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or services. Although the FCA makes provision for the civil or criminal enforcement ofknowing false claims, the majority of FCA cases brought by the Department of Justice(“DOJ”) involve alleged civil violations and seek the recovery of actual damages andexemplary penalties. In addition, the FCA also makes provision for relief to individualswho are subjected to termination or other retaliation for reporting suspected FCAviolations, and there is growing use of that portion of law by whistleblowers who claimthey have been subject to retaliation for their reporting of false claims. 4The qui tam provisions of the FCA reward whistleblowers (also known as relators) withup to 30% of the funds recovered by the government, and provide a private right ofaction that allows relators to pursue cases even where the government after review andtypically a lengthy investigation declines to intervene and prosecute. 5While thenumbers of FCA cases in which the government elects to intervene have not grownsubstantially despite increasing numbers of qui tam filings, there is a growing ability andwillingness on the part of qui tam relator lawyers to invest in the continued prosecutionof whistleblower claims without regard to DOJ intervention decisions.While the FCA is arguably the most effective whistleblower statute in existence, it is farfrom the only false claims law being utilized by whistleblowers. For example, to dateapproximately 30 states have enacted false claims laws that are similar or evenmodeled on the FCA. 6 These state whistleblower laws contain similar reward provisionsas well as legal protections against retaliation. Claims under these statutes are being4 Id. at 3730(h).5 31 U.S.C. § 3730 et seq.6 See, e.g., Illinois False Claims Act, 740 ILCS 175/1 et seq. (including Illinois Whistleblower Reward andProtection Act), http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2058&ChapterID=573