Information to Gather Before Contacting a Lawyer

While no single item on this list is absolutely necessary to have before you call a lawyer, the more things on this list you can put together, the more productive your call with a lawyer will be.

1. Name of the company(ies) you believe defrauded the government.
2. Financial information about the company (if you have it).
3. A description of the fraud and the names and titles of the key people involved.
4. A description of any documents you have seen, or have in your possession, that show how the fraud works.
5. A calculation or way of calculating how much money the government lost as a result of the fraud.
6. A list of the people or categories of people who know about the fraud, including (a) whether the fraud has been reported in any way and to whom, and (b) the people to whom you have spoken about the fraud.
7. Any notes you have made or documents you have created regarding the fraud.
8. Any newspaper or magazine articles or other published material about the fraud or the surrounding circumstances.
9. A time line of what you think to be the most relevant events.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: These pages should not be construed to contain legal advice. While we will treat any information provided as privileged and confidential, you should understand that when you provide information about a potential case to Goldberg Kohn, we do not become your attorneys. With your permission, we may use your information to investigate whether we wish to represent you to bring a case. But until we both sign a written agreement, we do not represent you and have not agreed to do so.