Who Pays the Attorney’s Fees in a Qui Tam Lawsuit?

Understanding the Contingency Fee Model in False Claims Act Cases

If you have discovered evidence of fraud against the U.S. government, you stand at a critical crossroads. You possess information that could stop a company from stealing from taxpayers and recover millions of dollars for the public good. The law that empowers you to act, the False Claims Act, recognizes your courage and offers both powerful protections and the potential for a significant financial reward.

Yet, standing up to a powerful corporation, hospital system, or government contractor is a daunting prospect. You may have many questions swirling in your mind:

• Do I have a strong enough case?
• What are the risks to my career and reputation?
• How can I possibly afford to challenge a company with unlimited legal resources?

This last question — the one about cost — often stops heroes in their tracks. The fear of being buried in legal bills is real. Fortunately, the system is designed to remove this barrier entirely. In a qui tam lawsuit, a skilled legal team works on a contingency fee basis, meaning the financial risk falls on the attorneys, not on you.²

The financial realities of fighting fraud against the government

To understand why the fee structure in whistleblower cases is so important, you must first understand the battlefield. A qui tam lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act is not a simple legal matter. These are complex, high-stakes cases that generally require immense resources and knowledge, as well as unwavering commitment.

The entities committing fraud against the government are rarely small operations. They are often large, well-funded corporations in sectors like healthcare, defense, and technology. When accused of fraud, they usually don’t simply concede. Instead, they generally fight back with everything they have. This may include:

• Hiring large defense firms: These corporations often retain national law firms with teams of attorneys dedicated to dismantling whistleblower cases.
• Filing seemingly endless motions: For some, their legal strategy often may involve burying the case in procedural motions, hoping to exhaust the resources and resolve of the whistleblower and their counsel.
• Employing expert witnesses: Defending a fraud case can involve hiring a stable of experts — forensic accountants, medical billing specialists, engineering consultants — to challenge your evidence.

Mounting a credible case requires a proportional response. You want a legal team that can match and exceed the defense’s efforts. The costs associated with this can be staggering and may include:

• In-depth investigation: Before a case is even filed, attorneys often must spend hundreds of hours investigating the claims, gathering documents, and interviewing witnesses to try to build a strong case.
• Expert witness fees: Hiring credible experts to analyze complex data — such as Medicare billing codes or defense contract specifications — is often essential and can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Deposition and discovery costs: The process of formally questioning witnesses (depositions) and managing often millions of pages of documents (discovery) can involve significant expenses for court reporters, videographers, and data management platforms.
• Litigation and filing fees: Simply navigating the federal court system involves numerous administrative and filing costs.

Faced with these realities, an average person could rarely afford to pursue a claim. This is precisely why we offer a contingency fee arrangement – it levels the playing field and helps to ensure that seeking justice is not reserved for the wealthy.²

How is the whistleblower’s share determined? 

The False Claims Act provides a range for the potential whistleblower’s award. Several factors can influence where a possible award falls within that 15% to 30% spectrum:

• Government intervention: If the government decides to “intervene” and take over the primary prosecution of the case, the whistleblower’s share in a successful case is typically in the 15% to 25% range. This is because the government is using its own vast resources to litigate.
• Non-intervened cases: If the government declines to intervene, the whistleblower and an experienced whistleblower attorney may choose to proceed with the case on their own. Because they are bearing the full risk and cost of litigation, a successful outcome often results in a higher award, typically in the 25% to 30% range.
• The quality of your contribution: The significance of the information you provided, your cooperation throughout the investigation, and the quality of the case presented by your attorneys all can play a role in convincing the government to grant a higher percentage for a potential reward.

An experienced qui tam legal team can not only build your case but also advocate fiercely on your behalf to try to secure the highest possible award percentage from the government.

The source of an award: Understanding treble damages 

To fully grasp the financial dynamics, it is vital to understand where the money for your potential award and your attorney’s fees comes from. It does not come from a separate government fund; any reward comes directly from the money recovered from the company that committed the fraud.

The False Claims Act, originally known as the “Lincoln Law” for its passage during the Civil War to combat defense contractor fraud, has incredibly sharp teeth. It allows the government to recover:

1. 1. Treble damages: This means the government can recover up to three times the amount of money the company fraudulently obtained.
   2. Civil penalties: The law also imposes a per-claim penalty in a successful case, which is adjusted annually for inflation. As of July 3, 2025, the penalties are between $14,308 and $28,619 for each individual false claim submitted.

Let’s consider a hypothetical example of Medicare fraud. Imagine a medical lab knowingly bills Medicare for thousands of unnecessary tests over several years, defrauding the government out of $5 million. Under the False Claims Act, the government could recover:

• Treble damages: $5,000,000 x 3 = $15,000,000
• Civil penalties: If there were 500 false claims, the penalties alone could add several million dollars to the total.

The total recovery in this example could easily exceed $20 million and entitle a whistleblower to a life-changing sum for their courage in a successful case.

Finding the right partner for your qui tam journey

The contingency fee model and the protections of the False Claims Act are designed to empower you. They can transform a seemingly impossible fight into a winnable one. The financial structure makes it possible to bring a case on a level playing field, with deep experience and vast resources behind you.²

At Carolina Whistleblower Attorneys, we believe in what you are doing. Our mission is to help courageous whistleblowers stamp out corporate greed while striving to ensure that you are protected and rewarded for your patriotic actions.

Our team has a proven track record of handling the most complex qui tam cases. We are led by former White House-appointed U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles, who helped the government recover over $307 million in fraudulently obtained funds during his tenure leading the South Carolina U.S. Attorney’s Office.^1,4 This inside knowledge of how the government investigates and prosecutes fraud is powerful. Even if the government declines to intervene, our team has the experience and resources to continue fighting for you.

We operate on a contingency fee basis, and we will put your need first. We will only advise you to move forward if we are confident it is the right decision for you, and we will advance all case costs. Our fee is a percentage of the whistleblower award we recover for you; if we don’t secure an award, you owe us nothing.²

If you have witnessed or suspect fraud against the government, you have the power to make a difference. The first-to-file rule often means that only the first whistleblower to report a specific fraud is eligible for a potential reward, so time is of the essence. Contact Carolina Whistleblower Attorneys today at 1-888-292-8852 or through our online form for a free and completely confidential case evaluation. Our team is ready to listen and help.