Accomplishments

News Bullention: KKC Obtains Largest Whistleblower Award in History for IRS Whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld

IRS Award Report granting Brad Birkenfeld $104 million.

Click here to Watch the Birkenfeld Award Press Conference.

The firm is most proud of the ability of its partners to win major cases for whistleblowers. Some of these cases are highlighted in the Whistleblowers and Major Cases sections.

Linked on the right are some of the recognitions received by the firm and its partners from peer-reviewers or other organizations or courts that have acknowledged the firm's accomplishments.

Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto's achievements include:

Obtained largest reward ever given to a single whistleblower in U.S. history ($104 million dollars)
Represented the largest tax whistleblower in history whose disclosure enabled over $5 billion from delinquent taxpayers and $780 million from UBS bank.
Successfully represented leading bank whistleblower, in 2012, concerning foreclosure-abuses that fueled the financial "meltdown" and forced millions of Americans out of their homes. Whistleblower obtained over $2 million.
Achieved a major victory and settlement for top civil contracting officer at the US Army Corps of Engineers who blew the whistle on Halliburton's illegal multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts for the Reconstruction of Iraq.
Represented leading whistleblower in $515 million fraud recovery through the false claims act from Bristol Myers Squib for the illegal marketing of drugs.
Held for-profit universities accountable for illegal marketing tactics, and obtained a multi-million dollar reward for the whistleblower.
Provided pro bono legal services to draft rule proposal to SEC for the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program. Proposal adopted by the Commission included establishing the right of corporate compliance officials and directors to obtain rewards, and ensuring that employees who "participated" in a fraud, but did not "plan and initiate" the fraud could obtain rewards.
The firm’s partners authored the leading handbooks and textbooks in whistleblower law, including the first-ever legal treatise on whistleblower law (published in 1985).
Challenging government contract fraud across the United States.
Holding government contractors accountable by compelling civil penalties and criminal prosecution of unscrupulous companies.
Representing clients whose disclosures have resulted in the direct recovery of over $7 billion to the U.S. Taxpayers from dishonest corporations and individuals.
Working with Congress to pass critical whistleblower laws, including the Dodd-Frank Act, the No-FEAR Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the consumer product safety act, adding whistleblower protections into the stimulus laws, and the Civil Rights Tax Relief Act.
Leading the effort to ban "hush money" payments in federal cases involving environmental and nuclear violations.
Setting national precedent permitting federal employees to publicly expose wrongdoing at and to criticize their employing agencies.
Revealing vulnerabilities at U.S. nuclear power plants to airborne terrorist attack and forcing reforms within the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Creating precedent permitting federal employees to use the "mixed case" theory in order to obtain the right to trial by jury on their merit systems protection board claims.
Worked with Members of Parliament, government officials and international NGOs in educating the key leaders in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro regarding the establishment and administration of whistleblower programs in Eastern Europe.
Expanding the scope of "protected activities" in numerous court precedent.
Working with public interest groups to file amicus curie "friend of the court" briefs establishing important pro-whistleblower legal precedent in cases filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeal and federal administrative agencies.
Wrote and argued the key amicus curie brief before the U.S. Department of Labor that reversed years of bad precedent under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and created pro-employee standards for adjudicating cases.
Opposed the illegal surveillance of federal employees by government agencies and obtained ruling by the White House and Office of Special Counsel prohibiting monitoring of employee disclosures to Inspectors General and the OSC.
Augured and won numerous precedent setting court decisions expanding the rights of employee whistleblowers, including victories in the South Carolina Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh and District of Columbia Circuits.
Expanded whistleblower rights under the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act, including rulings expanding rights to file Privacy Act claims, obtain discovery, obtain preliminary injunctions mandating the expedited processing of records and expanding the right to obtain attorney fees.
Findings government doctors protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act
Winning reinstatement for the country's highest-ranking nuclear whistleblower in U.S. history, forcing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to issue "level 1" violations [the highest violation level recognized under law] against utility executives who fired whistleblowers.
Forcing the recall of thousands of unsafe bullet proof vests sold to law enforcement and members of the U.S. military
Successfully defended the right of forensic scientists to "blow the whistle" on crime-lab misconduct in high-profile criminal proceedings, including the first World Trade Center bombing prosecutions, the Oklahoma City bombing trials and the O.J Simpson murder trial.
Prevailing in court against the largest bullet proof vest manufacturing company in the United States, forcing that company into bankruptcy and forcing it to pay a $26 million penalty to the federal government after a whistleblower proved that the company knowingly sold vests that did not protect police officers. The whistleblower also obtained a multi-million dollar judgment.
Helping to block President George W. Bush's nominee for a top enforcement post at the EPA, a state regulator who had punished an employee for investigating a cancer cluster.
Established leading "mixed case" precedent permitting federal employee whistleblowers to pursue cases in federal court and obtain jury trials.
Represented leading FBI whistleblower who opposed and documented thousands of illegal searches under the Patriot Act's "National Security Letter" program.
Documenting deficiencies in the FBI's counterterrorism program and misconduct in its investigations at the World Trade Center site after 9/11.
Forcing the FBI to improve and accredit its crime lab.
Forcing the Department of Justice to review thousands of criminal convictions based on a whistleblowers ability to document forensic fraud at the FBI crime lab, resulting in the release of wrongfully convicted prisoners and halting executions.
Establishing precedents under the first amendment, state common law and numerous federal statutes, recognizing and expanding whistleblower protection.
Vindicating whistleblowers before juries, judges and the public.
Winning the first-ever "hostile work environment" whistleblower retaliation case
Establishing whistleblower rights for FBI agents.
Testified before numerous Congressional committees defending whistleblower rights and urging stronger laws protecting employees who risked their jobs to serve the public interest.
Representing whistleblowers who exposed fraud in FEMA contracting during the response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The contractors plead guilty to their frauds and were sentenced to prison, and the whistleblowers were able to obtain rewards from penalties paid by the defendants in restitution.
Since 1984 partners in the firm have fought tough legal battles against many of the nations largest law firms, corporations and government agencies and have won numerous cases obtaining full vindication for many whistleblowers across the United States.