Joel D Hesch

Joel D. Hesch is a leading national expert under the federal False Claims Act and fraud against the government, including the Department of Justice reward program and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower reward program. He is the author of Whistleblowing: A Guide to Government Reward Programs (How to collect millions of dollars for reporting fraud), an Amicus Brief before the United States Supreme Court, and a law review article, which was cited five times in a brief before the Supreme Court, proposing guidelines for the courts to follow in such cases. In addition to teaching law, Mr. Hesch represents whistleblowers file for rewards. See www.HowToReportFraud.com
For over fifteen years, Professor Hesch served as a Trial Attorney with the Civil Fraud Section of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. This office has nationwide responsibility for litigating significant False Claims Act cases and overseeing the qui tam whistleblower reward program. While at the Department of Justice, he led numerous fraud investigations affecting twenty different federal agencies. One of these False Claims Act cases settled for $641 million, and the combined recoveries for all of the cases on which he worked exceeded $1 billion and paid out more than $250 million in whistleblower rewards. For his efforts, he received several awards, including a Special Commendation Award for outstanding service, a Meritorious Award, and twice a Special Achievement Award for sustained and superior performance of duty in combating fraud.
Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Professor Hesch worked for two years as an associate attorney with the law firm of Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White, in Washington, D.C. During law school, he received two American Jurisprudence book awards for the highest score in a first-year course and graduated fifth in his class. He also participated in the D.C. Law Students in Court program, interned with the Army JAG Corp in Frankfurt, West Germany, and was a member of the Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy.
Professor Hesch has been a member of the State Bar of the District of Columbia since 1989 and has been a member of the Christian Legal Society since 1990. He is admitted to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and the United States Tax Court.