The False Claims Act and Government Contracts: The Intersection of Federal Government Contracts, Administrative Law, and Civil Fraud

Gail Zirkelbach is a partner in Crowell & Moring's Government Contracts Group and resident in the Los Angeles office. She also serves as a member of the firm's Government Contracts Group Steering Committee. Gail's practice focuses on internal investigations, defense of fraud actions, and counseling aerospace and technology companies and operators of DOE laboratories in all government contracts and compliance areas at the federal, state, and local levels.

A leading government contracts attorney for more than 30 years, Gail concentrates her work on the defense of qui tam actions under the False Claims Act, conducting internal investigations, in the U.S. and abroad, and assisting clients with the development and implementation of compliance programs. She litigates at the federal and state levels and at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA), U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Her knowledge of both government contracts law and litigation strategy and technique enable her to conduct investigations and litigation effectively and efficiently. She has negotiated successful settlements involving complex legal issues with both governmental and private entities.

Gail also assists clients with defective pricing and termination cases, bid protests, and mergers, acquisitions, and other complex transactions, and counsels clients on intellectual property, cost accounting, cybersecurity, export, and compliance issues. Gail serves as the co-chair of the American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law Procurement Fraud Committee.

Marcia Madsen is Chair of the Government Contracts practice and Co-Chair of the National Security practice. She represents contractors in regulatory, policy, transactional, litigation, and investigative matters involving virtually every federal department and agency. Her clients include defense contractors, information technology and systems integrators, telecommunications companies, engineering firms, insurers, and manufacturing companies. Marcia's practice includes defense of False Claims Act matters, internal investigations, audits, bid protests, claims and disputes before administrative forums, and in the federal courts (with emphasis on the US Court of Federal Claims and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), as well as ADR and mediation proceedings.

Brian Hill focuses on complex commercial cases and has extensive experience litigating cases involving fiduciary and other professional liability, class actions, government contract disputes and false claims and intellectual property rights. He has significant experience in local and federal courts in the District of Columbia and the surrounding area, including the "Rocket Docket" of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Mr. Hill's fiduciary litigation experience includes multi-million dollar claims involving the fiduciary duties of corporate shareholders, directors, officers, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plan fiduciaries and investment managers and inside and outside counsel. He has represented corporations, insurers, non-profits and beneficiaries in actions alleging breach of fiduciary duties by directors, officers, plan fiduciaries, agents and trustees.