Qui tam lawsuits in the time of COVID-19

The program will educate participants about the various types and stages of Qui tam and whistleblower claims. The covered topics will include a general background on whistleblowers, understanding the way the government views and interacts with whistleblowers and how these claims are litigated and ultimately resolved.

Topics Include:

Understanding the whistleblower
    Is it a current or former employee
    Types of contracts which may impact their ability to blow the whistle
    Motivation

How does CARES ACT, PPP create opportunities for whistleblowers? What kinds of claims are we likely to see?

What are the defenses that can be deployed?

What is the government and the plaintiffs’ bar most focused on for CARES Act, PPP compliance/enforcement?

How can businesses mitigate their risk?

Lifecycle of the whistleblower – how does a suspicion blossom into a whistleblower complaint/lawsuit

Responding to a whistleblower complaint – how to keep an internal complaint from becoming a qui tam lawsuit

Resolving Qui Tam cases with and without the government

Faculty
James D. Young joined Morgan & Morgan’s complex litigation unit after a successful career as Special Counsel to the Florida Attorney General’s office. He focuses on qui tam whistleblower cases nationwide. James has broad experience and is nationally known in the areas of consumer protection, health fraud, and pharmaceutical litigation. He has served in leadership positions in numerous multistate Attorney General investigations including starting and co-leading the largest consumer protection drug settlement to date, In Re Risperdal. He was appointed co-lead of the government plaintiffs group in the Vioxx Multi-District Litigation and served as lead of several litigation subcommittees.

Blanca Young is a litigation partner in the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on intellectual property, fraud and unfair competition, and government and internal investigations.

Ms. Young has significant trial experience. In 2019, she was one of the lead lawyers in a trial team that secured one of the largest verdicts ever in a mass copyright infringement case. She frequently represents corporations and executives in government and internal investigations, and in litigation under state and federal anti-fraud and unfair competition statutes, including the False Claims Act.