop Corporation, 91 F.3d 1211 (9th Cir. 1996)
  
  First case in the nation to analyze the expanded Statute of Limitations under the False Claims Act.
  
  
• United States ex rel. Virani v. Jerry Lewis Truck Parts & Equipment, Inc., 89 F.3d 574 (9th Cir. 1996)
  
  First appellate case in the nation to analyze qui tam plaintiff’s entitlement to statutory attorney fees.
  
  
• Hughes Aircraft Co. v. United States ex rel Schumer, 520 U.S. 939 (Sup. Ct. 1997)
  
  First modern qui tam case to be reviewed by the Supreme Court. First case to examine the retroactivity of the 1986 amendments to the False Claims Act.
  
  
• Cedars Sinai Medical Center, et al, v. Shalala; and Qui Tam Relator, 125 F.3d 765 (9th Cir. 1997)
  
  First case in the nation to hold that a challenge to the validity of Medicare Hospital Manual rules is not a defense to a False Claims Act case.
  
  
• United States ex rel. Zissler v. University of Minnesota, 154 F.3d 870 (8th Cir. 1998)
  
  First case in the nation to hold that States and State entities are subject to suit under the federal False Claims Act.
  
  
• United States ex rel Biddle v. Stanford University, 161 F.3d 533 (9th Cir. 1998)
  
  Analysis of the False Claims Act’s “voluntary disclosure” requirement under the original source provision of section 3760(e)(4)(B).
  
  
• United States ex rel Barajas v. United States of America v. Northrop Corporation, 258 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001)
  
  First case in the nation to establish a qui tam relator’s right to a recovery under the False Claims Act’s “Alternate Remedy” provision.
  
  
• United States ex rel Hoefer v. Fluor Daniel, 92 F.Supp 2d 1055 (C.D. Cal 2002)
  
  First case in the Ninth Circuit to hold the False Claims Act does not preempt state claim for wrongful discharge and retaliation.
  
  
• United States ex rel Kinney v. Stoltz, 327, F.3d 671 (8th Cir. 2003)
  
  Analysis of the False Claims Act’s “direct and independent knowledge” requirement under the original source provision of section 3730(e)(4)(B).
  
  
• In re Cardiac Devices Qui Tam Litigation, 221 FRD 318 (D. Conn. 2004)
  
  First case in the nation to hold a false claim made in violation of a Medicare Manual provision regarding coverage under the Medicare Act’s “reasonable and necessary” services section, is a violation of the False Claims Act.
  
  
• United States ex rel Barajas v. Northrop Corporation, CV 87-7288 (C.D. Cal. 2004)
  
  First case in the nation establishing entitlement to recover attorney fees from defendant, for pursuing a case in which the Government obtained an “alternate remedy.”
  
  
• United States ex rel Sialic v. Sequel, et al. 402 F.Supp. 2d 1142 (C.D. Cal. 2005)
  
  First case in the Ninth Circuit to hold a federal grantee’s innocent submission of a false claim resulting from a contractor’s knowing false claim, satisfies the “presentment” requirement under the False Claims Act despite the purported contrary holding by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.