If you’ve stumbled across the phrase “qui tam” while researching your rights as a whistleblower and wondered what that means, you’re not alone in finding it unfamiliar. It’s a Latin legal term that most people never encounter — until the day they discover their employer may be defrauding the government, and suddenly it becomes important.
Here’s what qui tam means, how a qui tam lawsuit works, and what you can expect if you decide to file one.
Where the Term Comes From
“Qui tam” is shorthand for a Latin phrase: qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur — which roughly translates as “he who sues on behalf of the king as well as for himself.”
The concept predates the United States by centuries. English common law allowed private citizens to bring lawsuits on behalf of the Crown when they had knowledge of wrongdoing that harmed the public. Congress borrowed this idea when it passed the False Claims Act in 1863, and it has been a cornerstone of American fraud enforcement ever since.
The principle behind it is straightforward: the government cannot be everywhere at once. The people most likely to know about fraud against the government are the people working inside the companies committing it. Qui tam lawsuits harness that inside knowledge.
What Makes a Qui Tam Lawsuit Different
In an ordinary civil lawsuit, the person who was harmed brings the case. In a qui tam lawsuit, a private individual — called the relator — files a lawsuit on behalf of the United States government, even if that individual wasn’t personally harmed by the fraud.
The relator is typically a current or former employee, contractor, or business partner who has firsthand knowledge of fraud involving federal funds. They file the case in federal court, and if the government recovers funds, they receive a share of whatever the government recovers — typically between 15% and 30% of the total recovery.
This arrangement is beneficial because (1) the government gains access to inside information it would otherwise never have, (2) the relator is financially rewarded for taking a significant personal and professional risk, and (3) taxpayers recover money that was wrongfully taken from public programs.
How a Qui Tam Lawsuit Works: Step by Step
The process is more involved than a typical civil lawsuit, and it has several features that make it unlike anything most people have experienced. Here’s what the journey generally looks like.
Step 1: You Consult an Attorney
Before anything else, you need to speak with a lawyer who has experience handling False Claims Act cases.
Qui tam cases are technically complex, the filing requirements are strict, and the decisions you make before you file can significantly impact the outcome. An experienced attorney will evaluate your evidence, assess the strength of your potential claim, advise you on next steps, and help you understand the risks.
Importantly, everything you discuss with your attorney is confidential. You can speak openly.
Step 2: The Qui Tam Complaint Is Filed Under Seal
Your attorney prepares a formal complaint and files it in court. Along with the complaint, your attorney submits a detailed disclosure statement to the Department of Justice — a confidential summary of the evidence supporting your allegations.
Here is the feature that surprises most people: the complaint is filed under seal. This means it is kept secret from the public, and — critically — from the defendant.
The seal exists to give the government time to investigate your allegations without tipping off the defendant.
Step 3: The Government Investigates
Once your complaint is filed, the Department of Justice — often working with the relevant federal agency, such as the Department of Health and Human Services for Medicare fraud — begins its investigation.
This process takes time. By law, the initial seal period is 60 days, but extensions are routinely granted, and investigations frequently last years. During this period, federal investigators may interview witnesses, subpoena documents, and conduct a thorough review of your evidence and allegations.
As the relator, you are expected to cooperate fully with the government’s investigation. Your attorney will help you navigate working with the government.
Step 4: The Government Makes a Decision
At the conclusion of its investigation, the government must decide what to do with your case. It has two main options:
Intervention — The government agrees to take over the case and prosecute it in its own name. This is generally the best outcome for a relator. When the government intervenes, cases are far more likely to result in a recovery. The relator typically receives between 15% and 25% of the recovery when the government intervenes.
Declination — The government declines to intervene, meaning it chooses not to take an active role in the case. This does not mean your case is over. You have the right to pursue the lawsuit on your own, with your attorney litigating the case. Declinations happen for a variety of reasons — sometimes the evidence isn’t strong enough, sometimes the government’s resources are stretched, and sometimes the case simply isn’t a priority at that moment. Relators who proceed after a declination and win typically receive between 25% and 30% of the recovery.
Once the government makes its decision, the case is unsealed and the defendant is notified that a lawsuit has been filed.
Step 5: Litigation or Settlement
Some qui tam cases are resolved through settlement rather than trial. If the case goes to trial and the government prevails, the defendant can be liable for treble damages — three times the amount of the fraudulent claims — plus civil penalties for each false claim submitted.
Step 6: The Relator Receives Their Share
When the case resolves — whether by settlement or judgment — the relator receives their percentage of the government’s recovery.
The exact percentage depends on several factors, including how much the relator’s information contributed to the recovery, whether the government intervened, and whether the relator had any involvement in the fraud itself (which can reduce or eliminate the award).
What Kinds of Fraud Qualify?
Qui tam lawsuits can be brought in any area where federal money is involved, and someone is submitting false claims to the government for payment. The most common areas include:
- Healthcare fraud — overbilling Medicare or Medicaid, upcoding, billing for services never rendered, paying or receiving illegal kickbacks
- Defense contractor fraud — inflating costs, misrepresenting product performance, substituting inferior materials
- Pharmaceutical fraud — off-label marketing, kickback schemes involving prescribers
- Grant fraud — misusing federal research or education grants
- Government contract fraud — false certifications of compliance, fraudulent cost reports
- COVID-19 and disaster relief fraud — fraudulently obtained PPP loans or FEMA funds
The “First to File” Rule
One of the most important features of the False Claims Act is its first-to-file rule: only the first relator to file a qui tam complaint based on a particular fraud can recover a share of the government’s recovery. If someone else has already filed a sealed complaint about the same scheme, a later filer may be barred from recovering anything.
This is one of the strongest reasons not to delay if you believe you have evidence of fraud. Time matters, and every day you wait is a day someone else could file their qui tam complaint first.
Protections Against Retaliation
Coming forward as a qui tam relator takes courage. Many people fear — with good reason — that their employer will retaliate against them for reporting fraud.
The False Claims Act’s anti-retaliation provision makes it illegal for an employer to fire, demote, suspend, harass, or otherwise discriminate against an employee because they reported fraud or participated in a qui tam lawsuit. If you are retaliated against, you may be entitled to reinstatement, double back pay, and compensation for other damages.
Understanding your rights before you act — and documenting everything — is critical.
Is a Qui Tam Lawsuit Right for You?
Not every suspicion of wrongdoing leads to a viable qui tam case. To pursue one successfully, you generally need:
- Direct, firsthand knowledge of false claims submitted to the government — not secondhand rumors or speculation,
- Evidence — documents, records, emails, or other materials that support your allegations,
- Original information — if the fraud is already publicly known or has already been reported, you may not qualify as a relator, and
- A case that no one else has filed first.
The best way to find out whether your situation qualifies is to consult an attorney who focuses on False Claims Act cases. The consultation is confidential, and an honest evaluation of your case costs you nothing upfront — most whistleblower attorneys, including Melissa Green Law Group, handle these cases on a contingency basis, meaning you pay no attorney’s fees unless there is a recovery.
The Bottom Line
A qui tam lawsuit is one of the most powerful legal tools available to private citizens. It allows an individual with inside knowledge of government fraud to take action — and to be meaningfully compensated for doing so — while the full investigative power of the federal government works alongside them.
If you believe you have witnessed fraud against the government, you don’t have to navigate this alone. As a former Assistant United States Attorney who has years of experience representing the United States in qui tam cases, Melissa Green can help you understand your evidence, protect your rights, and help you navigate this process.
This blog post is for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship. We do not make any guarantee, promise, or other assurance that a successful recovery can be obtained in any legal matter.