Fran Trapp

“We only take cases that we believe in…”

Fran Trapp knows whistleblower cases. She dedicated 20+ years prosecuting cases on behalf of the government, and she brings this experience and a determination to try to bring fraudsters to justice to the Carolina Whistleblower Attorneys firm. She knows what it takes to prosecute a qui tam case. And she’s an integral part of our team.

Fran attended nearby University of South Carolina and graduated with degrees in education, math, and history. She taught middle school, high school, and adult education classes before returning to University of South Carolina to fulfill her dream to attend law school. She received her J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1991, graduating in the top 10% of her graduating class and as a member of Law Review.

Laser-focused on fighting fraud

‘”I was there in the beginning…when the Department of Justice decided to dedicate resources in South Carolina to qui tam cases.”

Fran clerked for South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal her first year out of law school and then practiced at a private law firm before accepting the position of Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina in 1994. During her tenure, Fran was an integral component of the district’s focused efforts on cracking down on fraud against the government. When the Department of Justice recognized that it needed a separate entity to deal with whistleblower/qui tam cases and developed the Affirmative Civil Enforcement (ACE) department, Fran worked closely with it to prosecute fraudsters under the False Claims Act.

“To me, Fran is the Internet of qui tam.” – Bill Nettles

Fran served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for 23 years and was a hard worker, knowledgeable qui tam resource, and formidable opponent of government fraudsters. From 2010-2016, she worked alongside Carolina Whistleblower Attorneys’ lead attorney Bill Nettles, then U.S. Attorney, and helped build the office into a leading district for qui tam case recoveries.¹

“It was really powerful being part of the government effort to recover funds stolen from it. Every single case we took, I felt like I was doing the right thing.”

At home and at the helm in South Carolina

Since age five, Fran has been passionate about sailing. Today, she helms her own 22-foot sailboat in races and has earned the respect of her fellow (mostly male) skippers. When not on the water, she resides with her husband and Welsh Terrier on a pine tree farm in Winnsboro, South Carolina, not far from where she grew up in Columbia. A lifetime resident of South Carolina, Fran raised her own child there and is surrounded by family who has been there “forever.”