Packard, Packard and Johnson

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satkinson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:59:51 +0000

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satkinson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:59:37 +0000

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Qui Tam Attorneys for Whistleblowers

satkinson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:32:47 +0000

Seasoned & Successful

Packard, Packard & Johnson is a seasoned and successful litigation firm–that has achieved outstanding results over the past two decades.

We excel at high-stakes contingency litigation, focused in the areas of Personal Injury, False Claims (Qui Tam or Whistle-blower cases), Patent Infringement, and Class Action cases.

Where there is injury or wrongs imposed upon persons, patent holders, taxpayers or consumers Packard, Packard & Johnson is your aggressive advocate and partner to make it right.

Oracle to pay $46 million in false claims case

satkinson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:08:39 +0000

WASHINGTON, Jan 31, 2011 (Reuters Legal) – Oracle Corp agreed to pay $46 million to settle claims that Sun Microsystems Inc, which it bought last year, submitted false claims to federal government agencies and paid kickbacks, the Justice Department said on Monday.

It said the settlement resolved allegations that Sun knowingly paid kickbacks to systems integrator companies in return for recommendations that federal agencies buy Sun’s products.

The department said the allegations were part of a larger, ongoing investigation of government technology vendors that has resulted in settlements with six other companies. The settlement resolves claims that Sun’s contracts in the late 1990s with the General Services Administration were defectively priced because it provided incomplete, inaccurate information during contract negotiations.

The department said the U.S. Postal Service later relied on the defective pricing information during contract negotiations with Sun.

The allegations that Sun improperly paid kickbacks first were first made by whisteblowers who filed a qui tam lawsuit in Arkansas in 2004. The federal government later joined the suit and added new claims.

Case: Rille et al v. Electronic Data et al, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, No. 4:04-cv-00986.

For the plaintiffs: Craig Johnson of Packard, Packard & Johnson and others.
For the defendant: Clayton James, Phillip Metcalf and Stuart Altman of Hogan Lovells; Michelle Kaemmerling and John Lile III of Wright, Lindsey & Jennings.

(Reporting by James Vicini of Reuters; Additional reporting by Jeff Roberts of Reuters Legal)

HP to Pay United States $55 Million to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

satkinson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:07:50 +0000

LOS ALTOS, Calif., Sept. 30, 2010 Press Release — HP has agreed to pay the United States government $55 million to resolve allegations that it made false claims to various federal government agencies, as alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2004 by the Qui Tam attorneys of Packard Packard & Johnson, located in Los Altos, California, an enclave of Silicon Valley. They are one of the few firms in Northern California that represent whistleblowers on large Qui Tam, also known as the False Claims Act, cases. Two whistleblowers, Norman Rille and Neal Roberts, first approached their attorneys in 2002, and they jointly worked on the case for two years before filing the lawsuit under seal in federal court in Little Rock, Arkansas. Local counsel is Stephen Engstrom, with Wilson, Engstrom, Corum & Coulter. Relator Rille had worked for Accenture, a Systems Integrator for the Government, which did many large projects for various federal agencies. During his employment at Accenture, he became aware of alliance activity between HP and Accenture. The terms and practices of the alliances called for referral fees and special discounts by HP to Accenture, the amounts of which were often kept confidential. When Mr. Rille left his employment with Accenture, he took with him over 700,000 pages of documents, many of which involve HP. Accenture had vigorously insisted that the documents had to be returned, but in a key ruling, the federal judge ruled that provisions of the False Claims Act which protect the federal taxpayers trumps any non-disclosure agreements.

The Federal Anti-Kickback Act prohibits a Systems Integrator, who is supposed to provide objective advice to the Government, from receiving anything of value for recommending the purchase by the Government of a vendor’s products. At the same time, the Federal Acquisition Regulations require that a vendor provide the Government its current, accurate and best pricing data when negotiating a multiple award schedule with the Government; failure to do so results in what is called defective pricing, which is also a violation of the False Claims Act. HP has denied any wrongdoing.

Neal Roberts had worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers, another Systems Integrator, for years and also knew about alliance practices and the requirements of disclosure to the Government regarding discounts. After the lawsuit was filed, the two relators and their attorneys assisted the government over a period of years in the investigation of the allegations and the damages. The government investigators had each of the whistleblowers place strategic telephone calls that were tape recorded, which assisted in the investigation. Numerous meetings have been held in the offices of Packard, Packard & Johnson in Los Altos with many federal agents and DoJ attorneys from across the nation. The attorneys also maintain a database containing over 14 million pages of documents, readily accessible to the federal agents and government attorneys. The case was assigned to and handled by the Honorable William R. Wilson, Jr. HP has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The whistleblowers and Packard Packard & Johnson are delighted to see the case come to a favorable conclusion. “We have represented whistleblowers for 20 years, and in these tough economic times, it is more important than ever to protect the taxpayers’ money.”

CONTACT: Ron Packard of Packard, Packard & Johnson, Attorneys for Relators (650) 947-7300

Cisco Systems And Westcon Group To Pay United States $48 Million To Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

satkinson — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:43:01 +0000

LOS ALTOS, Calif., September 7, 2010 Press Release — Today Cisco Systems and its distributor, Westcon Group, have agreed to pay the United States government $48 million to resolve allegations that it defrauded various federal government agencies, as alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2005 by the False Claims Act law firm of Packard, Packard & Johnson, located in Los Altos, California, an enclave of Silicon Valley. They are one of the few firms in Northern California that represents whistleblowers on large False Claims Act cases. Two whistleblowers, Norman Rille and Neal Roberts, first approached their attorneys in 2002, and they jointly worked on the case for two years before filing the lawsuit under seal in federal court in Little Rock, Arkansas. Local counsel is Stephen Engstrom, with Wilson, Engstrom, Corum & Coulter. Relator Rille had worked for Accenture, a Systems Integrator for the Government, which did many large projects for various federal agencies. During his employment at Accenture, he became aware of alliance activity between Cisco and Accenture. The terms and practices of the alliances called for referral fees and special discounts by Cisco to Accenture, the amounts of which were often kept confidential. When Mr. Rille left his employment with Accenture, he took with him over 700,000 pages of documents, many of which involve Cisco. Accenture had vigorously insisted that the documents had to be returned, but in a key ruling, the federal judge ruled that protecting the federal taxpayers trumps any non-disclosure agreements and state laws.

The Federal Anti-Kickback Act prohibits a Systems Integrator, who is supposed to provide objective advice to the Government, from receiving anything of value for recommending the purchase by the Government of a vendor’s products. At the same time, the Federal Acquisition Regulations require that a vendor provide the Government its current, accurate and best pricing data when negotiating a multiple award schedule with the Government. Failure to do so results in what is called defective pricing, which is also a violation of the False Claims Act.

Neal Roberts had worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers, another Systems Integrator, for years and also knew about alliance practices and the requirements of disclosure to the Government regarding discounts. After the lawsuit was filed, the two relators and their attorneys assisted the government over a period of years in the investigation of the allegations and the damages. The government investigators had each of the whistleblowers place strategic telephone calls that were tape recorded, which assisted in the investigation. Numerous meetings have been held in the offices of Packard, Packard & Johnson in Los Altos with many federal agents and DoJ attorneys from across the nation. The attorneys also maintain a database containing over 14 million pages of documents, readily accessibly to the federal agents and government attorneys. The case was assigned to and handled by the Honorable William R. Wilson, Jr. Cisco and Westcon have consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The whistleblowers and Packard, Packard & Johnson are delighted to see the case come to a favorable conclusion. “We have represented whistleblowers for 20 years, and in these tough economic times, it’s more important than ever to protect the taxpayers’ money,” stated Ron Packard.

DOJ Release
Cisco Notice of Settlement