Unusual qui tam lawsuit gets new life

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted April 16, 2019 3:56 PM

Qui tam statutes traditionally provide a remedy for fraud against the government, with the sovereign authorizing private litigants to sue on its behalf and the plaintiffs getting a portion of any recovery as a bounty, but David Leibowitz (as trustee of Marie Cahill’s bankruptcy estate) relied on an unusual Illinois law — the Insurance Claims Fraud Prevention Act — in suing Vision Care LLC for allegedly using false certifications to defraud an insurance company.Section 5 of the 2001 statute (referred to as …

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