Review of the 2011 Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Conference & Awards Dinner

Last week was the Eleventh Annual Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund and it was, as usual, quite an /files/116785-109034/25_Years_of_False_Claims_Act1.pdf”>25 Years of the Modern False Claims Act.

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the changes that occurred 25 years ago in 1986.  Joyce Branda, who serves as Director of the Fraud Section of the Commercial Litigation Branch at DOJ, shared with us that about 20 qui tam cases were filed under the federal False Claims Act between 1863 and 1986.  From 1986 through the first half of 2011, however, more than 7,200 cases were filed.  

It was also nice to see so many folks from various states attend.  We were honored to have Indiana Attorney General Gregory Zoller in attendance.  Also present were representatives of the Attorney Generals of Texas, North Carolina, Florida, New York and others. 

U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia) spoke at the luncheon on Wednesday and shared his insights into the FCA.  Ronald Machen, who is the newly appointed United States Attorney for the District of Columbia also spoke.