The firm is one of a few in the country that exclusively represents whistleblowers in qui tam litigation, whistleblower claims, and other high-impact public interest litigation. Qui tam litigation allows individual whistleblowers to bring a lawsuit against a company they know has committed fraud against the government and to share with the government in the recovery. We file these lawsuits across the country pursuant to federal and state False Claims Acts, which provide whistleblower awards of 15-30% of the government’s recovery, plus attorneys’ fees, expenses, and damages for retaliation. We also file claims pursuant to other whistleblower incentive and protection laws, such as the IRS, SEC and CFTC whistleblower laws, and we handle selected high-impact public interest litigation.

The firm’s lawyers, Pat O’Connell and Jim Haley, are former government lawyers.  Our extensive work in this practice area, history of working in leadership positions with the Texas Attorney General’s office and other state agencies, as well as in large multi-state law firms, and our experience in working closely with government lawyers, give the firm’s whistleblower clients a substantial advantage. We understand what is needed to build a good, solid case and how to present it to the jury, but we also know how to make the case from the beginning where it sometimes counts the most – to the state and federal government lawyers who determine whether the government will intervene. Pat and Jim have combined legal experience of more than 70 years, and the firm is rated AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5.0 Peer Review Rated, the highest level of professional excellence in legal ability and ethical standards by Martindale-Hubbell.

The Law Offices of Patrick J. O’Connell PLLC evaluates potential cases without charge and works on a contingent fee basis. This means that if the case is successful, the client pays the firm an agreed-upon share of the recovery. There is no charge to the client if the case is unsuccessful. The firm carefully screens its cases, accepting only those clients whose cases have been evaluated as having the greatest chance of success.