Perhaps no pending bill in Congress is a better example of what critics say is the “stealthy” nature of the trial lawyers’ agenda than H.R. 4854, the False Claims Correction Act of 2007. Put forth as an incentive for well-intentioned “whistleblowers” to report fraud against the federal Treasury, it uses an unusual definition of four little words to open what opponents describe as a host of troubles.

Peter Hutt, a partner at Akin Gump who has specialized in False Claims Act litigation for almost 20 years (and now a lobbyist for the Chamber of Commerce on these issues), explains: “The concern is that the floodgates will open and that the flood will swamp non-profits, and small businesses too, I might add.”