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 Settlement Reached For Alleged L.A. Housing Discrimination
Late last week, a partial settlement was reached in an ongoing qui tam False Claims Act case alleging fraudulent use of federal grants to build affordable housing in Los Angeles. The specific allegations are that the City of Los Angeles and CRA/LA (an agency of the City) falsely certified their compliance with housing discrimination laws when using federal grants to develop affordable housing. However, according to the allegations in the complaint, the affordable housing developed using the federal grants failed to adhere to accessibility laws, and thus discriminated against potential tenants with disabilities. The settlement, announced by the Department of Justice on February 6 and worth $3.1 million, only resolved the allegations against the CRA/LA (formerly the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles). The litigation is still ongoing against the City of Los Angeles. The case was initially filed by qui tam relators Mei Ling and the ...
Medicare Fraud Uncovered by Multiple Whistleblowers
Third-party fund which allegedly funneled illegal Medicare copay reimbursements for pharmaceutical companies settles False Claims Act case The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) settled another portion of a long-running legal saga involving a False Claims Act (“FCA”) case concerning Medicare fraud against numerous pharmaceutical companies and other entities. Last week, the DOJ announced it had reached an agreement to settle an FCA case against Patient Services, Inc. (“PSI”). The DOJ alleged PSI served as a conduit to funnel illegal kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies to unsuspecting Medicare patients. PSI agreed to pay $3 million to settle the FCA claims it was facing. Based on the amount of fraud that PSI partook in, this amount could have been much higher. The DOJ lowered the amount based on its analysis of “PSI’s ability to pay after a review of its financial condition.” The DOJ previously settled with three pharmaceutical companies that conspired with PSI ...
DOJ Intervenes in False Claims Act Case Against Defense Contractor Navistar Defense
On December 4, 2019, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a press release announcing its decision to intervene in a qui tam False Claims Act (“FCA”) case against Navistar Defense LLC. The qui tam lawsuit was filed initially by whistleblower Duquoin Burgess, a former Navistar Defense government contracts manager. The complaint alleges that, in 2007, Navistar Defense provided 4,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to the United States Marine Corps for use in Iraq, and in 2009 received a contract to modify the suspension systems of those vehicles to deal with the more rocky terrain in Afghanistan. While negotiating this contract with the Marine Corps, Navistar Defense allegedly “knowingly submitted fraudulent invoices that falsely purported to show prior, comparable commercial sales” at an unreasonably high cost. These false invoices, of sales that had never actually occurred, allowed Navistar Defense to vastly overcharge the Marine Corps for the suspension ...
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.
