Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.
222.12 sec. 001 - Whistleblower Law: Deterring Fraud Against the Government (Spring 2024)
Instructor: Erika Kelton
Instructor: Claire M Sylvia
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 2
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
Tu 08:00 AM - 09:50 AM
Location: Law 240
From January 09, 2024
To April 16, 2024
Course End: April 16, 2024
Class Number: 33150
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 7
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 24
As of: 04/27 11:56 PM
Whistleblower Law: Deterring Fraud Against the Government, Taxpayers, and Investors
This course will examine federal laws that incentivize whistleblowers to provide information and assist in the enforcement of laws prohibiting fraud on the Government, securities and commodity frauds, money laundering, and tax fraud. This will include study of the federal False Claims Act (FCA”) - the Government’s primary law enforcement mechanism for prosecuting frauds against the Government and its unique “qui tam” provisions which authorize private citizens to participate in that effort and offer a reward for successfully pursuing a case on the Government’s behalf. The FCA was substantially revised in 1986 to address modern problems of fraud against the Government. Since 1986, the Government has recovered over $72 billion as a result of cases initiated by private citizens. Cases brought under this law often involve heavily litigated issues of statutory interpretation and procedural challenges, with the Supreme Court addressing one or more cases under the FCA almost every Term in recent years, including two foundational cases last Term.
The course will also study the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs, established through the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, as well as the new Anti-Money Laundering whistleblower program. Current trends and developing case law in these programs will be examined, and we will undertake a detailed comparison of these models to the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions. In addition, we will look at the Internal Revenue Code’s reward system for reporting tax fraud. The course will also examine the anti-retaliation protections these programs provide.
The course will be taught predominantly through simulated problems, based on composites of actual cases, with occasional guest speakers from private practice and the Government offering their perspectives on how they would approach the problems. By using these simulated problems, students will gain professional practice skills, including drafting, negotiating, and client representation. Students will work on a final project involving analyzing and proposing solutions to a current policy issue.
The instructors are Claire Sylvia and Erika Kelton (Berkeley Law '87), partners in the law firm of Phillips & Cohen LLP, which represents whistleblowers in False Claims Act, SEC, CFTC, AML, and IRS matters.
Attendance at the first class is mandatory for all currently enrolled and waitlisted students; any currently enrolled or waitlisted students who are not present on the first day of class (without prior permission of the instructor) will be dropped. The instructor will continue to take attendance throughout the add/drop period and anyone who moves off the waitlist into the class must continue to attend or have prior permission of the instructor in order not to be dropped.
Prerequisites:
Civil Procedure
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Requirements Satisfaction:
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Exam Notes: (P) Final paper
Course Category: Public Law and Policy
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
Simulation Courses
Social Justice and Public Interest
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No reader.
Books:
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