Yearly Archives: 2019

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Appellate Win for False Claims Whistleblower Whistleblowers won a recent victory in the Ninth Circuit, where the Court reinstated a false claims whistleblower case alleging false claims under Medicare. See US ex rel. Geraldine Godecke v. Kinetic Concepts, Inc., et al, No. 18-55246 (9th Cir. Sept. 6, 2019).[1] […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Risk of Financial Elder Abuse by Caregivers Spotting Financial Elder Abuse Earlier this summer police arrested the former caregiver of late Marvel Comic creator Stan Lee on charges of fiduciary elder abuse,and embezzling artwork, cash, and other assets, worth over $5 million.[1] Months before he died, Lee had […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Understand What An Agent Is Trying To Sell You Resist High-Pressure Sales Annuities Are Expensive, Complicated Insurance Products Based on years of litigation experience, our lawyers recommend consumers, especially senior consumers, avoid annuities and certain types of life insurance contracts, like indexed universal life insurance. Research reinforces that […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Commodity Futures Trading Commission Wants Whistleblower Help Commission Issues Alert on Bank Secrecy Act Violations The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) actively seeks whistleblower help in overseeing commodities and futures trading and in enforcing anti-money laundering laws. The CFTC rewards whistleblowers whose information that leads to prosecution […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Risks of Financial Elder Abuse Growing Financial Elder Abuse Can Be Devastating Looking for Signs Reports of every form of elder abuse are up in Alameda County but particularly financial elder abuse; more than 70% of reported cases in Alameda County now involve financial elder abuse. Physical […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Federal and State Whistleblower Laws Rewards and Job Protection for Whistleblowers The federal government and the State of California reward whistleblowers who bring actions (known as qui tam actions) for certain illegal activities or fraud the whistleblower knows about and has evidence of. The procedures and limitation periods […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Nursing Home Residents at Risk of Abuse and Neglect Watching for Signs of Abuse or Neglect Tales of abuse and neglect of the elderly in nursing homes are heartbreaking. Sadly, abuse and neglect are growing crimes in nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the United States and […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Beware the Hype Consumer Risks, Especially For Seniors Annuities Are Expensive, Complicated Insurance Products Based on years of litigation experience, our lawyers recommend consumers, especially senior consumers, avoid annuities or life insurance.  Insurance carriers, marketing groups and agents tend to reinvent the ways they sell these products over […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Whistleblower Discovery in Pending Cases Recent Opinion Defines What Whistleblower Can See Important Decision for Whistleblower A recent federal district court opinion makes clear that a whistleblower who brings a false claims action against a defendant may be able to discover what that defendant shares with the government […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Microcaptive Insurance Tax Abusers Corporations Use Small Captive Insurance Companies To Avoid Tax The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has begun sending letters to up to 200 companies, offering to settle open investigations of abusive insurance transactions with the companies’ own small, insurance subsidiaries (known as “microcaptives”). These companies […]