Whether to write: your questions

Sometimes. Some agency programs let a lawyer submit a tip for you without your name, and a qui tam complaint is sealed. Others need you to identify yourself to the agency, which keeps it confidential but cannot always hide who you are. I explain which applies before you decide.

Please do not. A well-meant word to a colleague is the most common way a quiet matter becomes a loud one. Talk to me first.

No lawyer honestly can. I can promise to keep what you tell me in confidence, and to plan each step so that as little as possible points back to you.

I am paid a percentage of what is recovered, and nothing if there is no recovery. The percentage is in your fee agreement in writing. In some programs the law also sets the range of your own award.

Filing fees, records, experts and travel. In a contingency matter I usually advance them and they are repaid from a recovery. Whether you owe them if there is none is stated in your agreement before you sign.

I will tell you plainly and, where I can, point you to someone who handles it. Some matters belong with an employment lawyer, a government-contracts lawyer or the agency itself.

Longer than anyone would like. Government reviews are measured in months and often years. I will tell you what each stage usually involves, and what to do with your life while it runs.

No. Many people who contact me have already left, been let go or been moved aside. Some deadlines run from the date of the retaliation, so do not wait to find out.

You need to know something first-hand and be able to say where it is recorded. You do not need to bring a binder. Do not gather more than your job already gives you access to until we have talked.