The Civil Division represents the interests of the United States and its agencies in all civil litigation at trial and on appeal. Below is an overview of its practice areas.
Civil Frauds The Civil Division investigates and prosecutes large-scale and sophisticated financial frauds in areas including health care, mortgages, pharmaceuticals, banks, procurements, grants, and in connection with various stimulus and economic recovery-related legislation, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”). The unit was formed by Mr. Bharara in March 2010 and works closely with the Criminal Division’s Complex Frauds Unit to investigate these crimes. The Division has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in False Claims Act cases brought by private whistle blowers and Federal agencies, concerning fraud or abuse in Government programs. The Civil Division’s health care practice includes vigorous enforcement of complex laws and regulations governing health care practice providers on a wide range of issues such as false billing, cost reporting fraud, and research grant fraud.
Civil Rights The Civil Division enforces federal civil rights statutes, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Civil Division Assistants work closely with Assistants in the Criminal Division to prosecute criminal civil rights cases, such as police and correction officer brutality cases, hate crime cases, and violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
Civil RICO The Civil Division also enforces the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) by bringing cases aimed at rooting out organized crime elements and influence from important sectors of the national economy. The Office has affected widespread institutional reform of local, regional, and international labor unions. The Office’s Civil RICO practice includes the enforcement and administration of consent decrees with labor unions such as the Teamsters, the Carpenters, and the Longshoremen.
Environmental Protection The Civil Division brings major environmental enforcement actions and defends the Government from challenges to its regulatory authority, while also enforcing a variety of Federal statutes protecting our air and water, including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. Civil Division Assistants also actively enforce the Superfund laws to clean up hazardous coastal waste sites and to recover the cost of the Government’s cleanup.
National Security The Civil Division frequently litigates cases implicating the security of the United States, oftentimes defending the Government’s ability to gather intelligence or other national security information. In other cases, the Division preserves the ability of agencies to protect state secrets or similar sensitive or confidential information from disclosure, where the release of such information could compromise homeland security. The national security cases arise in a wide range of contexts, including defending the constitutionality of statutes, FOIA lawsuits, First Amendment, and immigration cases.
Tax and Bankruptcy The Civil Division represents the United States and its agencies in proceedings before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Civil Division Assistants have handled some of the largest and most significant bankruptcies in history, including the bankruptcies of Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia Communications, Chrysler, General Motors, and Lehman Brothers. Inaddition to bankruptcy cases, the Office is one of the few in the country that handles federal tax cases – which are typically handled by the Department of Justice’s Tax Division. The Division has recovered millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, and also manages cases against taxpayer refund suits seeking millions of dollars.
International Cases The Civil Division represents the interests of the State Department and other agencies in a variety of diplomatic and head-of-state immunity issues in which the Government generally is not a party.
General Defensive Litigation The Civil Division’s general defensive litigation practice defends challenges to agency regulations and regulatory actions; challenges to the constitutionality of federal statutes and regulations; constitutional tort claims brought against federal employees in their individual capacities; employment discrimination cases; social security cases; immigration cases; and, common law tort cases. It also represents federal agencies in connection with Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA) litigation.
Appeals The Civil Division represents the United States and its agencies and officials before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and before New York State appellate courts. Each Civil Division Assistants is responsible for his or her case from the moment it is assigned, including any appeals.
