Review Process

How the process works:

• The whistleblower fills out a confidential, secure intake form and the intake process begins. A whistleblower attorney reviews each submission.
• Based upon this review, an immediate decision is made as to whether the Fund has a volunteer attorney on its referral list who may be interested in your case.
• If the Fund does not have a qualified attorney who may be interested in your case, the Fund will send you a declination letter. This letter will contain information about other programs that may have an attorney interested in your case.
• If the Fund has an attorney who may be interested in your case, your intake will be forwarded to them. They are asked to contact you directly and decide if they will take your case within 30 days. All these communications are covered under the attorney-client privilege.
• If a Fund (or one of its cooperating attorneys) contacts you, please understand that neither the Fund nor the cooperating attorney represents you. You do not have an attorney helping you on your case until you enter into a signed, written representation agreement with an attorney.
• The Fund may determine that it cannot assist you.. If this occurs, the Fund will provide you with a list of legal organizations and referral services that may help you locate an attorney.
• The Fund will send you a close-out letter, hopefully within 30 days of submitting your intake. If you do not receive a message, it is your responsibility to contact the Fund and ask about your case’s status.
• Many laws protecting or rewarding whistleblowers have a short statute of limitations or require a claim to be filed quickly. Consequently, you should not rely on the Fund to locate an attorney for you. You should continue to search for an attorney. You should also educate yourself, on how to protect your rights as best you can. The Fund recommends a variety of resources to assist you in this process.
• This Fund’s Legal Assistance Program is offered as a free service. You will not be charged, and no referral fees will be paid. An attorney we refer to you cannot charge you for the referral services. However, the attorney may donate to the National Whistleblower Center from the fees they charge.
• No attorney participating in this program who is billing a client solely based on a contingency fee should ever charge a whistleblower a contingency fee above 40%.
• Should an attorney we refer you to agree to represent you, the terms of that representation are strictly between you and the attorney.