Todd Yoder’s practice focuses on representing qui tam whistleblowers in both federal litigation and whistleblower reward programs. In February 2020, Todd argued the precedent setting case of Barko v. KBR before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, often regarded as the second most powerful court in the United States, behind the Supreme Court. Todd obtained a unanimous ruling on behalf of the whistleblower, and set nation-wide precedent limiting the ability of corporations to force whistleblowers (and other victims of employment discrimination) to pay exorbitant “costs” in lawsuits heard in federal court.
Todd specializes in representing qui tam relators in False Claims Act cases involving a wide range of industries, including healthcare, procurement, and set-aside government contracting. Additionally, Todd possesses vast experience in handling whistleblower claims reporting tax fraud, securities fraud, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations with the whistleblower programs of the IRS and SEC. Todd takes extraordinary pride in helping his clients expose illegal conduct and ensuring all culpable parties are held responsible. He has been instrumental in securing both equitable and monetary victories for whistleblowers.
Before joining Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto as an associate in 2016, Todd previously served as a law clerk for the National Whistleblower Center in 2014. He received his JD, cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2016.
Promoting International Qui Tam Whistleblowing
Kohn, Kohn and Colapinto has played an instrumental role in advancing whistleblower rights worldwide. Currently the partners represent whistleblowers from every continent on earth (except Antarctica) in pursuing whistleblower reward cases under U.S. laws.
Steve Kohn has been sponsored by the U.S. Department of State to promote whistleblowing on a world-wide scale, including special seminars and programs in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bosnia, Serbia and Thailand. He has given major keynote addresses in Peru and Greece and presented in numerous international conferences and has testified on behalf of whistleblowers before the European Parliament and the Danish Parliament. Mike Kohn has made major international presentations in Poland, South Korea and Israel. The firm filed extensive comments supporting greater whistleblower protections in the now-approved European Directive on Whistleblowing.
Whistleblower attorney Stephen M. Kohn and partners of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto regularly advise congress on crafting whistleblower laws. And play an instrumental role in drafting whistleblower protection laws, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, and the Dodd-Frank Act.
SEC & IRS Rulemaking
During the Dodd-Frank rulemaking process, our partners worked closely with the SEC to create an effective whistleblower program. Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto’s partners met personally with each of the five SEC Commissioners. They presented them with detailed reports and proposals setting forth rules that were essential to make the law work for Dodd-Frank whistleblowers as intended by Congress. Furthermore, Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto’s whistleblower attorneys seek to protect and enhance legal protections for tax fraud whistleblowers. Our firm has filed numerous internal revenue service rulemaking petitions, filed extensive briefs to the IRS and testified at IRS rulemaking hearsing to strengthen the tax whistleblower program.
[Read More]In recognition of the growing importance of whistleblower litigation, The National Law Journal named the whistleblower attorney and advocacy law firm of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto as one of top fifty plaintiff’s law firms in the United States. The firm’s partners were officially named as among “America’s Elite Trial Lawyers.” In its September 29, 2014 article, “Elite Trial Lawyers: The 50 Leading Plaintiff’s Firms in America,” the National Law Journal named Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto as one of the firm’s “doing the most creative and most important work in the courtroom.”
- 2013-2020 – A-V Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell®
- 2014 – “Elite Trial Lawyers” Designation, National Law Journal (Awarded to KKC LLP)
- 2014 – America’s Most Honored Professionals, American Registry (Awarded to KKC LLP)
- 2009 – Top Attorneys, Washington DC Super Lawyers (Awarded to KKC LLP)
- 2008 – Friend of the IEEE Award
- 2003 – “Hot List” of Plantiff’s Law Firms, National Law Journal
- United States ex rel. Barko v. Halliburton Co., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 9615 (D.C. Cir. 2020) (argued) — On appeal before the D.C. Circuit, successfully overturned lower court ruling which taxed over $58,000 in e-discovery costs against whistleblower Harry Barko in his False Claims Act case against KBR. The decision set critical precedent in the D.C. Circuit which shields plaintiffs in whistleblower, civil rights, employment, and other cases from being obligated to pay defendants’ often massive e-discovery bills.
- U.S. ex rel. Chepurko v. E-Biofuels, LLC, No. 1:14-cv-00377-TWP-MJD, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76075 (S.D. Ind. Apr. 30, 2020) — Substantially assisted in securing a $69,610,999 summary judgment ruling in favor of the relator and United States for False Claims Act violations related to a massive fraudulent bio-diesel manufacturing scheme.
What Clients are Saying
“Todd argued my case against KBR before one of the highest court’s in the land. He won. That says it all.”
Todd’s Latest Thinking
False Claims Act Whistleblower Wins Key Materiality Victory
On November 6, 2020, Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a key ruling in United States ex rel. Scollick v. Narula further outlining the contours of the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) hotly debated “materiality” requirement. Under the FCA, private individuals known as “realtors” are able to bring qui tam lawsuits on behalf of the United States when they possess inside knowledge of parties presenting fraudulent claims for payment to the federal government. This long-running FCA case was filed by relator Andrew Scollick in 2014 alleging, in relevant part, Optimal Solutions and Technologies, Inc., along with its two highest level directors (collectively the “OST Defendants”), caused false claims for payment to be presented to the United States under service-disabled veteran-owned small business (“SDVOSB”) construction contracts. The OST Defendants allegedly facilitated the creation and operation of a sham SDVOSB company named Centurion ...
False Claims Act Settlements Top $200 Million in the Past Week
Three recent settlements of False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases have resulted in recoveries for the United States and several individual states totaling $211 million. Whistleblowers initiated all the settled cases under the FCA’s qui tam provisions, which allow a private individual, who has inside knowledge of fraud resulting in a financial loss to the United States Government, to file a lawsuit on behalf of the United States in federal court. In addition to the federal FCA, many states have analogous laws, and the recent settlements include multi-million dollar payments to resolve state false claims cases. For their role in exposing the fraud and allowing the recovery of over $200 million in taxpayer dollars, the whistleblowers will receive a combined $18 million, with further awards to be decided in the near future. The recently settled cases all centered around allegations of fraudulently practices by the defendants to secure payments under government ...
DOJ Announces Almost $25 Million in Recent FCA Settlements
Over the last few weeks, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced nearly $25 million in False Claims Act (“FCA”) settlements, with whistleblowers receiving at least $2.8 million in awards. The FCA’s qui tam provisions allow a private individual, who has inside knowledge of fraud resulting in a financial loss to the United States Government, to file an FCA lawsuit on behalf of the United States in federal court. The government can choose to intervene and take over the primary litigation role in an FCA case or, if not, the whistleblower, known as a relator, may continue with the case on their own. Once the United States recovers any damages in the case, the relator is eligible for a reward of between 15-30% of the total amount recovered. The recently announced FCA settlements involve fraud against the government in several industries, including higher education, construction, disaster relief, and healthcare. On May ...
Our Client Received the Largest Whistleblower Reward in World History of $104 Million
Bradley Birkenfeld broke the back of Swiss bank secrecy. He was the first Swiss banker to file a case under the IRS whistleblower law. The results were unprecedented. UBS bank (at the time the largest bank in the world) had to pay a fine of $780 million. They also had to close all known U.S. accounts, and for the first time in history, the bank turned over the names of 4450 U.S. taxpayers for prosecution in the United States. Mr. Birkenfeld obtained the largest ever individual qui tam whistleblower award in history, $104 million.
