Max Rodriguez (photo courtesy of author)
Not even three months into the new year, the Department of Justice has announced three new pilot whistleblower programs that meaningfully incentivize whistleblowers to come forward and bring new information to the government’s attention. These programs have the potential to help supercharge DOJ’s already-substantial enforcement capabilities and fill a much-needed gap for whistleblowers, who were limited to reporting information to subject matter-specific agency programs or only pursuant to individual enforcement authorities under DOJ’s purview like the False Claims Act.
Still, details matter, and implementation is everything. Many questions remain about how these programs will work in practice, and how they will interact with other overlapping or abutting whistleblower programs. These overlaps and details will present challenges for the government and for attorneys representing whistleblowers to minimize the risk and maximize the reward for their clients.