Virginia Qui Tam Law.com
  • ABOUT VAQUITAMLAW.COM
Browsing: / Home / Truly There Is Nothing New Under the Sun — And Even Lance Armstrong’s Highly Paid Lawyers Can’t Come Up with Something New….
Print Email Shortlink

Truly There Is Nothing New Under the Sun — And Even Lance Armstrong’s Highly Paid Lawyers Can’t Come Up with Something New….

By Zachary Kitts on May 8, 2013 in False Claims Act Litigation Strategies, False Claims Act Trial Strategy, federal False Claims Act litigation, qualification as a whistleblower

Virginia Qui Tam Law.com -- The first blog dedicated to the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act and to Qui Tam Litigation in Virginia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The qui tam case against Lance Armstrong has been in the news again recently.

By way of review, the allegations are that Lance Armstrong was (1) taking performance enhancing drugs while (2) being sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service.  The fact that Lance Armstrong is involved has of course led to a great deal of media attention and has led to a fair amount of sparring in the press.  To regular readers of this blog, of course, most of the arguments made by Armstrong’s counsel are old hat, but those readers not so familiar with the world of the FCA might be confused, so today we will take a look at some of what Armstrong’s lead counsel, Eliot Peters, is saying in addressing the media.

Armstrong’s lawyer, Elliot Peters, stated recently in an interview that “The U.S. Postal Service benefited tremendously from its sponsorship of the cycling team. Its own studies repeatedly and conclusively prove this. The USPS was never the victim of fraud. Lance Armstrong rode his heart out for the USPS team, and gave the brand tremendous exposure during the sponsorship years.” On the other hand the government claims that in fact “any illusory benefit from those times will be swamped over time immemorial by the USPS forever being tied to the largest doping scandal in the history of sports.”

Clearly, passions are running high on both sides….

The actual answer is, it does not matter if the USPS was “damaged” in the traditional legal sense of that word.  The federal False Claims Act states that any person who knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000, … plus 3 times the amount of damages which the Government sustains because of the act of that person. 31 U.S.C.A. § 3729.

There is nothing in the FCA about how those damages are calculated, and that is for a reason.

To fully understand this, one needs to get a bit philosophical here.  You see, the integrity of government programs and of truthfulness is something we often take for granted in the United States.  Sure, corruption exists here, but it is nothing compared to other countries in other parts of the world.  One of the primary reasons we have somewhat less corruption than we might otherwise have is that people by and large respect the government and its institutions.

But that can change, and we do not want that to happen.  Simply stated, if you don’t want to agree to the government’s terms, don’t sign the contract.

And the United States most definitely has an interest in keeping kids off of performance enhancing drugs.  There has been many a professional athlete that has used the defense of “Hey, I never signed up to be anyone’s role model.”  But that is where Armstrong is different — he did sign up, and by accepting the USPS as a client, he took upon himself the imprimatur of the United States Government, the flag, July 4, Apple Pie, etc., and so forth…

In the Lance Armstrong case it clear that the government would not have entered into the sponsorship agreement had it been known that Armstrong was taking performance enhancing drugs.  It is also clear that Lance Armstrong promised USPS that he was not taking performance-enhancing drugs….

Whether or not there are actual damages is irrelevant.  This is an important point to understand, as in this case, damages would be almost impossible to determine. We will never know with any precision how much financial benefit the U.S. Postal Service reaped from its sponsorship of Armstrong’s cycling team, nor will we know how much, if any, the Postal Service will be financially harmed now that Armstrong’s drug use has come to light.

Nor will we ever know how many kids may now be inclined to use performance enhancing drugs…but none of those things are part of the plaintiff’s case-in-chief.

K&G Law Group is a boutique-style law firm based in Nothern Virginia and practicing nationwide

 

Share this on: Mixx Delicious Digg Facebook Twitter
false claims act litigationunique application of the false claims act
  • Related Stories
  • Most Popular
  • PRESIDENTIAL IMPEACHMENT PART II OF II: WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE
  • PRESIDENTIAL IMPEACHMENT AND LEGAL ETHICS: WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE
  • Justice Department Recovers over $3 Billion from False Claims Act Cases in Fiscal Year 2019
  • Federal False Claims Act Cases are not just about money
  • When is a claim submitted to the United States?
  • Updated two-volume set on Employment Law in Virginia is on its way
  • The National Conference of State Legislatures Identifies the Top Ten Issues Facing State Governments in 2013…
  • AND THE WINNER IS … MARK OBENSHAIN EMERGES AS THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL
  • Interesting Developments from the Virginia State Bar…a/k/a The Curious Case of Glenn Lewis
  • Strange developments from the HHS-OIG…and a few basic truths about government
  • BREAKING NEWS IN THE 2013 RACE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL: Virginia Democrats Nominate state Senator Mark Herring for Attorney General
  • Two Virginia executives go to prison for small-business set-aside fraud
← Previous Next →

Search

Monthly Archives

  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019

Authors

  • Zachary Kitts

Copyright © 2021 Virginia Qui Tam Law.com.

Virginia Qui Tam Law.com is the first blog dedicated to the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act and to false claims act litigation in Virginia.