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 event.
The annual TAFEF Conference serves an important function above and beyond the function normally served by lawyer conferences. The modern False Claims Act envisions a public-private partnership between private sector lawyers and their government counterparts; it therefore makes real sense to get together once a year and have an open discussion of the many critical issues facing our bar.
It is also an important opportunity for government lawyers and private sector qui tam lawyers to network and socialize in a somewhat less formal setting than normal.
This year also marked the 25th Anniversary of the 1986 amendments to the federal False Claims Act—TAF rolled out a special brochure commemorating the occasion entitled 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.
Posted by Zachary Kitts at 9/19/2011 8:41 AM 
Categories: Virginia Qui Tam filings, Litigation, Qui Tam practice in Virginia, Potential Uses of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, Practice Example The Utility of Qui Tam and Private Law Enforcement in Virginia, Virginia Whistleblowers, False Claims Act Practice in Virginia, False Claims Act, Qui Tam litigation, legal blogs, Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, State False Claims Act News:New York Attorney General
Categories: Virginia Qui Tam filings, Litigation, Qui Tam practice in Virginia, Potential Uses of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, Practice Example The Utility of Qui Tam and Private Law Enforcement in Virginia, Virginia Whistleblowers, False Claims Act Practice in Virginia, False Claims Act, Qui Tam litigation, legal blogs, Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, State False Claims Act News:New York Attorney General
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