Whistleblowers in the nation’s capital should strongly consider getting experienced legal help to develop their case and present it to federal law enforcement personnel. By hiring an experienced whistleblower attorney, you can decrease the odds that you are detected and increase the payout that you stand to receive.

Here are five things to look for when searching for a lawyer to handle your case in Washington, D.C.

1. Prior Experience in the Federal Agency That Would Hear Your Case

Lots of whistleblower lawyers – particularly those in Washington, D.C. – entered the private sector after spending years within federal law enforcement. In many cases, they became private whistleblower lawyers after handling whistleblower cases within one of the agencies that frequently takes them on, like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

That prior experience within the agency that would hear your case is essential. Not only does it mean that your lawyer would have a first-hand understanding of the kind of evidence that agency personnel most want to see; they may also still have contacts within the agency. That name recognition can help your case if your lawyer still has a good reputation within the agency. Investigators and prosecutors may presume that your case is a strong one because of the lawyer attached to it, or at least give it the benefit of the doubt.

2. Prior Results in Similar Cases

One of the best ways to determine whether a whistleblower or law firm is the right one for your situation is to look through their track record of successes in similar cases. While every whistleblower case is unique and presents its own blend of legal issues and factual circumstances, prior successes can still serve as a good metric for the quality of the firm’s legal representation and its reputation in the field.

However, you will want to focus on the firm’s track record in similar cases to your own. The field of whistleblower law is quite broad, and includes private causes of action for any of the following:

• Securities or investment fraud
• Defense contractor fraud
• False claims for compensation against the government
• Environmental violations
• Healthcare fraud

These and other scenarios can implicate widely divergent fields of law and expertise. A firm with lots of victories in one field may not be the best one to hire in another.

When parsing through a firm’s listings of prior cases, be sure to pay attention to the federal agency that was implicated and any description of the case that is provided. Ideally, the agency implicated in the prior case is the same one that would intervene in your own, and the case description is at least similar to what is going on in yours.

3. A Background or Experience in Your Field

Similarly, the ideal whistleblower lawyer for your case is one who has extensive experience in your field or who worked in it in the past. Such a background will mean that they are familiar with the context surrounding your case and with how things work in your industry.

The best way to appreciate the importance of this factor is to consider hiring a whistleblower lawyer who, though very experienced in other fields, has never handled a case or worked in your own. For example, the world’s best whistleblower lawyer for environmental violations would still struggle to understand what was going on in a whistleblower case alleging accounting fraud.

The best way to find a lawyer with this background or experience is to look through their resume or CV. If they have prior professional experience in your industry or have a graduate or undergraduate degree in a subject that would fit into your field, that is a good sign that they would not be overwhelmed with unfamiliar facts and data.

4. The Fee and Expense Arrangement

How the attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation are apportioned should also be a factor as you look for a whistleblower lawyer in Washington, D.C. The arrangement that gets offered by a law firm can also tell you something about the strength of your case.

Most whistleblower firms will work on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay nothing upfront. Instead, all of the attorneys’ fees are paid from the verdict or the whistleblower reward that your case wins. If none is recovered, your legal team does not get paid. This is the normal arrangement for whistleblower cases, and if your firm is not offering it to you, then it may be a sign that they do not think that your case will win anything.

It is also normal for whistleblower firms to cover the costs of litigation, though they will often recoup them from any winnings that the case recovers. These expenses can be significant, and can include the costs of special investigators, expert witnesses, and travel costs. If the firm will recover these costs from your winnings, pay attention to the order of recovery: If attorneys’ fees are deducted from your case’s winnings first, and then the expenses of the case, you will end up with less of an award.

5. Larger Law Firms Have More Resources for Your Case

Finally, whistleblower cases are not just financially intensive endeavors – they also require lots of legal and investigative work, especially if the attempt to persuade a federal agency to intervene in your case ends up failing.

Dr. Nick Oberheiden, founding partner of the national whistleblower law firm Oberheiden P.C., explains: “The goal of most whistleblower cases is to persuade the federal law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over your case to intervene and take the investigation over. However, if they choose not to get involved, you and your legal team will have to accomplish the investigation on your own. This can be a massive undertaking, both in terms of work hours and financial investment. You would almost always do better with a large law firm that can make that kind of commitment.”