Whistleblower Legal Services

Trust us to get the right result for you. We help all types of whistleblowers identify and develop winning legal cases. We aim for success by working in a strategic and ethical manner, where meeting your needs and goals is always our highest priority. Feel free to contact us by phone or email for a free consultation.

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Rest assured. Every initial consultation with us is highly confidential. Your identity and the information you provide will be safeguarded and protected. It won’t be disclosed to anyone without your knowledge and authorization.

Top Intervention Rate

Having the Government intervene in a Qui Tam False Claims Act case is the best way to ensure its success. That is why we are extremely proud to have been recognized for having the highest intervention rate in the country — 70%

$100M + Recovered

To date the False Claims Act work we have done has led to more than $100 million in recoveries for the U.S. and State Treasuries, with corresponding whistle blower rewards for our clients, including a statutory best 30% relator’s share.

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If you are concerned about maximizing your anonymity, contact us about our new cutting-edge identity protection program.

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What is a Qui Tam lawsuit? Whistleblower Attorney McInnis explains:

Our practice as Whistleblower Attorneys frequently involves representing ordinary people (known as relators) in qui tam actions under federal and state False Claims Acts. A qui tam action is simply a lawsuit that a private person files in the name of the federal or state or local government. The lawsuit alleges the government is a victim of a fraudulent scheme. Most fraudulent schemes involve false billing activities. If the qui tam lawsuit is successful and the defendant ends up paying damages and penalties back to the government, and the qui tam relator gets a percentage of those proceeds. This is known as the relator’s share. Usually, the relator’s share is between 15% and 25% of the recovery, but it can be as high as 30%. The relator’s share is a financial reward for alerting the government to difficult-to-detect fraud by starting the qui tam lawsuit, and, in many cases, for assisting the government in its investigation and litigation of the whistleblower’s allegations. Additionally, regardless of the outcome of the qui tam action, the relator is protected from employment retaliation for engaging in covered whistleblowing activities. If a whistleblower is a victim of employment retaliation, then the whistleblower can also seek compensation for two times lost wages and other economic damages, as well as, reinstatement to one’s prior job and position . We do not charge our clients hourly fees for serving as qui tam lawyers. We only receive contingency fees from successful qui tam and retaliation cases, plus statutory fees and expenses paid by the defendants.

Examples of Qui Tam Cases

Why are so many qui tam cases related to healthcare? It all comes down to money, says Healthcare Fraud Attorney McInnis

A lot of people wonder why so many of the reported qui tam whistleblower cases involve fraud against Medicare, Medicaid and other government healthcare insurance programs. It’s similar to what Willie Sutton said when asked why he robbed banks (“Because that’s where the money is”), explains Healthcare Fraud Attorney Timothy McInnis. Healthcare is one of the biggest categories of government expenditures, so it’s only natural that it would be subject to large amounts of program fraud. While fraudulent healthcare billing schemes may take many forms (billing for services never rendered, upcoding diagnoses and procedures, filing duplicate claims, failing to comply with CMS regulations, and so on) and also occur in different types of healthcare settings (hospitals, doctor practice groups, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers), the one thing they all have in common is that some person or some organization submits an invoice or claim to the government asking to get paid for providing a service or product when the claimant knows the they are not entitled to the requested amount. Thus, when someone knowingly misrepresents, lies about or covers up important facts concerning healthcare claims they are committing fraud. Filing a qui tam whistleblower suit under the federal or states false claims act is one way to alert the government about such false and fraudulent healthcare billing activity, and in many cases, to help recover money on behalf of the American taxpayers

Timothy J. McInnis, Esq.

After prosecuting major federal fraud crimes as an Assistant United States Attorney, Timothy J. McInnis, Esq. established McInnis Law in 1999 as a nation-wide legal practice providing legal services for whistleblowers.

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"Tim McInnis is an amazing attorney. He is intelligent, thorough, ethical, kind and he works very strategically in order to insure the best outcome for his clients. I would trust him with my life. He is not only an excellent attorney, but he is a compassionate person."
Denise A. Romano, January 2004

"Tim McInnis is a superb lawyer for whistleblowers. As both a relator and a lawyer I worked with for more than three and a

On October 14, 2020, medical device maker Merit Medical Systems Inc. (MMSI), of South Jordan, Utah, agreed to pay $18 million to settle allegations the company helped submit false claims to the federal Medicare and TRICARE programs and numerous state Medicaid programs by giving kickbacks to physicians and hospitals to induce the purchase and use of MMSI’s durable medical equipment devices and products. NYC attorney Timothy J. McInnis was a member of the legal team that successfully represented the whistleblower in the case, Charles J. (“CJ”) Wolf, M.D., who was the former Chief Compliance Officer of MMSI.

According to Dr. Wolf’s complaint and the government’s settlement agreement, for over six years MMSI paid kickbacks to physicians, medical practices, and hospitals. The payments were made indirectly under the guise of free advertising assistance, practice development, practice support, and so-called “educational” grants. All of this was intended to induce the healthcare providers to purchase and use MMSI’s products, including EmboSphere devices, which are used for uterine fibroid embolization procedures, and QuadraSphere devices, which are used for other types of embolization procedures. Among other things, MMSI used local advertising campaigns to steer patients to healthcare providers as a reward for past sales and to increase future purchases of MMSI products. Dr. Wolf and the government further alleged that MMSI disregarded numerous internal warnings, including from Dr. Wolf, that MMSI’s sales practices potentially violated the healthcare Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).

The lawsuit was filed in the federal court in District of New Jersey, where attorney McInnis formerly served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. The case is captioned United States ex rel. Wolf v. Merit Medical Systems, Inc., No. 2:16-cv-01855-CCC-MF (D.N.J.). Of the $18 million MMSI is paying to settle the case, $15.21 million will be go to the U.S. Treasury, and the remaining $2.79 million will go to the approximately 30 individual states that also joined the lawsuit.

half years and his counsel and perseverance were always spot on. His work was critical to a successful settlement of the case."
Stephen B. Diamond, Esq., August, 2016

"Tim McInnis Law represented my case with the up most professionalism. He communicated with me at every turn of the case ensuring I understood the process as well what was to come next. His patience, comprehension of Qui Tam Law and persistence in getting me the highest amount possible out of the case is unmatched. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend his law firm for a minute."
Don A. Briscoe, September 2016

Customs Fraud Cases

Customs Fraud Cases present unique challenges to developing and presenting viable False Claims Act Qui Tam Cases. “What types of Customs Fraud Cases are suitable for qui tam actions?” The three most common are (1) falsifying country of origin certificates and labels...

FCA Settlement Gone Wrong

Because of a series of mishaps, two deserving whistleblowers recently became victims of an FCA Settlement Gone Wrong. In Dora Figueroa, et al. v. United States of America, two co-relators tried to get relief in a negligence lawsuit alleging that the Government had...

Whistleblowers Violate The Seal

What happens when Whistleblowers Violate The Seal in qui tam cases? Recently, two relators in Georgia found out the hard way: they were lucky to get away with paying a penalty of only $1.61 million for their indiscretions. Frustrated by the Government’s slow...

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Telephone 212-292-4573
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E-mail Lawyer Timothy J. McInnis