Whistleblower Lawyer & Attorney : LaBovick Law Firm, Florida : Federal False Claims Act, Qui Tam

This week, The Whistleblower Law Blog is delighted to host Blawg Review #159, the blog carnival for everyone interested in law.

During the week of May 11-18, 2008,  independent whistleblower coalitions, such as the  International Association of Whistleblowers (IAW), the Make it Safe Campaign, and many other independent whistleblower coalitions, will hold a series of simultaneous but separate events in Washington, D.C.. These events are designed to lobby Congress and alert the public to the need to support whistleblower protection. Some of the speakers for the Whistleblower Week 2008 in Washington D.D., include: Adam Kokesh, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr, a former United States Air Force chaplain, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson.

A few of the discussions shared on blogs covering Whistleblower  topics this week included the following posts: 

...In a post on the Whistleblower Protection Blog, Marshall Chriswell talks about a hearing by the Democratic Policy Committee for Monday, May 12th. The purpose of the hearing is to "examine the impact of American reconstruction and anti-corruption failures on the U.S. mission in Iraq."  Hopefully this will become an important bi-partisan issue to the Republican policy committee too.
...In a post on the Balkanization Blog, Marty Lederman discusses : The Military Commission Decision Disqualifying the Legal Adviser, Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann. Interesting how the media is covering this story in the various outlets.
...In a post on the Virginia Qui Tam Law Blog, Zachary Kitts discusses his rebuttal to an editorial in the D.C. Examiner on the False Claims Correction Act of 2007. Blogging is a great way to voice your opinions to information found in the traditional papers and online. Let's hope that the Republicans and Democrats find a way to support this important legislation that Senator Grassley and several others have worked so diligently to make it a bi-partisan effort.
...In the formerly named Question Authority Blog, Peter Rost, (One of the world's most well-known and whistleblowers)  tries on the new site name Pharma Law Blog for size.  Personally, I think it sounds great. Good Luck with the new name.

To add some fun and to bring back memories, I thought that I would use a few Nursery Rhymes to help me out with the Blawg Carnival. I hope that it brings a "Smile on Your Face" while reading the stimulating posts selected for the Blawg Carnival this week.

Our first Nursery Rhyme is: London Bridges: London Bridge Is falling down, Falling down, Falling down. London Bridge Is falling down, My fair lady.

... In My Shingle, Carolyn Elephant has a great post with burning bridges and finding new ones. She bravely admits being wrong about a previous opinion on how an associate handled a termination from a law firm. I see this as just changing one's opinion, once more facts were presented.  How refreshing to reassess a situation in light of new facts.
...In Law 21, Jordan Furlong discusses an important subject: Burning the Law Firm Newsletters. Okay, I must admit burning them all together is a bit harsh. You can also survey clients and ask what topics are of interest to them. Implementing reader feedback is a way to make it better.

This leads to our next Nursery Rhyme: Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.

...In the Legal Scoop, Scott Felsenthal, raises valid points in his post about the wear and tear of the practice of law. In the legal profession as well as in life, we should be aware of stressful things and take the appropriate actions to prevent Burnout.
...In the Sports Law Blog, Geoffrey Rapp, discusses the tragedy that happened to the filly, Eight Belles, the recent Kentucky derby, runner-up that had to be put down, due to two broken ankles. Sadly, I was rooting for Eight Bells to win. I wonder if she had not  been pushed so hard, would she be with us today?

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Next week, the Whistleblower Law Blog will host the Blawg Review #159 Blog Carnival on our site. If you are interested in legal news, you know that Blawg Review is the blog carnival for everyone that follows legal news. It is a peer-reviewed blog carnival, where the host of each Blawg Review decides which of the submissions and recommended posts are suitable for inclusion in the presentation. And the host is encouraged to source another dozen or so interesting posts to fit with any special theme of that issue of Blawg Review. The host's personal selections usually include several that reflect the character and subject interests of the host blawg, recognizing that the regular readership of the blog should find some of the usual content, and new readers of the blog via Blawg Review ought to get some sense of the unique perspective and subject specialties of the host. 

We are delighted to be a host of the Blawg Review #159.. .... We have admired Blawg Review Carnivals hosted by a few of our favorite legal Bloggers, such as Evan Schaeffer's Legal Underground, Kevin Okeefe's Real Lawyers Have Blogs, Eric Turkewitz's New York Personal Injury Law Blog, and Barry Barnett's Blawgletter (Note: Blawgletter is a registered Trademark), just to name a few... 

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We are pleased to announce that our Whistleblower Law Blog celebrates its one year anniversary. It seems like we started blogging, yesterday.

In addition to states creating and strengthening state qui tam/false claims acts around the country, the world of legal blogging has exploded. When we started, blogging was somewhat a novel idea for law firms.  Not anymore, there are over 1500 legal blogs and new ones being created weekly. Check out some of the legal blogs at Kevin O'Keefe's "Real Lawyers Have Blogs",  Justia's Justia Blawg Search, Law.com's Legal Blog Watch, ABA Law Journal Blawg Directory, and the Blog carnival Blawg Review to see for yourself.

In the beginning, we had only only a few readers, but we were encouraged by Kevin O'Keefe at LexBlog not to be discouraged but to keep on blogging. Well it has worked, reader traffic increases weekly and page views are over 3500 per month. There was a time when page views reaching 500 was a milestone.  We look forward to the numbers surpassing the 5000 mark.

In this past year, we have enjoyed the discussions, learned a lot, and look forward to making the Whistleblower Blog even better.  We are working on some cool additions for the blog and look forward to reader feedback.

We encourage readers to share thoughts and opinions about the whistleblower law blog.  Our goal is to keep this blog relevant and interesting.

Thanks again for reading our blog and joining us on our blogging journey.

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"How Qui tam helps fight Medicaid Fraud" - an article written by Brian F. LaBovick, Esq. was recently published  by Thomson West in the Volume 13, Issue 5 /November 2007 edition of the Andrews Litigation Reporter on Health Care Fraud.

Click Here to read the article "How Qui tam helps fight Medicaid Fraud".

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Attorney Brian F. LaBovick was recently a featured guest on Ringler Radio and Legal Talk Network discussing medicare fraud, medicaid fraud and whistleblower claims.  Mr. LaBovick shares how an individual can file suit in the name of the Federal Government and  possibly share in the recovery of monies received by the government.

He was interviewed by Ringler Radio host, Larry Cohen and co-host Jim Volanti of Ringler Associates.  Ringler Radio is talk show progam sponsored by Ringler Associates, one of the oldest and largest settlement annuity firms in the country. Ringler Associates has locally-based experts throughout their 60 full-service center offices across the U.S., and in London.

Click on one of the links below to hear the radio broadcast and a few interesting cases involving whistleblowers and how the system works.

Legal Talk Network Link to Ringler Radio

MP3 Link to Ringler Radio

Windows Media Player Link to Ringler Radio
 

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Hello readers,

I am off on my annual family vacation. I picked my children up from North Carolina and off we went to drive the eastern wilderness of Pennsylvania. There are seven of us, my three children, my niece and nephew, and my wife/partner, Esther Uria LaBovick and yours truly. All seven of us cram into my wife’s SUV. Yes, it is a gas hog. However, traveling with seven people and a ton of luggage, there are limited choices. Think also, about how much fuel we are saving by not flying. As an attorney, who deals with whistleblower issues, trying to free himself from the burdens of work, the pressure of the daily grind, where should I take my family?

We chose Gettysburg. Gettysburg, the famous battleground that changed the momentum of the Civil War. Good history. Good drama. I love it.

It does little to take my mind off my work. Why, you ask? Because anyone who is anyone in the world of whistleblowers knows that the Army of the Potomac won at Gettysburg because President Lincoln had the Federal False Claims Act penned, drafted, signed into law by the time Gettysburg was fought. This saved the Union Army from dealing with empty rifle boxes and having sawdust filled ammunition boxes show up at the battlefield, while the Confederate’s Rebel Yell rained down hellfire upon them. Instead, the Union Army had six shot 35lb sharpshooter rifles to hold off the Confederates with their muskets and swords.

Yes, the whole sawdust filled boxes thing really did happen during the Civil War. I won’t bore you with the historical details, but let’s remember and pay homage to our whistle-blowing roots and realize that part of the reason slavery ended was because the North won the war and part of the reason the North won was because of the False Claims Act.

However, more importantly, why is it an issue today? It is an issue today, because our women and men in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the World do not get the supplies or services they need because of fraud on the government. The Federal Government is not set up to detect fraudulent transactions. We, the citizen taxpayers, count on the courage of whistleblowers to report and prosecute fraud. Oops, I am preaching again. Okay, back to vacation.

I love the history. I am trying to figure out if General Longstreet was actually smarter then the revered General of the Army of Virginia, Robert E. Lee, or if he lost the war by not attacking Culp’s Hill on time because he was sulking after General Lee shot down Longstreet’s revised attack plan. As I said, good drama; and a great vacation spot for kids.

Gettysburg is a beautiful town. From the center of town, you are forty-five minutes from Hershey Park, an hour from Lancaster Pennsylvania and Amish country and about an hour and a half from Philadelphia. We are planning to hit all those areas this week on a whirlwind tour of Americana and American history. I bet my kids feel like vacationing with me is like being trapped in the History Channel. I actually think they are happy to go back to school so they can give their brains a rest.

Enjoy your summer and your kids (if you have them). They grow up as we grow old. Both things happen way too fast!

Signing off from the battlefield!

Brian

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In my last blog post from the AAJ Chicago convention, I mentioned that I was not impressed with Senator Barack Obama's performance on Sunday at the AAJ convention. However, One performance does not a candidate make. On Monday, I was invited to a meet and greet event featuring Senator Obama at the Chicago Conservatory. It was a very nice event. The wine was good, but not expensive and the beer was Miller, instead of something fancy like Anchor Steam. They served hors d’oeuvres. The important thing was that Senator Obama met every single person in the room and talked with everyone individually.

When you meet Senator Obama, he is warm and genuine; a great interpersonal communicator. He is not a Bill Clinton; the kind of person that fills the room with his presence. Senator Obama is a quiet speaker with a powerful voice. He makes you feel like he is a capable and solid leader but also down to earth and humble. I must say that humble and capable is very appealing after watching the arrogant and incompetent leadership of the past 6 years.

After he met almost everyone in the room, he gave a speech about what he wanted to accomplish as President. He talked about Universal Health Care and getting out of Iraq. He talked about working to create a 60% Democrat majority in Congress so Democrats could make significant changes to help the American people. He also took questions from the floor and was thoughtful. Most of all he has great respect for America and our system of justice and the institutions that make this country great. His one blunder was saying he wanted to close "Guantanamo." I had to find out what he meant by that since, if he meant shutting down our base he would be blasted by the South Florida Cuban community. When I asked one of his nearby party hosts, what he intended to do. They said he was only referring to the prison portion of the base and not the base itself. Senator Obama feels we are doing a disservice to our criminal system by avoiding bringing these suspects to justice and simply trying to hold them without due process of law. He said the Senator, to his knowledge, has never talked about shutting down the entire base.

In a small forum, the Senator is a sincere and warm speaker. He was not scripted. Compared to Sunday’s performance at the convention, he hit a home run right out of the park. I am not ready to support the guy with a wholesale endorsement. He needs to show me that he can hold his own in a crowd of peacocks. I also need to understand his positions on areas like qui tam and whistleblower rights. So far, the other candidates look more assured. However, one on one, Barack Obama is a tough man to beat. He is making his platform and campaign a true grass roots campaign. He is raising a huge amount of money and he is not doing it with large corporate donations. Here is a shocking statistic: Senator Obama has more individual donors than all of the Republican candidates combined! He has a 70+-approval rating in his home state and a 55% approval rating with Republicans. If Senator Obama ran for his seat and only Republicans voted he would still win! At a grass roots level, Senator Obama will be hard to beat and if he wins, I will not feel like the Democrats picked in incompetent guy. I will bet my last dollar that Barack Obama is already more competent than our present leadership.

Brian from "Chi Town"

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I am blogging today from the annual American Association for Justice (AAJ) convention in Chicago, IL. Chi-town is beautiful in the summer. Lake Michigan is like an ocean (without the salt). The great thing about a pre-election year convention, is that Presidential political candidates come out to press palms and ask for money from attorneys attending this convention. Republican candidates would not be caught dead at a convention of primarily plaintiff personal injury attorneys (and a few of us Qui Tam, employment law and consumer protection attorneys as well). As a Republican "Civil Justice Prosecutor”, I think the Republican candidates are making a principled mistake based on the fact that they are being told what to think by large corporations and insurance companies. (I will leave that pulpit for another post).

On Sunday, the top five Democratic Candidates addressed a select group of the convention body. Each of the five candidates had 20 minutes to discuss their platform and list of pre-determined questions. The five candidates were Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Joseph Biden, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton.

Universally the feelings of the audience after each candidate spoke and answered the questions were as follows:

Joe Biden was the most articulate and passionate person on the floor. (I met Joe Biden a year ago with his sister on an escalator in Seattle. My associate, Marvin, and I were coming down the escalator and Joe Biden was behind us. We stopped and spoke to him for about a half an hour.) I came away completely impressed by his sincerity and his knowledge and understanding of the issues. I also think he is unappealing to the American people for being a bit too candid in his opinions. Typically, presidential election winners are not usually overly passionate people. Joe is very passionate.

Bill Richardson was the most likeable person I have ever seen running for President. He just seems like the kind of guy with whom you would want to hang out and have a beer. The audience found him to be competent and articulate. However, for some reason everyone believes he is just trying to position himself to be the VP. I am not sure, his last quarter was respectable with $7,000,000.00 raised.

Hillary was cool, calm and confident, but not as passionate. She has taken a position on medical malpractice reform, which is right out of the Bush playbook. She allegedly likes the idea of a national malpractice oversight arbitration board. This is an idea that really would fit in the Democrat pocketbook but is one that will anger the AAJ membership. She conveniently ignored that topic.

John Edwards was good but not inspiring. This was surprising because he came out to a raucous standing ovation. My personal feeling is that he is almost too good looking to be taken seriously.

Finally, we come to Barack Obama. I purposefully, left him last, even though he spoke third. His presentation and the way he answered the questions did not sound polished. He sounded scripted and looked stiff. He appeared out muscled by every one of the other personalities. I am not sure if he was tired, overly scripted or simply intimidated by the audience of trial lawyers, nevertheless, he came off as unimpressive at the event. This is a shame, because I wanted him to be outstanding.

Judging from the competence level of all the candidates, Joe Biden is the best candidate with Bill Richardson right behind him. The race is Hillary's to lose. Hillary has the big money flocking to her. Hillary has the business community and was anointed the business friendly/conservative Democrat in the field. Hillary has presidential presence and toughness, which sometimes looks like feistiness, which is needed to win in this type of election. In addition, wouldn't it be great to have a female president and a female speaker of the house?

Just one more thought: if Hillary does win the presidency, Bill Richardson would make a great VP and Joe Biden woud make a great Secretary of State.

Brian signing off from Chi-town

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Managing Partner, Brian F. LaBovick is attending the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Annual Seminar and Convention in Chicago this week. Several thousand lawyers and law makers from around the country convene together to learn new things about The AAJ is an organization committed to promoting a fair and effective justice system. The AAJ supports the work of attorneys in their efforts to ensure that any person who is injured by the misconduct or negligence of others can obtain justice in America’s courtrooms, even when taking on the most powerful interests.

Attorney LaBovick will be writing  a synopsis of the seminar for the readers of the Whistleblower Law Blog, when he returns from his trip. He will share pertinent and relevant information that will be of interest to readers of the Whistleblower Law Blog.

The Whistleblower Law Blog is presented as a service of the Private Law Firm, LaBovick & LaBovick, P.A., Civil Justice Prosecutors. LaBovick & LaBovick is a Plaintiff's firm that represents whistleblowers in Florida and throughout the nation in qui tam (False Claims Act) litigation.

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Brian LaBovick, Esq. shared his thoughts on his experience with qui tam (whistleblower law) and his blogging experience with the Whistleblowerlawblog in an interview with staff from Lexblog on  Kevin O'Keefe's Blog (Real Lawyers Have Blogs).

Click on the following link to read Brian LaBovick's responses the interview with the Lexblog  team.

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The Law firm LaBovick & LaBovick, Civil Justice Prosecutors, is pleased to announce that Managing Partner, Brian F. LaBovick, Esq. has received the designation of 'Super Lawyer', by the publisher of Super Lawyers Magazine. Attorney LaBovick was among the few lawyers in Jupiter to receive this recognition.The Super Lawyers® designation is awarded to only 5% of Florida lawyers, based on nominations and feedback from other Florida attorneys.

Super Lawyer® Brian F. LaBovick and his firm is among a select group of firms in the United States focusing on qui tam (whistleblower) claims. The firm represents Plaintiff whistleblowers and prosecutes fraud on behalf of the federal and state government.

More than 44,000 lawyers across the state were asked to name the best lawyers they personally observed in action. Super Lawyers Magazine then divided the submissions into practice areas, which were then reviewed by a Blue Ribbon panel of attorneys. The final list represents the top 5 percent of attorneys in Florida.

About the Firm:

The Law Firm, LaBovick & LaBovick, Civil Justice Prosecutors, is a Plaintiff's firm that was established in 1992. The firm focuses on qui tam (whistleblower claims) and fighting for personal injury victim's rights in Florida. They handle all serious injuries, car accidents, maritime accidents, wrongful death, slip & fall, toxic torts and product liability cases. The firm has office locations in Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Jupiter and Port St. Lucie, Florida. Visit the firm website at www.labovick.com or the firm's legal blogs: Whistleblowerlawblog.com or LaBovickinjurylawblog.com for more information.

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