Glossary of Qui Tam Terms

• Claim, n. Any request or demand for money or property that is made to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient where the United States is to provide any portion of or reimburse any portion of the money or property demanded. Thus, any claim that is grounded in fraud and that might result in financial loss to the United States is a false claim.
• Contractor, n. One who is a party to a contract; esp., one who contracts to do work or provide supplies for another.
• Fraud, n. 1. A knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of material fact to induce another to act to his or her injury. 2. Unconscionable dealing; esp., in contract law, the unconscientious use of power arising out of the parties’ relative positions and resulting in an unconscionable bargain.
• Grantee, n. One to whom real property is conveyed.
• Intervention, n. 1. The act of entering into a lawsuit by a third party who, despite not being a named party to the action, has an interest in the outcome; the intervenor sometimes joins the plaintiff in claiming what is sought, sometime joins the defendant in resisting what is sought, and sometimes takes a position adverse to both the plaintiff and the defendant. 2. The legal procedure by which such a third party is allowed to become a party to the litigation.
• Qui tam action. [Latin qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur “who as well for the King as for himself sues in this matter”] An action brought under a statute that allows a private person to sue for a penalty, part of which the government or some specified public institution will receive.
• Relator. 1. The real party in interest in whose name a state or an attorney general brings a lawsuit. 2. A person who furnishes information on which a civil or criminal case is based; an informer or whistleblower.
• Settlement When the Department of Justice Does Not Intervene. In cases in which the DOJ has shown little interest, relators will often set the entire agenda for settlement. In such cases, relators must remember that they are the representatives of all United States taxpayers. Any settlement should reflect the interests of all taxpayers. While relators are entitled to fight to meet their personal objectives, this cannot be done at the expense of the public interest. Relators who forget this rule will quickly find out that the DOJ will gain new interest in their case. Not surprisingly, if a relator’s settlement proposal is perceived as overly favorable to the whistleblower, the DOJ will likely exercise its statutory right to oppose the settlement.
• Settlement When the Department of Justice Intervenes. If the DOJ has elected to proceed with the action, the relator continues as both an advisor and a party. In some circumstances, defense counsel may attempt to negotiate exclusively with the DOJ and exclude the relator from the negotiation process.
• Whistleblower, n. An informant, esp. an employee who reports employer misconduct; employer retaliation against the employee is prohibited by federal and state statutes. See relator.